Chiefs halt Pirates on way to fourth place

A rollercoaster season for the Ronan Chiefs basketball program ended just short of capturing state hardware, but served notice to others, and to themselves, that they can compete with the best.

Ronan entered the Class A state tournament at Great Falls as the No. 3 seed out of the West. The Chiefs were without their head coach during the opener, a 62-44 loss to Laurel on Wednesday. Head coach DJ Fish was back home, where his fiancee Kylie gave birth to his first son, Marcus John, Monday night.

After being assured that everyone was healthy, Fish was on the road Thursday morning to Great Falls, where his Chiefs went on a spirited run to the consolation game.

“I could feel it in the air when I walked into the hotel,” Fish said Monday. “The players were happy to see me and congratulate me.”

Along the way, they met up with Lake County rival Polson. The Pirates entered the tournament as the West’s No. 2 seed and were dead set on capturing hardware coming in.

The wheels started coming off for Polson, though, in the semifinals on Friday night against eventual champion Billings Central (see related story). After a disappointing loss, Polson had just 12 hours to come back and face the Chiefs Saturday morning for a spot in the third-place game.

By that point in the tournament, Polson senior center Trevor Lake was noticeably limping with a foot injury. And senior defensive dynamo JC Steele had his hand wrapped due to a broken thumb suffered at regionals.

Both teams struggled to score — Ronan’s 13 points in the second period were the most during any period by either team.

After trailing 22-14 at half, the Pirates mustered up one last surge but fell just short in a 38-37 loss.

“Their man to man defense was spot-on,” Fish said. “It was tough to shake them. All those nail-biters throughout the season paid off.”

Junior Colton Graham recorded a double double for Polson in the loss, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds, both team highs. Sophomore Jarrett Wilson added seven points and seven rebounds.

The Pirates made 2 of 19 shots from 3-point range and shot just 20.5% from the field. Polson made 13 of 18 free throws, while Ronan made nine of 17.

Ronan senior Girma Detwiler also had a double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Chiefs got six points from Marlo Tonasket and five each from Ruben Couture, Zarec Couture and Sage Coffman.

It was the third game between the two teams on the season. Polson had won the previous matchups 62-40 and 53-41.

The win over Polson propelled the Chiefs to a rematch with Laurel on Saturday night.

The Chiefs shot 32.7% from the field, including 32% from 3-point range, against the Locomotives, but a dismal third period proved too much to overcome in the 56-49 loss.

Detwiler and Leonard Burke scored 14 points to lead the Chiefs, and Elijah Tonasket added 13 points. Ronan trailed 26-25 at the half, but Laurel went on a 15-5 run in the third and held on to secure the third-place trophy.

In the tournament opener against Laurel, the two teams went back and forth throughout the first half, with neither team leading by more than six points. Marlo Tonasket hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into halftime tied at 24-24.

Laurel opened the second half with a 15-8 run and pulled away from there. Most of the Locomotives’ points came in the paint or on transition layups.

Ronan struggled to get rebounds and missed on several free throw attempts.

On Friday night in their first game since Fish’s return, the Chiefs hit 6 of 18 3-point attempts on their way to a 50-46 win over Hardin in a loser-out game.

Hardin nearly erased an eight-point deficit in the third.

Senior Zarec Couture led Ronan with 12 rebounds and added 11 points. Burke had a team-high 17 points in the win.

Elijah Tonasket also scored 11.

State A consolation

Laurel 56, Ronan 49

Laurel 12 14 15 15 – 56

Ronan 14 11 5 19 – 49

LAUREL – Colter Bales 21(5r), Richard Cortese 18 (3b), Wylee Schnetter 6, Kyson Moran 4, Ty Barta 4, Dalton Boehler 3, Konnor Gregerson 0 0-2 0. 20 13-29 56 (28r,16a,5s,5b)

RONAN – Leonard Burke 4 4-5 14 (4r,2s), Girma Detwiler 6 0-1 14 (7r,2a,1s), Elijah Tonasket 3 4-4 13 (3r,2s), Marlo Tonasket 2 0-0 5(4r), Ruben Couture 1 1-2 3 (3r,1a,2s,2b), Zarec Couture 0(1r,1a,1s), Payton Cates (2r), Sage Coffman 0 0-2 0 (1r). 16 9-14 49 (29r,5a,6s,1b)

State A loser-out

Ronan 38, Polson 37

Ronan 9 13 8 8 – 38

Polson 8 6 12 11 – 37

RONAN – Girma Detwiler 2 6-13 10 (11r,1a,6b), Marlo Tonasket 2 1-2 6 (5r), Ruben Couture 1 3-5 5 (4r,1a,1s), Zarec Couture 2 0-0 5 (8r,2a), Sage Coffman 1 2-2 5 (1r), Leonard Burke 3 (3r,2a,2s), Elijah Tonasket 2 (3r,2a,3s), Payton Cates 2 (1r,1s). 10 14-26 38 (41r,6a,7s,6b)

POLSON – Colton Graham 2 5-6 10 (10r,1a,2s), Jarrett Wilson 2 3-3 7 (7r,1a,6s), Darian Williams 3 0-1 7 (1s), Braunson Henriksen 0 6-6 6 (2r,1s,1b), Xavier Fisher 1 3-5 5 (1r,3s), Trevor Lake 2 (1a,2s), Alex Muzquiz 0 0-2 0, Trent Wilson (1r,2s), Sam Fisher (1a,1s), JC Steele (1r). 9 18-25 37 (26r,2a,16s,2b)

State A loser-out

Ronan 50, Hardin 46

Hardin 13 11 14 8 – 46

Ronan 14 18 8 10 – 50

HARDIN – Kevion Ladson 16 (4a), Taivon Ramos 4 4-8 10, Bryson Rogers 5, Hance ThreeIrons 5(8r), Tegan MedicineBull 2, Elias Stops At Pretty Places 2, Keenan Wuttnee 2, Troy Hugs 1, Jalen HighHawk 1. 16 11-26 46 (36r,11a,10s,4b)

RONAN – Leonard Burke 2 8-10 14 (3r,1a,3s), Elijah Tonasket 5 1-1 14 (5r,1a,2s), Zarec Couture 3 4-6 11 (12r,2a,1s), Girma Detwiler 0 4-7 4( 4r,1b), Ruben Couture 1 1-2 3 (3r,1a,2b), Sage Coffman 2 (3r,1s), Payton Cates 2 (4r,2s,1b), Marlo Tonasket 0 0-2 0 (6r,1a). 13 18-30 50 (43r,4a,7s,4b)

State A first round

Laurel 62, Ronan 44

Ronan 11 13 9 11 – 44

Laurel 13 11 15 23 – 62

RONAN – Leonard Burke 4 2-2 12 (1r,1a,1s), Ruben Couture 4 0-2 9 (7r,4a), Girma Detwiler 3 1-5 7 (7r,1a,1s,3b), Elijah Tonasket 2 1-2 6 (1r,2a), Marlo Tonasket 2 0-0 5 (1r,1a,1s), Zarec Couture 1 1-2 3 (3r,2a,1s), Payton Cates 2 (1r,2d), Sage Coffman (1r,1s). 17 5-13 44 (28r,12a,5s,3b)

LAUREL – Richard Cortese 22 (12r), Ty Barta 15, Colter Bales 9 (4a), Wylee Schnetter 6 (4a), Konnor Gregerson 5, Jace McNeil 3, Kyson Moran 2. 22 15-22 62 (39r,17a,3s,4b)