Bagnell's offense, defense lead Pirates in fourth-quarter charge over Dogs
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POLSON — There are always lessons to be learned after a bad loss. The Polson Pirates seemed to have learned well from their's.
After playing the Flathead Braves close through three quarters last Tuesday night — and despite not shooting very well — the Pirates' wheels came off defensively in the fourth quarter. The Braves took full advantage to put up 34 points in the fourth quarter to run away with a 72-46 win.
"It was the worst shooting night we've had," Polson head coach Brad Pluff acknowledged. But, he emphasized, it was the breakdown on the defensive end that bothered him the most.
"Kalispell (Flathead) is a good, physical team ... and they were playing well. But we have to play better defense," Pluff explained. "I'm not worried about the shooting ... that will come. I told the boys you can have nights where you're not shooting well, but you can't have nights when you're not playing good defense. There's just no excuse for that."
Though Polson went 15-for-27 from inside the arc, the Pirates hit just two of 23 three-point attempts. While Tyler Krell led Polson with 14 points from the low post, the team's outside shooters struggled. Kyle Bagnell, the Pirates' leading jump-shooter, went 4-for-13 inside the arc and was 0-for-8 outside it. Tim Rausch, back from a baseball trip, scored just four points and Vince DiGiallonardo scored just five.
"It was easily Kyle's worst shooting night ... and Kyle and Tim are big scorers for us," coach Pluff said.
They'd hoped to put that all behind them Saturday night when the Whitefish Bulldogs came to Polson, missing their best shooter, Willie Roche, who is out with a knee injury. The Pirates focused on the remaining shooters — Gage Vasquez and Austin Green — but not soon enough.
Whitefish jumped out to a 19-10 first quarter lead and continued to build on that in the second quarter before Polson's defense finally adjusted.
"Oh my Lord, I think we were down 18 at one point ... they couldn't miss," Pluff said. "We knew Vasquez was good but then Austin Green went off. Part of that was we didn't get out on them."
Halfway through the second quarter Polson switched from its zone defense to man-to-man, putting DiGiallonardo on Green. DiGiallonardo spent the reset of the night harassing the Bulldog shooter, who had 16 points in the first half but netted just three free throws in the second half.
"Vince did a good job on Green and just didn't let him have the ball," Pluff noted.
Polson's offense perked up in the second quarter, too, led by Bagnell, who netted a game-high 25 points. Cody Fischer also came in off the bench in the second to hit eight straight points.
"We've been on a three-game slump, but Kyle shot well in the second to get us started," Pluff said. "Then they were just sagging off Cody (Fischer) and he hit a couple big threes, then a 15-footer from the baseline. If you leave him open, he can shoot, that's for sure."
Polson cut Whitefish's lead to five at the half (37-32) and turned up the defensive heat in the first half.
Bagnell continued to shoot well in the fourth, but his four steals were just as impacting. His last one came under a minute to play with Polson up by one point. The junior hauled tail down the court, made the layup and drew the foul, sinking the free throw to put the Pirates up by four.
"Kyle (Bagnell) had some big, big steals ... that (last one) put us up four and was big," his coach emphasized.
The Pirates also hit eight of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter.
DiGiallonardo finished the night with 11 points and six assists, while Fischer scored 10 and Rausch netted eight. Krell had eight rebounds to go with four points.
"Vince played a solid game ... the big part is he takes care of the ball for us and had no turnovers," coach Pluff said. "We had eight turnovers as a team, which is a season-low for us."
Bagnell and Rausch lead the Northwestern A in scoring, averaging 16.45 and 15.20 points per game, respectively. DiGiallonardo is also tied for ninth, average 9.45 points.
Now 7-4 and 3-1 in conference, the Pirates host a pair of non-conference games this week with Hamilton on Friday and Stevensville on Saturday. They'll play without Rausch again, who will be gone on another baseball trip.
Summary
Flathead 72, Polson 46
Polson 10 13 13 10–46
Flathead 15 10 13 34–72
POLSON - Vince DiGiallonardo 5, Kyle Bagnell 10, Cody Fischer 4, Tim Rausch 4, Will Davey 2, Derrick Rathe 7, Tyler Krell 14.
FLATHEAD - Dean Stimpson 4, Keaton Jordt 3, Tanner Salois 15, Matt McLean 2, Ian Gillespie 3, Karl Ingram 16, Joe Bistore 2, George Sherwood 14, Mike Vanarendonk 2, Connor Tice 1, Shea Schroeder 2, Jeremy Grosswiler 10.
Polson 64, Whitefish 58
Whitefish 19 18 8 13–58
Polson 10 22 8 24–64
WHITEFISH - Chris Forrest 2, Mac Roche 4, Austin Green 19, Gage Vasquez 21, Cooper Olsen 3, Connor Silliker 4, Zach Maassey 5.
POLSON - Vince DiGiallonardo 11, Kyle Bagnell 25, Zach Camel 3, Cody Fischer 10, Tim Rausch 8, Derrick Rathe 3, Tyler Krell 4.
