End of the line: Pirates’ season ends with fifth-place showing at state
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BOZEMAN – The Pirates traveled to Bozeman this past weekend to fight for a shot at the Class A championship at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on the campus of Montana State University. The team looked hot in the opening frame of their first game against Butte Central, scoring a quick 17 points. The hot quarter came with the help of Vince DiGiallonardo’s three 3-pointers. By the beginning of the second quarter the Pirates built a 17-13 lead.
The team suddenly went cold during the second frame, allowing the Maroons to go on a 9-0 run. DiGiallonardo ended the dry spell with Polson’s only points in the second quarter by putting up a three with five seconds left on the clock. At the half Butte Central had taken a 23-20 the lead.
Polson continued to struggle offensively throughout the third frame as The Maroons went on an early 5-0 run in the first two minutes of the quarter. The Pirates fought back though, going on a 8-4 run over the next five minutes of play, yet found themselves down 33-36 at the beginning of the final frame.
The Maroons continued their stride during the fourth frame with Andy Ritter nailing a three a minute and thirty seconds into the quarter. Polson could only muster up one free throw in six minutes. Meanwhile, Butte Central took the opportunity to go on a 9-1 run.
During the final 90 seconds of the game, the Pirates began to cut into the lead as they went on a late 5-2 run, but it just wasn’t enough as they lost the opener 51-41.
DiGiallonardo led the Pirates with 12 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Louis Mohr finished the game with 10 points while Tyler Krell added nine.
Ritter led The Maroons with a game-high 13 points while Aschan Richards put up nine.
With the loss, the team moved to the loser out bracket to take on Billings Central Friday afternoon.
Mohr’s season high 33 points helped the Pirates put away the Rams, as Polson advanced with a 67-62 victory.
Billings Central showed Polson that they were ready for battle early on, with the Rams putting up a three pointer in the first fifteen seconds of the first frame. The Pirates responded, scoring quickly to go up 4-3 two minutes later. Midway through the frame, the Rams tied the game up at 6-6. At the beginning of the second quarter Billings Central possessed a 13-12 lead.
Sheldon Fisher hit a three pointer to put the Pirates up 19-18 just 90 seconds into the second quarter. The Pirates continued to extend their lead, going on a 14-9 run during the final four minutes of the half to take a 33-27 lead heading into the break.
The Pirates made a big push during the first four minutes of the third quarter, going on an 8-1 run to push their lead to 47-32. The Rams then went on their own run, scoring 10 of the game's next 15 points to close the gap to 52-42 heading into the fourth quarter.
Billings Central came back to outscore the Pirates during the final frame but it wasn’t enough as the Pirates had set themselves up nicely for the win. Polson was able to fight off the Rams’ attempt to climb back into the game as they came close within the final minute of play through sending Polson to the free throw line, but it just wasn’t enough as the Pirates were able to pull out the win, 67-62.
With the win, the Pirates moved on to a second looser out game against Laurel on Saturday. Polson started the game slow and could never catch back up with the Locomotives throughout the game. With the 62-54 loss, the team ended up 15-8 overall on the season.
Turnovers and poor shooting plagued the team as they attempted to get their offense on the right track throughout the first half of the game. Laurel also made it nearly impossible for the Pirates to pick up rebounds as the Locomotives did a great job boxing out and snatching up boards.
The Pirates had a hard time finding the rim in the first frame, only scoring six points as Laurel led 16-6 heading into the second quarter.
Laurel continued to build its lead through the first four minutes of the second frame, going on a 8-4 run to go up by 14. The Pirates fought back, going on a small run through the remainder of the half, cutting the lead to 26-19 at the break.
The Pirates kept on fighting as they took the stage in the third, closing the gap to only five points after five minutes of play. Polson, however, continued to struggle to pull down offensive rebounds, usually only getting one shot at the basket each possession. The Locomotives pulled away again in the final minutes of the third. At the beginning of the fourth frame Laurel possessed a 42-34 lead.
With three and a half minutes left in the game, Mohr took the ball down the court and laid it in to bring Polson within five, but that was as close as Laurel would let them get.
The final minutes were spent at the free throw line for both teams as Polson attempted to close in, but Laurel held their ground, hitting 8-8 free throws to end the game. At the final buzzer, Laurel remained on top, with a final score 62-54.
Mohr led the Pirates with a game-high 27 points, while Krell added 20. The rest of the team went just 3-27 from the floor.
David Swecker led Laurel with 20 points, while Luke Lohof and Bobby Anderson both put up nine apiece.
Summary
Loser Out
Laurel 62, Polson 54
Laurel16101620-62
Polson6131520-54
LAUREL - Jake McKinney 19, Luke Lohof 9, Anderson 9, David Swecker 20, Jay Dempster 3, Zach Cortese 2.
POLSON - Tyler Krell 20, Vince DiGiallonardo 2, Kyle Bagnell 5, Louis Mohr 27.
Loser Out
Polson 67, Billings Central 62
Billings Central13141520-62
Polson12211915-67
BILLINGS CENTRAL - Justin McDonald 8, Jacob Stanton 10, Ryan Burke 20, James Stanton 2, John Werner 2, Joe Barta 13, Ian Byorth 1, Daniel Meyer 2, Dylan Hanser 4.
POLSON - Tyler Krell 12, Vince DiGiallonardo 4, Kyle Bagnell 11, Sheldon Fisher 5, Luis Mohr 33, Zack Camel 3.
Opening Round
Butte Central 51, Polson 41
Polson173138-41
Butte Central13101315-51
POLSON - Louis Mohr 10, Kyle Bagnell 2, Tyler Krell 9, Sheldon Fisher 3, Vince DiGiallonardo 12, Zack Camel 3, Cody Fischer 2.
BUTTE CENTRAL - Phil Antonioli 7, Jonathan Richards 7, Aschan Richards 9, Andy Ritter 13, Colin Hollow 4, Keegan McCarthy 7, Zach Kasperick 3, Brady Tippett 1.
