Pirates seize state hardware
The Polson Pirates celebrate after clinching a victory over Dillon on Saturday at the class A state tournament in Missoula. They followed the win with another against Hamilton later Saturday to claim third place. For more on the tournament, see Sports. (Courtesy of Bob Gunderson)
The boys from Polson finished the season strong this time around and collected their bounty.
The Pirates (18-8), the No. 3 seed from the West, lost their opener at the class A state basketball tournament in Missoula on Thursday, a 52-49 defeat to East No. 2 seed Glendive.
Despite the early disappointment, there was still plenty to play for, and the Pirates pulled off an exciting run through consolation play to claim this year’s third-place trophy.
After the Glendive game, Polson routed Havre, edged Dillon in overtime and rallied to knock off Hamilton in their season finale.
The Pirates and the Polson cheerleaders were escorted by fire engines and a long line of supporters as they returned home in the dark Saturday night.
Butte Central ran the table to claim the class A state title. The Maroons defeated Lewistown 61-58 in the championship game. Despite the opening win over Polson, Glendive lost to Hamilton in overtime Saturday morning and failed to claim a trophy.
Against Hamilton (17-13) in the third-place game, Colton Graham scored in the paint to give Polson a 53-52 lead late, and Jarrett Wilson scored the Pirates’ final four points on a pair of putback shots in traffic as the Pirates beat the Broncs for the third time in recent weeks — including twice at the divisional tournament.
The lead changed several times throughout the first half, with Polson going on a 7-2 run in the end for a 25-19 lead at halftime.
The Pirates built the lead to 13 points with 5:40 left in the third, thanks to a pair of buckets from Graham and a 3-pointer from Xavier Fisher. The Broncs chipped away at the lead, however, and got it down to a single point (43-42) heading into the fourth period.
The Broncs took the lead with 3:10 left when Tyson Rostad scored and was fouled by Braunson Henriksen. Rostad made the free throw to put Hamilton up 52-51, but they didn’t score again.
Hamilton’s Asher Magness missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that wouldn’t have affected the outcome, and Polson’s Dawson DuMont pulled down the rebound to seal the season-ending victory.
Graham finished with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Wilson led the way with 24 points and seven rebounds. Fisher scored eight points, with six coming on 3-pointers.
Before advancing to face Hamilton, Polson began Saturday with a morning consolation game against Dillon (20-6). The Beavers defeated the Pirates 58-51 at the divisional tournament two weeks prior, and the state matchup was an even tighter contest.
Dillon’s shooters hit from the outside early on to build a 13-7 lead. Polson’s first seven points all came from Fisher, who was 2-for-5 from beyond the arc and finished with 10 points. Dillon led most of the first half and held a three-point lead at the break, but Graham erased the lead right away with a 3-pointer to open the second half.
The Pirates built a four-point lead with 1:20 left in the third when Henriksen scored in the paint, was fouled and converted the free throw. But the Beavers connected on a 3-pointer and hit a pair of free throws to take a 34-33 lead into the final period.
Dillon pulled away and led 42-35 with 3:15 remaining. Then Graham hit a 3-pointer to spark an 8-2 run. He hit another with 20 seconds remaining in regulation, perhaps his most clutch shot of the season, to tie the game at 46-all, the score to end regulation.
With 37 seconds remaining in overtime, Graham hit the first of two free throws but missed the second. Wilson got the rebound, however, and was fouled. He made both free throws, the second one rolling around the rim before going in, to give Polson the lead for good. Wilson made two more free throws with nine seconds left to seal the win.
The Pirates had four players finish in double-digit scoring against Havre (9-14) in a loser-out game Friday. Graham scored 19 and Jarrett Wilson had 17, while Fisher and Trent Wilson each scored 15.
Polson pulled away with a big second quarter and never looked back.
Henriksen finished with eight points and five rebounds.
The Pirates’ lone defeat of the tournament, a 52-49 loss to Glendive, came Thursday. Graham ran into foul trouble early and committed his third with 2:54 left in the first half, which ended with Glendive up 26-25.
Graham picked up his fourth foul just 30 seconds into the second half on a charge call in the paint.
The Pirates hung tough despite the fouls. Neither team led by more than four the rest of the way.
Dumont fouled out with 2:10 left in the game, and Glendive tied it up at 49-all. Graham missed a shot in traffic with 13 seconds left, and his 3-pointer to tie the game at the buzzer was off the mark.
Polson 57, Hamilton 52
Hamilton 12 - 7 - 23 - 10 – 52
Polson 12 - 13 - 18 - 14 – 57
HAMILTON – Asher Magness 7 0-0 18, Eli Taylor 6 3-3 16(3a,3s), Tyson Rostad 10(9r), Max Cianflone 5, Cole Dickemore 3. Team: 18 9-10 52 (25r,6a,4s,4b).
POLSON – Jarrett Wilson 12 0-2 24(7r,1a,2s), Colton Graham 6 1-3 13(9r,3a,1s,1b), Xavier Fisher 3 0-0 8(1r), Trent Wilson 4 0-0 8(8r,1a), Dawson DuMont 2(5r), Braunson Henriksen 2(3r), Robert Perez (1r). Team: 27 1-5 57 (34r,5a,4s,1b).
3FGs – Hamilton 7-23 (Magness 4-11, Cianflone 1-2, Taylor 1-4, Dickemore 1-6), Polson 2-7 (X.Fisher 2-6).=
Polson 53, Dillon 52 (OT)
Polson 13 - 6 - 14 - 13 - 7 – 53
Dillon 15 - 7 - 12 - 12 - 6 – 52
POLSON – Colton Graham 6 3-4 20(8r,3a,2s), Jarrett Wilson 4 4-4 12(3r,4a,5s), Xavier Fisher 3 2-6 10(1r,2a,1s), Braunson Henriksen 4 1-1 9(5r,1b), Trent Wilson 2(3r,2s), Dawson DuMont 0(3r,1s), Nikolai Figaro (1r), Brock Henriksen 0, tm(5r). Team: 18 10-15 53 (29r,9a,11s,1b).
DILLON – Connor Curnow 22, Jonathan Kirkley 9(10r,4a,2s), Callahan Hoffman 9(2b), Caden Hansen 8, Eli Nourse 4. Team: 18 11-18 52 (31r,12a,6s,4b).
3FGs – Polson 7-17 (Graham 5-11, X.Fisher 2-5), Dillon 5-16 (Curnow 2-2, Hansen 2-7, Kirkley 1-4).
Polson 74, Havre 58
Polson 18 - 24 - 19 - 13 – 74
Havre 19 - 15 - 13 - 11 – 58
POLSON – Colton Graham 6 6-8 19(6r,4a,6s,1b), Jarrett Wilson 5 7-10 17(5r,6a,5s), Xavier Fisher 4 3-4 15(2a,4s), Trent Wilson 6 3-4 15(4r,3a,2s), Braunson Henriksen 4 0-0 8(5r), Dawson DuMont 0(1r,1a), Espn Fisher (1s). Team: 25 19-26 74 (24r,16a,18s,1b).
HAVRE – Xavier Butler 23(3b), Isaac Pedraza 9(6a), Caleb Spangler 8(6r), Shane Patascil 7, Tre Gary 5, Caden Jenkins 4, Crawford Terry 2. Team: 23 6-11 58 (27r,17a,2s,3b).
3FGs – Polson 5-14 (X.Fisher 4-9, Graham 1-4), Havre 6-14 (Butler 3-5, Patascil 2-3, Pedraza 1-3).
Glendive 52, Polson 49
Polson 15 - 10 - 11 - 13 – 49
Glendive 9 - 17 - 11 - 15 – 52
POLSON – Jarrett Wilson 8 1-5 17(5r,3s), Colton Graham 4 2-2 11(6r,1a,2s), Xavier Fisher 2 4-5 8(2a,1s), Trent Wilson 3 2-2 8(6r,1a,1s), Brauson Henriksen 1 3-4 5(4r), Dawson DuMont 0(4r), Nikolai Figaro 0(1r,1b). Team: 18 12-18 49 (30r,4a,7s,1b).
GLENDIVE – Riley Basta 16, Michael Murphy 13, Parker Buckley 10, Max Eaton 7, Taven Coon 4, Chase Crockett 2. Team: 18 12-18 52 (24r,9a,6s,4b).
3FGs – Polson 1-9(Graham 1-2), Glendive 4-10 (Buckley 2-2, Basta 1-3, Murphy 1-3).
