Just short: Chiefs fall in thriller to Dillon

BILLNGS - The Chiefs played another wildly-entertaining game decided by one possession. It was just as painful as the last one.

The Ronan High School boys' basketball team lost a 53-50 thriller to Dillon on Friday afternoon in loser-out action at the Class A state tournament. The Chiefs' second three-point defeat in two days ended a remarkable season that appeared unlikely two years ago when the squad went 0-19.

Just like Thursday's 46-43 loss to Butte Central, Ronan had a chance to force overtime at the buzzer. And once again, the Chiefs' long 3-point attempt - this time by senior standout Moss Tanner - bounced off the front of the iron.

Though Friday's final sequence resembled Thursday's, Ronan's sharp performance was a substantial improvement upon its erratic first-round effort.

The Chiefs led five times against the defending state champions in a seesaw affair that featured 10 lead changes and 11 ties. Ronan led 25-21 at halftime, and the teams were tied after the first and third quarters and were never separated by more than five points.

Tanner gave Ronan a 36-35 edge with a short-range bucket late in the third quarter, but the Chiefs never built a comfortable lead. Dillon went ahead for good, 49-48, on Stephen Resset's free throw with 1:38 left in the game.

Micheal Allen drained a pair of free throws to put the Beavers up by three, 51-48, with 28.1 seconds left, but Tanner responded with another clutch layin to draw the Chiefs within a point, 51-50, with 6.3 seconds to go. Dillon's Bryce Carver hit another pair of free throws with 4.8 seconds left before Tanner's final heave came up just short from well downtown.

It was one of the few times that Northwestern A divisional champion Ronan (16-7) couldn't answer Southwestern A runner-up Dillon's heroics. Free of the foul trouble that hampered him on Thursday, Tanner scored a game-high 14 points to go along with seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals.

Senior guard Jordan St. Clair and junior forward Nolan Harris scored 11 points apiece for Ronan, which nearly became just the third class A team to beat Dillon (18-4) this season. Junior guard Mike Fisher had seven points and four rebounds, while senior Ryon Hesselgesser had five points and seven boards off the bench.

"For the most part throughout the season, we got those plays at the end of a game when we needed to make some, and won some games because of it," Ronan coach John Hollow said. "It just seemed like we had one or two possessions that we could never capitalize on to get the lead there late in both games."

The Chiefs shot just 35.8 percent from the field compared to 51.6 percent to Dillon, but they stayed in the contest by out-rebounding the Beavers, 29-25, and forcing 23 Dillon turnovers. Carver led a balanced Dillon attack with 12 points and five rebounds, followed by Corey Eisenzimer and Dylan Whiting with 11 points apiece.

The Beavers continue loser-out play today at 11 a.m. against Stevensville.

"I think we executed better today," Hollow said. "Yesterday, as poorly as we did play, we played our hearts out.

"I'll be the first to tell you this isn't the utmost-talented group of kids, but they are as good as they are because of how hard they play and the little things they do, and today we did those."

Harris had one of the game's top hustle plays, falling down on a 3-point attempt before racing back to stop the Beavers in transition. He finished with seven rebounds and three steals.

Tanner was the only one of Ronan's six seniors who wasn't part of the Chiefs' winless 2005-06 season. He moved to Ronan as a junior, and leaves a winning legacy along with classmates Hesselgesser, Makenzy Kelch, St. Clair, Micah Lee and Mike Crawford.

"I have some good feelings about this because I came to (Ronan's) facility with my head high, and I wanted to turn it around," Tanner said.

"Hopefully, our senior class gives (the returning players) enough confidence where they bring it from here going onto next year."

"I think (the seniors) set the work ethic that needs to be maintained for us to stay at this level," Hollow said. "They earned everything they've gotten out of this year with what they've done in the offseason and whatnot. So … they've brought the program back to life, and that means a lot."

Dillon 12 9 15 17 - 53

Ronan 12 13 11 14 - 50

DILLON (18-4) - Bryce Carver 3-6 5-6 12, Micheal Allen 2-5 2-2 6, Stephen Resset 1-2 4-6 6, Brock Myllymaki 2-7 3-3 7, Corey Eisenzimer 3-6 5-6 11, Dylan Whiting 5-5 1-4 11. Totals 16-31 20-27 53.

RONAN (16-7) - Moss Tanner 7-11 0-0 14, Mike Fisher 2-8 3-4 7, Jordan St. Clair 4-7 1-3 11, Nolan Harris 4-16 0-0 11, Ryon Hesselgesser 2-8 1-1 5, Eddie Ness 0-1 1-2 1, Mike Crawford 0-0 0-1 0, Kyle Hendrickx 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 19-53 7-13 50.

3-point goals - Dil. 1-5 (Carver 1-3, Allen 0-1, Myllymaki 0-1), Ron. 5-23 (Harris 3-11, St. Clair 2-5, Fisher 0-3, Hesselgesser 0-2, Ness 0-1, Hendrickx 0-1). Rebounds - Dil. 25 (Carver 5, Allen 5, Eisenzimer 5, Myllymaki 3, Resset 2, Whiting 2, Brandon Boka, team 2), Ron. 29 (Tanner 7, Harris 7, Hesselgesser 7, Fisher 4, Makenzy Kelch 2, St. Clair, Hendrickx). Assists - Dil. 13 (Allen 7, Resset 3, Myllymaki 3), Ron. 12 (Tanner 7, Ness 2, Fisher, Kelch, Harris). Blocks - Dil. 1 (Eisenzimer), Ron. 0. Steals - Dil. 10 (Carver 3, Myllymaki 3, Allen 2, Tim Goins, Whiting), Ron. 13 (Harris 3, Ness 3, Tanner 2, Hesselgesser 2, Kelch, Micah Lee, Crawford). Turnovers - Dil. 23, Ron. 17. Total fouls - Dil. 15, Ron. 18. Fouled out - St. Clair.