Broncs hold off Pirates in Northwestern A girls final

COLUMBIA FALLS — The Polson girls had their shot lined up to upset No. 2 Frenchtown at the Northwestern A Divisional girls basketball tournament on Saturday.

Staring down the long-armed defense of the Broncs down three points with 17 seconds to play, the Pirates inbounded the ball and passed it around the perimeter and found a wide-open Macall Banner behind the arc. Banner’s shot was on target, but hit the front rim, bouncing over to Frenchtown. The Pirates fouled, hoping to extend the game, but the Broncs hit both free throws, for a 40-35 victory.

“We set up that last shot for Riley (Kenney) in the corner but Macall took the shot there with about four seconds,” Polson coach Randy Kelley said. “It was a good shot, it was a good look. I’m proud of the girls. They worked their butt off.”

Banner’s shot was the last chance the Pirates had to tie it, but it certainly wasn’t the only one. Polson controlled the game for three quarters, but had to dig itself out of a rough second quarter that saw Frenchtown go on a 12-0 run and build a nine-point lead at halftime.

The Pirates worked their way back, pulling to within two points with 1:15 to play. Polson’s crowd sprang to its feet as senior guard Mariah Hamel, playing tight man defense near half court, looked to have stolen the ball and was on her way down court for the tie. Instead, she was called for her fifth foul, sending Frenchtown to the line, where the Broncs increased their lead to three.

There were five turnovers in the final 35 seconds between that free throw and Banner’s final shot. Polson had the ball twice with a chance to tie, traveling on one possession and setting an illegal screen on another. The Pirates turned Frenchtown over on an inbounds play for the third straight time and then called a timeout to set up their final shot.

“I’m not going to lie, (Hamel)’s our point guard, she’s our ballhandler,” Kelley said. “We’ve got to have her in there. We’re going to go as far as she’s going to take us.

“Riley’s our scorer but we’ve got to have Mariah in the game taking care of the ball. It did hurt us a little bit. If that game goes into overtime I’d have been scratching my head a bit.”

The tight defense was a staple all night for the Pirates, who took control of the game early. After an early bucket by the Broncs, Polson took charge, going on a 7-1 run, led by great rebounding and post play from Kenney and Heidi Rausch.

The Pirates led 11-7 after the first quarter and seemed to keep pushing forward in the second when Kenney drove to the cup and was fouled, hitting a free throw. Then Frenchtown switched to a full-court press, using its length to disrupt the timing of the Pirates, forcing Polson to rush its offense and make mistakes.

Frenchtown scored 10 points in less than two minutes and closed the half on a 16-2 run to lead 23-14 at halftime.

“We never really got settled in,” Kelley said. “We have two press breakers. We’ve got to get into our half-court sets, be patient. I thought we got a little hurried there in the second, it led to a couple turnovers.”

Polson slowly fought back as Kenney threw the team on her back. She opened the second half with a three-point play, hitting a tough layup, was fouled and made the free throw. She then closed the quarter the same way, sinking a floater from eight feet out while getting knocked out of bounds. After the free throw, Polson trailed by just five points entering the final eight minutes.

Frenchtown went back into its pressure defense to begin the fourth quarter but by then the Pirates had it figured out. Rausch made a difficult putback down low and made a nice dish off to Anna DiGiallonardo on the next trip down to pull the Pirates within three points of the lead, down 33-30, with 5:35 to play.

The teams traded buckets for the next few minutes until Kenney was able to hit a running hook with 1:15 to play, closing the gap to 37-35 and setting up the final sequence.

“I knew we’d battle back,” Kelley said.

“The girls battled back in the third, hung with them in the fourth, it was just a great basketball game.”

Kenney led the Pirates with a game-high 19 points. Sarah Lester led Frenchtown with 12.

Despite the loss, Polson is on its way to the state tournament, by virtue of its opening round win over Columbia Falls, the third place finisher. The Pirates open against Dillon, the Southwestern A champion.

Polson beat Dillon 49-36 on Dec. 10.

Polson 11 3 12 9 — 35

Frenchtown 7 16 8 9 — 40

POLSON — Mackenzie Banner 0 1-4 4, Mariah Hamel 1 3-4 5, Anna DiGiallonardo 2 0-0 4, Riley Kenney 8 3-4 19, Hallie Hovenkotter 1 0-0 2, Heidi Rausch 2 0-0 4. Totals: 14 7-12 35.

FRENCHTOWN — Vanessa Stavish 5 0-0 11, Kayla Blood 0 4-4 4, Angel Lowry 2 2-4 6, Emma Oostdyk 1 3-4 5, Holly Jacobs 1 0-0 2, Sarah Lester 5 1-2 12. Totals 14 10-14 40.

3-point goals — Frenchtown 2 (Stavish, Lester), Polson 0.; Fouls — Polson 16, Frenchtown 12. Fouled out — Hamel.