Pirates fail to convert in final seconds against Browning
Trailing by one with less than 10 seconds remaining, Polson guard Jarrett Wilson forced a jump ball, giving the Pirates the ball and a chance. The Pirates failed to get a shot off, however, as they turned the ball over in the final seconds of a 69-66 loss to Browning.
Polson was forced to foul Browning’s Justin Burd, who went to the line and converted on both free throws. The Pirates had one more opportunity, needing a 3-pointer to tie it up and send the game to overtime. But again, the home team could not get a shot off and fell to the Running Indians by three.
Turnovers were a huge problem for Polson. With 18 total turnovers as a team, they gave Browning multiple chances on the other end.
“I thought our kids played hard,” Polson coach Randy Kelley said. “I was a little perturbed at the turnovers we had all throughout the game. Just turnovers that we haven’t had throughout the year and its just not good timing to have some of those.”
The Pirates jumped out to an early 11-19 lead in the first quarter. However as Browning heated up from behind the arc, the Running Indians took over the lead just after halftime.
The game was a back and forth battle between the top two seeded teams in the Northwest A division.
Pirate big man Trevor Lake got in early foul trouble and had to sit out most of the game. He fouled out on a close blocking call in the fourth quarter.
“We got ourselves in foul trouble too, so we’ve just got to be smarter,” Kelley said.
Xavier Fisher, a Polson sophomore, led his team in all scoring with 15 points and a high .625 shooting percentage.
Bo Kelley and Anton Lefthand finished with 10 points each and Colton Graham scored 11.
Regular season play is over and the Pirates looking to put this game behind them. With the Class A Western Divisional tournament starting today and going on throughout the weekend, Polson is only focusing on their first game verses Frenchtown.
The Pirates faced Frenchtown twice this season. In an early-season game, Polson hosted the Broncs and walloped on them 60-42. However just the opposite happened when the Pirates traveled to Frenchtown last month, they dropped that one to the Broncs 59-39.
After the game Coach Kelley explained the Pirates will prepare before the divisional tournament with light practices and adjust their focus to the first game coming up Thursday morning.
“One game at a time, at divisionals anything can happen,” Coach Kelley said. “We’ll probably run up against Frenchtown who we’ve seen twice … We just have to prepare and put this one behind us. This is a whole new season now.”
Polson has the potential to see Browning again in divisonals, but Coach Kelley said he is not worried about that for now.
“There’s a possibility down the road (to play Browning again), but right now our focus is on Frenchtown,” Kelley said.
The Pirates are set to face Frenchtown at 9:30 a.m. and Browning takes on Dillon at 5 p.m. on Thursday Feb. 27 in the first round of the Western A Divisional Boys Tournament in Ronan.
Browning 11 18 20 20 – 69
Polson 19 13 15 19 – 66
BROWNING – Riley SpoonHunter 23, Blayne DeRoche 12, Luke Juneau 8, Deion MadPlume 8, Justin Burd 7, Latrelle Bullchild 6, Cody Carlson 4, Chris Reevis 1. 20-49 23-33
POLSON – Xavier Fisher 5 3-4 15, Colton Graham 1 9-10 11, Anton Lefthand 2 4-4 10, Bo Kelly 4 2-2 10, Jarrett Wilson 3 2-3 9, Trevor Schultz 3, Gunner Grisak 1 1-2 3, Braunsen Henriksen 2, Trevor Lake 1 0-3 2, Ryker Wenderoth 1. 19-51 22-32
3FG – B6-22 (D.MP 2-4, Juneau 2-5, Spoonhunter 2-8), P6 (X.Fisher 2, A.Lefthand 2, T.Schultz, J.Wilson). REB – B37 (DeRoche 7, L.BC 6, Reevis 5, R.SH 5), *P29 (Graham 8, J.Wilson 6, Grisak 4, R.Wenderoth 3, B.Kelley 3, T.Lake 2, X.Fisher, A.Lefthand, Sam Fisher). AST – B12 (R.SH 3, Burd 3), *P15 (R.Wenderoth 5, X.Fisher 3, Graham 2, T.Lake, J.Wilson, A.Lefthand, B.Kelley, Grisak). STL – B12 (Burd 4, Spoonhunter 3), *P14 (X.Fisher 3, J.Wilson 2, Graham 2, A.Lefthand 2, Grisak 2, T.Lake, R.Wenderoth, T.Schultz). BLK – *B4 (DeRoche, Burd, D.MP, Carlson), P (T.Lake). (Sa22Feb20)