Pirates win district tourney
Rob Zolman
The Polson Pirates are three-peat district champs.
Rob Zolman
Pirate Connor Lanier races for a loose ball
Rob Zolman
Pirate Shade Main celebrates.
Rob Zolman
The Polson Pirate Cheer Squad entertains fans at half time.
Rob Zolman
Pirate Asa Askan launches a three-pointer.
Rob Zolman
Rob Zolman
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RONAN – It’s the third consecutive Northwestern A district tournament win for the Polson Pirates.
The second-seeded Polson Pirates defeated the fifth-seeded Ronan Chiefs 63-51 in the Northwestern A District championship game at the Ronan Event Center on Saturday evening.
The underdog district championship journey began for the Chiefs on Thursday evening by upending fourth-seeded Columbia Falls 65-52 and then upsetting first-seeded Browning 72-60 in the semifinal on Friday.
The Pirates advanced to the championship game with a bye in the first round and 59-50 victory over Libby in the semifinal on Friday evening.
In the championship game, the Chiefs jumped out to a quick 8-0 first quarter lead before the Pirates were able to get their offense going. By quarters end, the Pirates had battled back to knot the game up at 11-11.
The Pirates lead early in the second quarter. Ronan fought back to take a 16-15 lead mid-way through the quarter, but the Chiefs were unable to hold the lead for long. The Pirates ended the quarter on a 12-8 run taking a 27-24 lead into the locker room at the half.
Polson came out strong in the second quarter, taking a 39-31 lead into the final quarter of play.
The Pirates continued their strong play throughout the final quarter sealing their 63-51 victory and third consecutive Northwestern A district title.
Ezekiel Misa scored a game-high 24 points for the Chiefs, while Anthony Camel added another 15points.
Robin Erickson paced the Pirates with 15 points and both Trevor Schultz and Connor Lanier chipped in 11 points apiece.
The Pirates will enter the Western A divisional bracket as the number one seed out of the Northwest and will play Frenchtown on Thursday at 5 p.m., while the Chiefs will play Dillion at 11 a.m. on Thursday. Both games will be held at the Butte Civic Center.
On the girl’s side, the Ronan Maidens will face Frenchtown at 12:30 p.m. Thursday in the opening round of the Western A Divisional Tournament at the Butte Civic Center.
The Maidens were able to advance to divisional tournament action by finishing fourth at districts. On Thursday in the first round, the Maidens slipped past Whitefish 46-43. In their Friday semifinal match up, Columbia Falls defeated the Maidens 50-18 sending Ronan to a Saturday morning loser out game against the Polson Lady Pirates. The Maidens were able to defeat the Lady Pirates 45-23 but had to settle for a fourth-place finish falling 39-26 in the consolation game against Libby.
The post season ended quickly for the Lady Pirates as they dropped their opening round game on Thursday 31-22 to Libby and their Saturday morning loser out game to Ronan.
