Polson surges past Wildkats
COLUMBIA FALLS - For 16 minutes, there was little rhythm to be found. But once Rochelle Woods got her hands on it, the Lady Pirates never let it go.
Woods scored eight points in the decisive third quarter Thursday night as the Polson High School girls' basketball team clipped Columbia Falls 56-41 in Northwestern A play.
Clinging to a 21-17 halftime lead, the Lady Pirates (9-8, 4-5 Northwestern A) outscored the Wildkats 18-6 in the third frame en route to their third straight victory. A junior forward, Woods went scoreless in the first half, but drained a 3-pointer 7 seconds into the second half and added another bucket 22 seconds later to give Polson a nine-point cushion.
Senior point guard Jessica Buckless added seven third-quarter points for Polson, and senior post Merilee Mowbray scored eight of her team-high 12 points after halftime.
The Lady Pirates hit all four of their treys in the second half, including two by Woods and one apiece by Buckless and junior guard Amanda James.
"I thought they'd come out in a 2-3 and extend it a little bit," Polson coach Randy Kelley said. "We just kind of switched up little things (in the second half) - what we were doing with our post a little bit so we would get the open look on the wing."
Columbia Falls led midway through the first quarter and trailed by just one point late in the second quarter. But it was a disappointing senior night for the Wildkats, who finished their regular season at 1-9 in conference play and 3-15 overall.
"I feel bad for these senior girls," Columbia Falls coach Dan Fairbank said. "It's the last time they get to play on the floor here.
"But at some point or another, they just have to figure out how to get almost nasty and just win games, and they're not to that point."
Senior forward Sarah Marcille led the Wildkats with 12 points, scoring six in each half. Sophomore post Kelsey DeWitt added 11 points, and freshman post Kayla DeWitt scored all nine of her points in the final frame. Junior guard Alyssa Ladenburg tallied six points.
The Wildkats outscored the Lady Pirates 18-17 in the fourth quarter. They opened the final frame with a 12-4 run, but couldn't trim their deficit to less than 10 points.
"There are a couple glaring things," Fairbank said. "We did not rebound as well as we normally rebound. We usually out-rebound everybody we play.
"They had five offensive putbacks or layups in the fourth quarter, so 10 of their points came from inside the key. It was uncharacteristic for us for two quarters where we just did not play the way we normally play."
Mowbray and sophomore forward Nicole Davey had five rebounds apiece for Polson, while junior forward Sarah Newton had four steals.
According to Kelley, the Lady Pirates discussed the importance of starting quickly after halftime.
"The third period has been kind of our nemesis, so it feels good to come out and get in the flow of things a little bit," he said.
Polson concludes its regular season at Libby on Saturday before a likely opening-round rematch with Columbia Falls at next week's Northwestern A divisional tournament.
"I think it's important that we peak against Libby Saturday night, going into divisionals with a pretty good mindset that we can play with anybody," Kelley said.
Columbia Falls will enter the divisional tournament with a No. 5 seed unless Ronan (1-8 Northwestern A) upsets Bigfork tonight, which would drop the Wildkats to No. 6.
"Hopefully, we'll pull it together because this is the team we're playing," Fairbank said. "Hopefully, the third time's a charm."
Polson 7 14 18 17 - 56
Columbia Falls 6 11 6 18 - 41
POLSON (9-8, 4-5) - Jessica Buckless 1 4-5 7, Amanda James 1 2-2 5, Rochelle Woods 4 0-0 10, Merilee Mowbray 4 4-6 12, Nicole Davey 2 2-3 6, Sarah Newton 1 2-5 4, Cali Hislop 2 0-0 4, Staci Benson 0 0-2 0, Loni Havlovick 2 0-0 4, Sierra Pete 1 1-3 3, Breanne Kelley 0 1-2 1. Totals 18 16-28 56.
COLUMBIA FALLS (3-15, 1-9) - Alyssa Ladenburg 3 0-4 6, Sarah Marcille 4 3-4 12, Cortny Westgard 0 0-3 0, Samantha Ladenburg 1 0-0 2, Colyne Hislop 0 1-3 1, Kelsey DeWitt 4 3-4 11, Kayla DeWitt 4 1-1 9. Totals 16 8-19 41.
3-point goals - Pol. 4 (Woods 2, Buckless, James), CF 1 (Marcille). Total fouls - Pol. 18, CF 20. Fouled out - none.