Pirates, Bulldogs move on

By DAVID LESNICK

The Daily Inter Lake

COLUMBIA FALLS - Polson and Whitefish pressed on to Northwestern A Divisional title games Thursday afternoon with hard-fought semifinal victories over Bigfork.

Polson (14-5) cashed in from the free throw line in the late going, making seven of 10 shots, to hold off a determined Bigfork squad (8-12) 53-45 in boys play.

Then in girls action, Whitefish (13-6) battled through five ties and Ashley Ferda bailed out a woeful team free throw performance in the fourth quarter by sinking 3-of-4 shots from the charity stripe in the final 15 seconds as the Bulldogs denied a late charge by Bigfork (12-8) 51-45.

Polson advances to Saturday's championship night, 6:30, along with Whitefish, 8. Polson will face Columbia Falls (16-3) while Whitefish meets Polson (18-1).

Bigfork slips into loser-out action tonight. The boys play at 6:30 and the girls at 8.

Polson 53, Bigfork 45

Polson took a 14-point edge into the fourth quarter, but couldn't put the Vikings away.

"We didn't panic," said Polson coach Karl Tait. "Of all the things we did in this game, I'm most pleased with that. I felt it would be a tough game."

Polson may have won both regular season meetings quite handily with Bigfork, but the Vikings would have none of that this time.

Bigfork outscored Polson 15-9 in the final frame to make it interesting down the stretch.

Polson had just one field goal in the last quarter and scored all nine of its points in the last 3:06.

"Up by 14, we had the opportunity to stretch it out after that," said Tait.

"We need to put teams away at that point. We didn't do that."

Back-to-back treys by Nathan Roessmann and Roland Benedict had Bigfork close to within four, 49-45 with 24 seconds left.

Gabe Caye went 1-for-2 and Bubba Michel 3-for-4 to seal the win.

"When they grab the lead on you, they know how to put people away," said Bigfork coach Jim Epperly.

"They take care of the ball, they are very deliberate and they take good shots."

Epperly said the turning point of the contest was the third period. Bigfork scored just four points.

"I think that was the whole ballgame," said Epperly.

"That's what killed us. You can't afford to have a bad quarter against teams like that."

Polson's James Langston scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the first half. Michel and Colton Woods both finished with 14.

Robert Walters had 16 points for Bigfork, 14 coming in the opening half.

PIRATES 53, VIKINGS 45

Bigfork 15 11 4 15 - 45

Polson 12 18 14 9 - 53

Bigfork - Nathan Roessmann 3 0-0 7, Joe Wolstein 2 3-6 7, Trevor Thurman 1 2-2 4, Chad Edwards 1 0-0 2, Roland Benedict 1 0-0 3, Robert Walters 6 1-2 16, Isaiah Welch 2 2-4 6. Totals: 16 8-14 45.

Polson - Chris Ogle 0 1-2 1, Colton Woods 5 2-2 14, Gabe Caye 2 3-6 7, Bubba Michel 5 4-5 14, James Langston 6 5-9 17. Totals: 18 15-24 53.

3-point goals: Roessmann, Benedict, Walters (3); Woods (2). Team fouls: Bigfork 24, Polson 17. Fouled out: Roessmann, Welch; Ogle.

Whitefish 51, Bigfork 45

Whitefish was just five of 13 free throw shooting in the final period before Ferda's flurry at the end.

Bigfork's last gasp came with 31 seconds remaining on a field goal by Whitney Wilson as Bigfork was within three at 48-45.

Ferda then iced the game at the line.

Whitefish took the lead for good on a layup by Kirsten NallyMadigan, 30-28, with 2:02 left in the third period.

The Bulldogs' biggest lead was 10 points, 40-30, early in the fourth quarter.

Ferda and NallyMadigan both had three treys for Whitefish. NallyMadigan finished with 12 points.

"She shot the ball really well for us," said WHS assistant coach Mike Caldwell of NallyMadigan.

"All her three pointers came when we were struggling offensively."

Caldwell assumed head coaching duties for this contest because head coach Dean McFadden was slapped with a one-game suspension for being ejected from last week's regular-season finale.

"It didn't help us getting (Tracy) Schwada in foul trouble," said Caldwell.

"Dana Kabuda did a very good job of filling in for Tracy."

Bigfork was led by Alyssa Fierro's 19 points. She tallied nine in the final eight minutes.

Breana Brendsel added 11.

Like the Bigfork boys, the Vals also struggled through a tough third period - six points.

"We struggled to get anything anything to go down," said Bigfork coach Nate Hammond of that quarter.

"I looked up at the scoreboard and we were still up by two. I thought if only we could get in the flow we might be allright."

BULLDOGS 51, VALKYRIES 45

Bigfork 15 9 6 15 - 45

Whitefish 16 8 11 16 - 51

Bigfork - Hattie Bowen 2 0-1 4, Whitney Wilson 2 0-1 4, Carly Hilley 1 2-2 4, Breana Brendsel 2 7-10 11, Alyssa Fierro 8 2-5 19, Kaemyn Meagher 0 1-2 1, Jaylee Haveman 1 0-0 2. Totals: 16 12-21 45.

Whitefish - Kirsten NallyMadigan 4 1-2 12, Kirsten Blackburn 1 2-2 4, Ashley Ferda 9 3-10 24, Dana Kabuda 1 0-0 2, Tracy Schwada 1 3-6 5, Erin Greiner 1 2-4 4. Totals: 17 11-24 51.

3-point goals: Fierro; NallyMadigan (3), Ferda (3). Team fouls: Bigfork 19, Whitefish 19. Fouled out: Wilson.