State A boys: Glendive nips Polson, 52-49

MISSOULA — There was foul trouble for their best player, a lack of 3-point shooting and still, the Polson Pirates were right there.

Riley Basta’s 16 points included a driving layup that gave Glendive the lead with a minute left, and the Red Devils downed Polson 52-49 at the State A boys basketball tournament Thursday.

The Red Devils (17-5) advanced to Friday’s 5 p.m. semifinal against Butte Central (24-1). The Maroons built a 55-34 fourth-quarter lead on Havre on the way to a 61-49 win.

Polson (15-8) will take on Havre (10-13) in a loser-out game Friday at 9 a.m.

Glendive 52, Polson 49

A vocal Dahlberg Arena crowd saw Polson run out to a 25-17 lead, before Glendive scored the last nine points of the half. Polson standout Colton Graham picked up his third foul at 2:54 of the second quarter, when it was 25-19; Parker Buckley’s bucket put Glendive up 26-25 at intermission.

Things looked worse for the Pirates when Graham was called for an offensive foul just a few seconds into the third quarter. Then Polson responded, going on a 7-0 run and leading 32-28 on two Xavier Fisher free throws at the 3:29 mark.

“I thought we scrambled around pretty well,” Polson coach Randy Kelley said. “We haven’t had to do that all year — Graham hasn’t been in foul trouble all year. We put kids in some situations they’d never been in and I thought they weathered that.”

Nine lead changes followed, and it looked like a 6-0 burst in the fourth quarter — Braunson Henrickson scored on an up-and-under and Jarrett Wilson converted twice down low — that gave Polson a 47-44 lead might turn the tide.

“And then they kind of took to us inside a little bit and we didn’t respond to that,” Kelley said.

“This time of year is the little things that get you.”

Buckley (10 points) and Michael Murphy (13) scored down low and Glendive led 48-47 with 2:45 remaining. After Graham hit two free throws for a 49-48 Polson lead at 2:30, a Max Eaton free throw tied it for Glendive.

Then Polson went cold: Jarrett Wilson missed a free throw ahead of Buckley’s layup; then Graham took two mid-range bank shots that didn’t fall. At the end, after another Eaton free throw, Graham was short on a contested three.

“We had our shots,” Kelley said. “We had the ball in the right hands at the right moment. Sometimes they go in and sometimes they don’t.”

Wilson led Polson with 17 points and Graham added 11, including the Pirates’ only three in nine attempts. Trent Wilson had eight points and six rebounds; Fisher had eight points.

First round

Polson 15 10 11 13 - 49

Glendive 9 17 11 15 - 52

POLSON — Xavier Fisher 2-9 4-5 8, Jarrett Wilson 8-10 1-5 17, Trent Wilson 3-10 2-2 6, Dawson DuMont 0-4 0-0 0, Colton Graham 4-9 2-2 11, Nikolai Figaro 0-1 0-0 0, Braunson Henriksen 1-4 3-4 5, Alex Muzquiz 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Wenderoth 0-0 0-0 0, Espn Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan McCauley 0-0 0-0 0, Robert Perez 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 12-18 49.

GLENDIVE — Michael Murphy 5-12 2-3 7, Taven Coon 1-3 2-2 4, Max eaton 2-8 3-7 7, Riley Basta 5-10 5-5 16, Parker Buckley 4-5 0-1 10, Chase Crockett 1-1 0-0 0, Rhett Hoffer 0-0 0-0 0, Kobe Kutzler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-39 12-18 52.

3-point goals — Polson 1-9 (Graham 1-2, T.Wilson 0-1, DuMont 0-1, X.Fisher 0-5), Glendive 4-10 (Buckley 2-2, Murphy 1-3, Basta 1-3, Coon 0-2). Rebounds — Polson 30 (Graham 6, T.Wilson 6), Glendive 24 (Murphy 7). Fouls — Polson 21, Glendive 16. Fouled out — DuMont. Blocks — Polson 1 (Figaro), Glendive 4 (Murphy 2, Eaton, Coon). Steals — Polson 7 (J.Wilson 3), Glendive 6 (Basta 2, Murphy 2). Turnovers — Polson 12, Glendive 13.

Butte Central 61, Havre 49

Dougie Peoples scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Maroons, who led 36-22 at half and 51-31 going into the final frame.

Havre closed on a 15-6 run but it was too little too late. Peoples hit two 3-pointers and then, saddled with Tre Gary’s tight man-to-man defense, posted up for buckets.

Kyle Holter added 11 points and nine boards for Butte Central. Eric Loos had 11 and 11 as the Maroons ruled the boards 38-23.

Josh Currie led Havre with 11 points. Nine Blue Ponies scored, and they were 6-for-14 from 3-point range.