Pirates claim No. 3 seed to state

Lake County sent a total of eight teams to Western divisional basketball tournaments last weekend, and when the dust settled the Polson boys were the only team still standing.

The Pirates (8-2, 15-7) won three of four games to claim third place at the Western A tournament in Hamilton. Their only blemish was a 58-51 loss to Beaverhead County (Dillon) in a semifinal matchup Friday.

Polson’s three other games were against foes they’d already seen this season. They beat the host-team Broncs twice — 50-47 in the opener Thursday and 40-36 in the third-place game Saturday. It was the third meeting for the two teams. Hamilton earned 56-52 in the season’s second week.

In between their loss to Dillon and the second win over Hamilton, the Pirates faced league foe Browning and came away with a 74-64 win in a consolation game. The two teams split regular season games, with Browning winning by five at home on Jan. 15 and the Pirates taking a 67-37 win Feb. 12 in Polson.

The Pirates jumped out to a 15-5 lead in their opener Thursday against Hamilton. They led by 14 points heading into the fourth period, where they were outscored 17-6 down the stretch but managed to hang on for the win.

Colton Graham had a team-high 18 points for Polson, while Trent Wilson scored 15 and Jarrett Wilson finished with 11. Dawson Dumont contributed 6 points.

During the semifinal with Dillon, the two teams went back and forth with several ties and lead changes in the first half. Jarrett Wilson hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull Polson to within a point at 30-29 going into halftime. While the game remained close through most of the second half, the Pirates never regained the lead. The Beavers led by seven points heading into the fourth period and finished with the same margin.

Jarrett Wilson led the Pirates with 17 points, and Graham finished with 13. Dumont scored seven points, while Trent Wilson and Xavier Fisher each scored six.

Against Browning early Saturday, Polson trailed by four at the half but outscored the Indians 41-27 in the second half to advance to the third-place game.

Graham scored 28 points to lead the Pirates, while Fisher stepped up with 15 points in the win. Polson also got 14 points from Trent Wilson.

Graham finished with 19 points in the finale Saturday, another close game with Hamilton. The Broncs led by one point at halftime of a very defensive, half-court game. Jarrett Wilson scored nine points and Braunson Henriksen finished with six points.

The Pirates will be the No. 3 seed from the West at the Class A state tournament March 9-12 at the University of Montana in Missoula. Butte Central (11-1, 23-1) seized the top seed with a perfect run through the divisional tournament. The Maroons knocked off Dillon (11-1, 19-4) in the championship game Saturday night.

Hamilton (6-6, 15-10) is the West No. 4 seed, while Frenchtown (7-5, 13-8) defeated Browning in the fifth-place game to grab the final spot at state. The West sends five teams to Missoula, while the East will send four this year.

Polson opens against East No. 2 Dawson County (Glendive) (16-5) at noon Thursday, March 10, with the winner advancing to a state semifinal at 5 p.m. the following night.

Polson 40, Hamilton 36 (Sat.)

Hamilton 11 - 7 - 7 - 11 – 36

Polson 8 - 9 - 11 - 12 – 40

HAMILTON – Eli Taylor 10(8r), Asher Magness 10, Tyson Rostad 10(3s), Cole Dickemore 3(2a), Max Cianflone 3. Team: 12 7-10 36 (22r,6a,5s).

POLSON – Colton Graham 6 6-7 19(4r,1a), Jarrett Wilson 3 3-8 9(5r,1a,3s), Braunson Henriksen 3 0-1 6(5r), Trent Wilson 0 4-4 4(2r,1a,2s), Xavier Fisher 2(2r), Dawson DuMont (3r,1s), tm(1s). Team: 12 15-22 40 (21r,3a,7s).

3FGs – Hamilton 5 (Magness 2, Dickemore, Taylor, Cianflone), Polson 1 (Graham).

Polson 74, Browning 64

Browning 17 - 20 - 13 - 14 – 64

Polson 15 - 18 - 23 - 18 – 74

BROWNING – Tommy RunningRabbit 17, Tayron Burdeau 13, Jesse Carlson 9, Brayds Vielle 6, Maurice Redhorn III 5, Joe Bullshoe 4, Ty'Shay BearMedicine 4, Jamerson Lazyboy 3, Preston IronHeart 3. Team: 23 14-25 64

POLSON – Colton Graham 8 12-18 28, Xavier Fisher 6 1-2 15, Trent Wilson 6 2-5 14, Jarrett Wilson 2 1-3 5, Dawson Dumont 2 1-1 5, Braunson Henriksen 1 2-2 4, Robert Perez 1 0-1 2, Espn Fisher 1, Alex Muzquiz 0 0-2 0. Team: 26 20-36 74

3FGs – P (X.Fisher 2), Browning 4.

Dillon 58, Polson 51

Dillon 9 - 21 - 15 - 13 – 58

Polson 11 - 18 - 9 - 13 – 51

DILLON – Connor Curnow 24, Jonathan Kirkley 21, Callahan Hoffman 9, Max Davis 2, Eli Nourse 2. Team: 20 13-17 58

POLSON – Jarrett Wilson 8 0-0 17, Colton Graham 6 1-2 13, Dawson DuMont 3 0-1 7, Xavier Fisher 2 0-0 6, Trent Wilson 3 0-0 6, Braunson Henriksen 2. Team: 23 1-3 51

3FGs – Dillon 5 (Kirkley 4, Curnow), Polson 4 (X.Fisher 2, J.Wilson, DuMont).

Polson 50, Hamilton 47 (Thurs.)

Hamilton 5 - 15 - 10 - 17 – 47

Polson 15 - 13 - 16 - 6 – 50

HAMILTON – Eli Taylor 18(4a), Asher Magness 14(7r), Cole Dickemore 6, Tyson Rostad 5(4a,3s), Max Cianflone 4. Team: 17 6-17 47 (20r,10a,8s,1b).

POLSON – Colton Graham 7 4-6 18(8r,5a,2s), Trent Wilson 7 0-1 15(5r,1a), Jarrett Wilson 5 0-2 11(6r,4a,1s), Dawson Dumont 2 1-2 6(4r,1b), Xavier Fisher 0 0-1 0(3r,1a), Braunson Henriksen (4r,1a), Alex Muzquiz (1r), Robert Perez (1r), tm(2r,3s). Team: 21 5-12 50 (34r,12a,6s,1b).

3FGs – Hamilton 7 (Magness 2, O'Connell 2, Dickemore 2, Cianflone), Polson 3 (T.Wilson, J.Wilson, DuMont).

Editor's note: A previous version of this article misidentified Polson's first-round opponent at the state tournament, Glendive.