Flathead sinks Polson

Karl Ingram and the Flathead Braves showed how to turn a lead from two into 22 real fast on Tuesday night.

Unfortunately for Polson, it came at their expense.

Ingram scored 10 of his game-high 16 points in the final frame and led a gust of offense that knocked down the cold-shooting Pirates for good. Flathead outscored Polson 34-10 in the fourth quarter and grabbed the nonconference home victory 72-46 for its second win in a row.

“The best thing we did was defensively in that fourth quarter we generated more offense,” Flathead coach Fred Febach said. “We got some breakaways and cashed in on those and got a nice cushion after that and then we were able to play a little more relaxed and more confident out there.”

Flathead led from the start but only by the narrowest of margins at times. Heading into the final eight minutes, the Braves were up 38-36 before Ingram turned in a seemingly innocent quick layup that turned into the spark of a 20-2 Flathead firestorm in about five minutes.

Meanwhile, the Pirates found themselves mired in a cold streak that couldn’t be snapped. Polson finished the game shooting 30 percent (17-for-55) as a team while the top two leading scorers in Northwestern A, Tim Rausch and Kyle Bagnell, combined for only 14 points.

“It almost seemed like there was a lid on the rim for us,” Polson first-year coach Brad Pluff said. “We’re a better shooting team than that. I never would have thought with this crew that we would shoot the ball like that but give Flathead credit, they played good defense and they’re a good team.”

Tanner Salois had another big night from behind the 3-point line and hit three treys en route to 15 points and had seven assists while George Sherwood added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Braves (4-4 overall).

Center Tyler Krell was the lone Pirate to solve the scoring crisis for Polson throughout and finished with 14 points. Bagnell and Rausch, who came into the game averaging roughly 17 points a game apiece, never found their touch. Bagnell worked in 10 points and was the only other Polson scorer besides Krell to hit double-digits.

“We just kept waiting for Kyle and Tim to kick on,” Pluff said. “They had a tough night and you’re going to have nights like that and I told them that. It’s one of those nights and we’ll just forget about it and move on.”

The Pirates have lost two straight and drop to 6-4 overall.

Flathead showed how strong its depth can be with solid performances from Joe Pistorese, who filled in at point guard and helped the offense get into rhythm at the end, and Jeremy Grosswiler, who scored 10 points off the bench.

“I really liked the fact that we made some adjustments in the fourth quarter,” Febach said. “(Polson) missed shots, which helped ... The first three quarters, I thought Polson basically outplayed us. I thought my kids did a really nice job particularly in the fourth quarter of saying ‘Hey, let’s play the way we know how.’”

Flathead stays on the nonconference trail and plays at Whitefish on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Polson then hosts conference foe Whitefish on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Polson    10    13    13    10    —    46

Flathead    15    10    13    34    —    72

POLSON — Vince DiGiallonardo 2 0-0 5, Kyle Bagnell 4 2-6 10, Cody Fischer 2 0-0 4, Tim Rausch 1 2-2 4, Will Davey 1 0-0 2, Derrick Raithe 2 2-2 7, Tyler Krell 5 4-6 14, Ian Laimbeer 0 0-0 0, Zack Camel 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 10-16 46

FLATHEAD — Dean Stimpson 1 0-0 2, Keaton Jordt 1 0-0 3, Tanner Salois 6 0-0 15, Matt McLean 1 0-0 2, Ian Gillespie 1 0-0 3, Karl Ingram 8 0-0 16, George Sherwood 5 4-4 14, Mike VanArendonk 1 0-0 2, Connor Tice 0 1-2 1, Jeremy Grosswiler 4 2-2 10, Shea Schroeder 1 0-0 2, Joe Pistorese 1 0-0 2. Totals 30 7-8 72.

3-point goals — Polson 2 (DiGiallonardo, Rathe); Flathead 5 (Salois 3, Gillespie, Jordt); Team rebounds — Polson 32 (Krell 5, Rathe 5, DiGiallonardo 5), Flathead 38 (Sherwood 7, Ingram 7); Team turnovers — Polson 9, Flathead 11; Team assists — Polson 14 (DiGiallonardo 4), Flathead 27 (Salois 7, Sherwood 5); Team steals — Polson 10 (Bagnell 4, DiGiallonardo 3), Flathead 8 (Sherwood 2, Ingram 2); Team fouls — Polson 13, Flathead 17; Fouled out — None.