Pirates bound for Butte

There was no stopping the Polson Pirates from getting to the state tournament, not this time.

Too much size, too many offensive weapons, too much Louis Mohr.

Two days after falling to Columbia Falls in the Northwestern A divisional championship game, the Pirates needed to prove themselves as No. 2, and that they did.

Mohr scored 10 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter and the Pirates rolled past Ronan 54-38 at Glacier High on Monday night to clinch the team’s first state tournament berth since 2006.

“Sweated out the first half but the kids responded well,” Polson first-year head coach Brad Pluff said. “The conversation in the locker room at halftime was ‘You got 16 minutes to punch your ticket to state.’ And we ratcheted up the defense a little bit and finally started hitting some shots.”

The well-rounded Pirates jumped ahead from the start looking like a team bent on redeeming last year’s loss to Whitefish in the same situation on the same court. The Pirates had their season come to a screeching halt in last year’s challenge game as the Bulldogs pulled out a 45-41 win and advanced to state.

Not this year.

“We talked about it, they definitely remembered that, and they remember that feeling and they didn’t like it,” Pluff said. “Especially the older kids, they talked about it a lot. They talked about how bad that feeling was.”

Senior Tim Rausch had nine points and 10 rebounds and junior Kyle Bagnell, the conference scoring champ with 17.5 points per game this season, had six points and seven rebounds for Polson.

The Pirates play Billings Central on Thursday in the opening round of the Class A state tournament in Butte.

“It feels good, first year going to state since I’ve been a Pirate, so it should be nice,” said Mohr, a junior, who also had eight rebounds in the game. “I just try to keep my team going, make sure everyone is doing what they’re supposed to and we’ll win ... Let’s go make a statement at state.”

Ronan’s small size was a factor on Monday as it has been all season, but the Chiefs didn’t let that keep them from sticking within three points of Polson heading into the half.

“People say you can’t coach size, and we’re all of five-foot-nothing out there,” Ronan coach Steve Woll said. “Tonight we had some turnovers and some missed opportunities and it kind of imploded a little bit. But I thought the game was a lot closer than the score. I’m proud of our kids.”

In the second half Mohr provided the spark and the No. 2 seed Pirates outscored the Chiefs 2-to-1 from there.

“That was the key I think, our size. They’re just not big enough,” Pluff said. “They’re a good, scrappy, quick team and we don’t match up real well with them when we try to go man.”

“They just have so many offensive weapons,” Woll said. “I thought that was the tell-tale.”

The Chiefs were looking to play spoiler as the No. 5 seed and finish the season in third place after starting out 1-10.

“The kids started believing, started believing in the system, started believing in each other,” Woll said of the team’s impressive turnaround.

Polson    16    12    12    14    —    54

Ronan    13    12    5    8    —    38

POLSON — Kyle Bagnell 3 0-0 6, Sheldon Fisher 1 0-0 3, Cody Fischer 1 0-0 2, Tim Rausch 4 1-2 9, Louis Mohr 13 0-2 28, Tyler Krell 2 0-1 4, Derrick Rathe 1 0-0 2, Vince DiGiallonardo 0 0-0 0, Ian Laimbeer 0 0-0 0, Zach Camel 0 0-0 0, Will Davey 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 1-5 54.

RONAN — Jerod Tanner 6 0-2 12, Marcus Hungerford 3 4-7 11, Lucas Black 1 1-1 3, Justin Dustybull 1 0-1 2, Kevin Wroblewski 3 0-0 7, Colten Cheff 0 2-4 2, Brady Oakland 0 1-2 1, Gordon North Piegan III 0 0-0 0, Robert Gauthier 0 0-0 0, John Buckendahl 0 0-0 0, Jordan Franklin 0 0-0 0, Chris Clary 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 8-17 38.

3-point goals — Polson 3 (Mohr 2, Fisher), Ronan 2 (Wroblewski, Hungerford); Rebounds — Polson 46 (Rausch 10, Mohr 8, Bagnell 7), Ronan 26 (Hungerford 9, Black 4, Tanner 4); Turnovers — Polson 16, Ronan 13; Steals — Polson 9 (Tanner 2, Hungerford 2, Black 2), Ronan 8 (Rausch 3, Mohr 2, Fisher 2); Team fouls — Polson 20, Ronan 14; Fouled out — None.