Basketball Roundup: Maidens hang on for win at Mission

ST. IGNATIUS — Senior LaReina Cordova scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds as the Ronan Maidens held on for a 53-47 nonleague victory at class B Mission on Saturday.

Ronan (6-3) pulled out to a 9-4 lead early on, but Mission climbed back. Freshman Kason Page put in a layup to close the gap to two points with 1:40 remaining.

Kason Page finished with a team-high 19 points and hit four 3-pointers. Her sister, senior Kooper Page, scored 14 points and had five rebounds following a missed week of practice due to illness.

Ronan built a lead again in the second period, but Mission (6-3) again rallied. Kason Page hit a 3-pointer with 2:15 left in the first half to cut the Maidens’ lead to 21-20. Ronan went on a 7-0 run to close out the first half, which ended with Ronan’s Dani Coffman making a layup at the buzzer on an inbounds play. Coffman finished with three points and nine rebounds.

The Maidens led 28-20 at the break, and they extended the lead to 41-30 going into the final period.

The Lady Bulldogs put together a 15-9 run down the stretch, including a pair of 3-pointers from Kason Page and seven quick points from Kooper Page.

Mission sophomore Izzy Evans made a layup with five seconds remaining to close the gap to 51-47, but the Maidens put the game away from the free throw line.

Ronan 53, Mission 47

Ronan 11 - 17 - 13 - 12 – 53

Mission 10 - 10 - 10 - 17 – 47

RONAN – LaReina Cordova 6 4-5 17 (5r,2s,1b), Olivia Heiner 6 1-6 14 (6r,3a,4s), Leina Ulutoa 3 1-7 7 (6r,1a,1s), Margaret Cordova 2 0-1 4 (2r,5a,2s), Lauryn Buhr 1 2-3 4 (2r,1a,1s), Dani Coffman 1 1-2 3 (9r,2a,1s), Kylie Fetui 2 (4r), Haylie Webster 1 (1r,1a), Isabella Devereaux-Trahan 1 (1a). Team: 20 11-28 53 (43r,14a,11s,1b).

MISSION – Kason Page 7 1-2 19 (3r,3a,4s), Kooper Page 5 2-4 14 (5r,1a,2s), Madyson Currie 3 1-6 7 (6r,6a,2s,1b), Olivia Adams 1 1-2 3 (1r), Izzy Evans 2 (10r,1a,3s), Gabby Smith 0 2-6 2 (12r,1s). Team: 17 6-14 47 (39r,11a,12s,1b).

3FGs – R2- (L.Cordova 1-2, Heiner 1-6), MSI 7-28 (Ka.Page 4-9, Ko.Page 2-11, Currie 1-4).

Mission’s road game at Plains scheduled for Friday night was postponed due to covid protocols at Plains High School.

Thursday at Ronan, the Maidens faced Columbia Falls with second place in the Northwest A on the line.

The WildKats (7-2, 4-1) featured a tough zone defense, and the Maidens had a tough time penetrating the paint on their way to a 52-45 home loss.

LaReina Cordova led Ronan with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Olivia Heiner scored 10 points. Dani Coffman and Leina Ulutoa each scored nine. Margaret Cordova notched eight assists.

Columbia Falls led by 12 at half and by nine after three periods, but Ronan clawed back into things and cut the lead to five points with 2:08 remaining on an Ulutoa free throw.

Columbia Falls guard Maddie Robinson converted a late three-point play following a layup and a foul to put the game away.

Tuesday, Jan. 11 at Arlee, Dani Coffman scored 15 to go with six rebounds and five steals, LaReina Cordova had 10 points and Olivia Heiner scored eight and nabbed seven steals as the Maidens cruised to a 53-21 win over the Scarlets (3-7).

Ronan took a 28-3 lead into halftime.

Princess Bolen led Arlee with eight points, while Leah Mesteth adde six. Xaria Jacobson scored four and McKirah Fisher added three points for the Scarlets.

Alree’s home game against Plains on Saturday night was postponed.

Graham scores 1,000th point in OT win

Polson’s all-state senior Colton Graham just missed a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds Jan. 11 at Frenchtown, where the Pirates (2-2, 4-5) let a late lead slip away before winning 56-53 in overtime.

Graham surpassed 1,000 career points in the victory and scored four points in the extra time to help seal the win.

Jarrett Wilson finished with 13 points, and Braunson Henriksen added eight points and six rebounds. Nikolai Figaro contributed eight points.

Polson led 42-31 heading into the final period, when Frenchtown rallied to tie things up. But the Broncs (5-3) managed just one point in overtime.

Graham followed that performance with a 30-point night Saturday at Browning, where the Pirates fell 70-65.

Graham had 11 rebounds to go with his 30 points, and Jarrett Wilson added 11 points.

The contest was tight over the course of the last three periods, but an early seven-point lead for the Indians (2-2, 5-3) proved too much to overcome.

Love’s bomb lifts Vikings

Tucker Love hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer off an inbounds pass to give Charlo a 58-57 win at Hot Springs on Saturday.

Trailing by two with 9 seconds remaining, Charlo called timeout to draw up the final play. Stetson Reum got the assist on the game winner and finished with 12 points. Wesley Anderson had 11 points for Charlo (3-1, 6-4).

Garth Parker led Hot Springs (4-1, 6-2) with 15 points.

Lady Vikings steamroll Hot Springs

Mila Hawk poured in 20 points to go with seven assists and seven steals as the Charlo girls coasted to a 50-17 win at Hot Springs on Saturday.

Charlo (5-0, 9-1) was well rested after Saturday’s home game against Superior was postponed due to a covid outbreak at Superior.

Cassidy Cox scored 12 points for Charlo, and Hayleigh Smith added nine points. Darcy Coleman finished with a team-high seven rebounds.

Chiefs hold off Warriors

Ronan’s Payton Cates notched his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds as the Chiefs outlasted Arlee for a 57-49 win Jan. 11 at Ronan.

Arlee’s Levi Fullerton led all scorers with 20 points in the loss. The Warriors (6-4) also got 11 points from Ben OldPerson Harlow and six each from Ethan Fiddler and Jake Knoll.

Ruben Couture scored 11 points to go with six rebounds for Ronan. Elijah Tonasket finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

A covid outbreak among the Ronan team wiped out the Chiefs’ schedule for 10 days. Games at Columbia Falls on Thursday and Mission on Saturday were postponed. Ronan resumes play Friday night at Whitefish.

Several boys games were suspended due to covid last week. Plains’ games at home Friday against Mission and on the road Saturday at Arlee were both postponed.

Lady Pirates lose two

At Browning on Saturday, a depleted Lady Pirate squad began strong and finished strong despite missing five varsity regulars, including two starters, but fell 65-40.

Lexi Wirz and Mckenna Hanson led Polson (2-3, 3-7) with 11 points each, while Jazlyn Dalbey notched nine.

Scoring their first varsity career points were cross-country all-stater Ashtyn Wagner and freshman Sammy Rensvold.

Grace Simonich and Nikki Kendall each pulled down eight rebounds.

Browning (3-0, 6-1) sits atop the Northwest A standings and remained undefeated in conference play. Mecca BullChild led the way with 16 points for the home team.

Tuesday, Jan. 11 at Frenchtown, Ari Burke hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 12 points in a 60-30 Lady Pirates loss.

Polson trailed 31-12 at half.

Nikki Kendall finished with five points for Polson, while Jaivin BadBear, Julia Barnard and Grace Simonich scored three each.