On a roll
Pirates take down Big Sky, run past Whitefish
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POLSON - The Pirates offense put 76 points on the board in both games this week as Polson picked up a pair of wins to improve to 3-1 on the season.
The Pirates used a strong fourth quarter to pull away from Big Sky at home Thursday evening for a 76-61 win before opening Northwest A Conference play with a 76-54 win over the visiting Bulldogs of Whitefish Saturday.
Louis Mohr had a game-high 22 points for the Pirates, Kyle Bagnell poured in 15 and Vince DiGiallonardo added 10 Saturday as Polson downed Whitefish to open conference play. Polson had everything working in the opening half as the Pirates wasted no time building a large lead in the contest. The Pirates were knocking down shots and used their full-court press to great advantage on defense as Polson built a 33-13 halftime lead.
“We came out and made some shots early and kind of jumped out quickly on them,” Pirate coach Brad Pluff said. “When they got behind, Whitefish started forcing things and then the game kind of snowballed on them.”
While the Pirates were shooting well in the contest, Pluff said it was his team’s defense that really made the difference in the game and was especially proud of the defense his team played against the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, Gage Vasquez.
“Defensively, that was our best game of the year so far,” Pluff said. “Gage Vasquez was the leading scorer in the conference going into the game and we kind of focused on him. We told ourselves that that someone else was going to have to beat us. He had nine of their 13 points in the first half and then we held him to just four in the second half.”
After the strong opening half, the Pirates let up somewhat in the second half as they cruised to a 28-point victory.
Along with the double-digit scoring performances from Mohr, Bagnell and DiGiallonardo, Cody Fischer added nine points, Sheldon Fisher had seven, Tyler Krell scored five, Zach Camel and Riley Sampson each added three and Will Davey had two points in the win.
Things were a bit closer for the Pirates Thursday night as they hosted AA Missoula Big Sky. The game was close through three quarters before the Pirates used their press to make a run that broke the game open in the fourth quarter in a 76-61 Polson victory.
Both teams ran the ball up and down the floor quickly all evening, but it was the Pirates that seemed to have the fresher legs in the final quarter as they pulled away for the win.
“That’s the plan we like to have. We like to press the whole game. It may not work the first few quarters, but eventually it wears on the other team. Then we take advantage of that,” Pluff said. “I kind of think that is what happened against Big Sky. The game felt close the whole way but I looked up in the fourth quarter and we were up by 15 and I was surprised.”
Polson opened the game with a quick series of baskets to build an early lead but Big Sky was able to close the gap to just two after the opening quarter, 18-16. The game continued to be close in the second frame as Polson took a 32-27 lead into the halftime break. Big Sky won the third-quarter battle by one point to cut the Polson lead to 49-45 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Pirates proved to be too much down the stretch.
Bagnell led the way for the Pirates with 22 points in the win while Mohr added 19, Krell had nine, DiGiallonardo and Fischer each had eight, Fisher scored seven and Camel added three.
While Pluff said he is happy with picking up another two wins, he says his team still has yet to reach its full potential.
“We still have a lot of work to do, but things are coming along nicely,” he said. “Our goal is to play good basketball in February and we are working in that direction. We just want to get better every week. That is our ultimate goal.”
The Pirates host Stevensville Tuesday before returning to conference play against Ronan Jan. 7.
Summary
Polson 76, Whitefish 54
Whitefish 6 7 19 25 - 54
Polson 16 17 24 19 - 76
POLSON - Mohr 22, Bagnell 15, DiGiallonardo 10, Fischer 9, Fisher 7, Krell 5, Camel 3, Sampson 3, Davey 2
WHITEFISH - Vasquez 13, Forrest 10, Roche 6, Deroche 6, Blades 5, Sanchez 5, Galbraith 4, Harwood 3, Seemore 2.
Polson 76, Big Sky 61
Big Sky 16 11 18 16 - 61
Polson 18 14 17 27 - 76
POLSON - Bagnell 22, Mohr, 19, Krell 9, DiGiallonardo 8, Fischer 8, Fisher 7, Camel 3.
BIG SKY - Baker 21, LaValley 12, Thornock 8, Koster 8, Owens 7, Stemple 3, Lindquist 2.
