Maidens capsize Pirates, secure seed to Western A dance

by John Heglie

 

At Linderman Gym in Polson, the visiting Maidens and the host Lady Pirates clashed in a third round Rez roundball rivalry wrangle rematch, only this time the stakes would be higher than their previous pair of regular schedule encounters. The winner would lock down the NWA fourth seed headed to the Western A Divisional in Butte, while the season would be over for the team on the short end of the scoreboard. After a decade of dominance by Ronan over Polson spanning from 2012 through 2021 that included a string of 20 games, the Lady Pirates not only snapped that streak last season, but also strung together a five straight streak of their own entering this most recent wrangle.

Polson vaulted ahead to a 7-0 start, but Ronan countered, overtaking the lead on a Kailyn Marengo triple to end the opening quarter. At that juncture, the contest looked like it might play out along similar lines comparable to those of the past two seasons, see-saw affairs in which outcomes hinged on waning minute possessions. But this time around, the Maidens brought more offensive punch to bear. Marengo would score 11 of her game high 21 in the second quarter that included another pair of triples, giving Ronan a mid-teen double digit cushion entering intermission. After halftime, the Maidens extended the game to their largest margin at 29-12 before the Lady Pirates started to chip away at the deficit. Polson would close to within eight at the six minute mark and to within seven at 35-28 just prior to the halfway juncture of the final frame. Though the Lady Pirates had numerous chances to close the gap even further, they couldn't quite get the necessary rolls on their shots. Polson outscored Ronan from the field by a 2:1 margin the last quarter six field goals to three. But the visitors would hold off the home team surge from the charity stripe as they closed out the contest on a dozen trips to the line, going 11-23 down the stretch.

In the loss, Polson found itself plagued by an uncharacteristic bout of miscues that compounded an off shooting night. By contrast, the Maidens showed more consistency on offense than on their previous five outings, putting together three quarters of double figure scoring.

Maiden Marengo's tally among the low 20s was a new career high. Arianna Zepeda dished out five assists while picking Pirate pockets for five possessions.  For the Lady Pirates, freshman Ahri Rushing snared ten rebounds, while senior post Mckenna Hanson almost turned in another double digit performance with nine boards.

The Lady Pirates end their season with a quartet of century club credentialed contributors. Rylee Taylor-Jefferson, Samantha Rensvold and Julia Barnard all crested the century point plateau for season scoring, while Mckenna Hanson crossed the century threshold for season rebounding. Hanson wraps up her prep career with dual double century credentials in both scoring (232p) as well as rebounding (>232r). Barnard ends her career with triple century credentials for career scoring (367p), within a couple of dozen shy of double-century credentials for career rebounding (>172r) and almost a hundred career assists (>91a).

 

Julia Barnard crested the century point plateau for season scoring.

Kailyn Marengo career high 21(3FG 3-9, 2FG 2-4, FT 8-11)

Ronan 46, Polson 36

#4 Lady Pirates (10-10), #6 Maidens (8-12)

Ronan  10 17  2 17 – 46

Polson   9    3  6 18 – 36

RONAN – Kailyn Marengo 5 8-11 21(3r,1s), Arianna Zepeda 3 3-6 9(4r,5a,5s), Nevaeh Perez 6(4r,1s,2b), Maddy Illig 5(5r,2s), Lauryn Buhr 2 0-2 4(3r,1a,2s,2b), Zailee Hewankorn 0 1-4 1(4r,1s), Kylee Kelch (1r,1a), Nikki Kendall 0(2r,1a,1b), Ernie Tapia-Torrosian 0. 15 12-26 46(26r,8a,12s,5b)

POLSON – Hinkley Moss 3 1-2 8(2r), Mckenna Hanson 2 3-5 7(9r,2a,3s,1b), Rylee Taylor-Jefferson 6(7r,3a), Julia Barnard 1 3-4 5(2r,2s), Ahri Rushing 4(10r,3a,1s), Sam Rensvold 1 2-4 4(3r,2s), Aleysia Black 0 2-4 2(3r,1a,1s). 11 11-19 36(36r,9a,9s,1b)

3FGs – R4-18 (Marengo 3-9, Illig 1-2), P3-14 (Ry.T-J 2-4, Moss 1-2). (Sa17Feb24play-in)

Some details may vary from official summaries

variants – #15Mckenna(Rbk:12p, Rhudl/Pbk/jh:7p), #32Hinkley(Rbk:3p, Rhudl/Pbk/jh:8p)4Qconflation; R(Rhudl:24r8a10s5b, jh:26r6a12s): #5Buhr(Oreb vs stl R24-10P when P#5inj, p29 1a? dish to Ari at halfcourt?), #23Zailee(before4Qp37 +1s fouled); P(Rhudl:34r9a8s1b, jh:36r8a8s1b): #15Mckenna(Rhudl:8r, jh:9r), #5Rylee(Rhudl:6r, jh:7r), #40Ahri(Rhudl:2Q:1d, jh:early2Q:1s)possession, but stepped on out of bounds line

 

History of recent Maiden/Lady Pirate Rez roundball rivalry wrangles:

R46-36P (Sa17Feb2024play-in), P37-36R (Sa10Feb2024), P45-41R (Tu16Jan2024);

P35-28R (Fr24Feb2023gm10div), P43-41R (Sa11Feb2023), P52-49 (Sa14Jan2023);

R51-30P (Fr04Feb2022), R65-41P (Fr07Jan2022);

R50-34P (Sa20Feb2021), R70-29P (Fr29Jan2021);

R57-17P (M24Feb2020play-in), R68-18P (Fr31Jan2020), R61-11P (Fr10Jan2020);

R72-34P (Th14Feb2019gm4nwa), R55-13P (Fr25Jan2019), R57-27P (Fr04Jan2019);

R45-23P (Sa17Feb2018div), R70-52P (Fr26Jan2018), R56-36P (Fr05Jan2018);

R64-50P (Tu20Dec2016); 6B Maidens

R64-48P (Tu02Feb2016);  6B Maidens

R54-37P (Th12Feb2015), R49-32P (Sa03Jan2015); 6B Maidens

R41-30P (Fr03Jan2014); 6B Maidens

R36-32P (Fr21Dec2012), 6B Maidens

P43-10R (Tu24Jan2012); 6B Maidens

P56-24R (Sa26Feb2011div), P49-14R (Fr04Feb2011), P69-44R (Fr07Jan2011);

P50-32R (Sa20Feb2010), P51-26R (Tu05Jan2010);

P52-46R (Fr06Feb2009), P47-38R (Fr09Jan2009);

P54-37R (Th21Feb2008), P54-43R (Fr01Feb2008), P58-32R (Tu08Jan2008);

P52-33R (Th21Dec2006), R32-31P (Tu23Jan2007);

Lady Pirates fend off late Lady Logger rally to extend postseason

by John Heglie

 

At Linderman Gym in Polson, the host Lady Pirates endeavored to dictate the tempo much of the contest, but they couldn't quite shake visiting Libby Lady Logger resilience. As Polson forged a multiple possession lead after intermission and seemed poised to break the game open, Lady Logger Maddie Vincent splashed a quartet of contested second half triples to keep her team in the hunt. Her second triple precipitated a Polson timeout just prior to the end of the third quarter to splash cold water on a brewing momentum shift. Her third trey closed the lead to within a single possession at 25-27, followed by a Rylee Delmas deuce down under that emulated the renouned hook shot technique of yesteryear NBA legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar to tie the contest at 27-all with 5:13 remaining. The Lady Pirates countered with a deuce, followed by a back end free throw from senior guard Julia Barnard as Polson reacquired the lead. Thereafter, Polson countered Libby scoring while limiting incursions with defensive pressure.

Frosh guard Rylee Taylor-Jefferson turned in her fifth sequential dabble among the domain of double digits with a career high 20. Senior post Mckenna Hanson just missed a double-double with nine points along with 14 rebounds. Vincent paced Libby with a dozen.

The win coupled with the Ronan victory at Whitefish sets up another Rez roundball rivalry wrangle rematch round, only this time the stakes will be higher as both teams will vye for the final berth to the Western A Divisional on Saturday evening at Linderman Gym slated for 7:30pm after the conclusion of the District 14C championships.

 

Polson 39, Libby 32

#4 Lady Pirates (6-6, 1-0, 10-9), #7 Lady Loggers (0-12, 0-1, 1-18)

Libby    5  9  8  10 – 32

Polson   9  9  9 12 – 39

LIBBY – Maddie Vincent 12(2s), Rylee Delmas 2 3-3 7(6r), Rachel Kosters 2 2-2 6(7r), Kaydence Stanek 5(2a,4s), Bergen Fortner 2. 11 5-5 32

POLSON – Rylee Taylor-Jefferson 6 4-8 20(4r,4a2s), Mckenna Hanson 3 3-6 9(14r), Sam Rensvold 1 1-2 3(2r,3a,2s),  Aleysia Black 3(2a,1s), Julia Barnard 0 2-4 2(3r,1a,2s), Ahri Rushing 1 0-2 2(1r,1s,2b), Hinkley Moss 0(3r,2s,4d). 12 10-22 39(34r,2a,4s,4b)

3FGs – L5 (Vincent 4, Stanek). P4 (Ry.T-J 4, Black), (Th15Feb24play-in)

Unofficial gm rendition. Some details may vary from official summaries after film review.