Polson girls basketball state, game one

Junior Breanne Kelley goes up for a lay-up in a regular season game against Whitefish.

The Polson girls basketball team lost their first game of the Class A State Girls Basketball Tournament. In a close 44-40 loss, Polson rallied from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to pull within four at the end.
Junior Breanne Kelley led with 13 points and sophomore Riley Kenney added 11 and went 5-for-5 at the free throw line. Senior NIcole Davey had 10 points and grabbed six defensive rebounds.
The Pirates will face Havre, the second seed from the central division, at 2 p.m. today.

All-star rosters

The rosters for the Mission Mountain All-star game have been released. Thirty players from Lake County have been selected to play. The girls game is at 7 p.m. and the boys is at 8:30 p.m. on March 26 at the SKC gym. Boys coaches will coach the girls team and girls coaches will coach the boys teams.
Here are the rosters:

Girls
Team A
1. Mallery Knoll (JR) – Bigfork
2. Lila Cenis (SR) – Bigfork
3. Kyla Mitchell (JR) – Mission
4. Katie McDonald (SR) – Mission
5. Kinley Pope (SOPH) – Charlo
6. Mahalia Hendren (FR) – Arlee
7. Megan Massingale (JR) – Hot Springs
8. Breanne Kelley (JR) – Polson
9. Jonna Grant (JR) – Ronan
10. Jaylen Carpentier (SR) – Two Eagle
11. Mackenzie Woods (SR) – Hot Springs

Team B

1. Catlin Charlebois (JR) – Bigfork
2. Adessa Durglo (JR) – Mission
3. Stephanie Maughan (SR) – Charlo
4. Jaris Kelley (SR) – Charlo
5. Chelsea Allair (SR) – Arlee
6. Randi Arnold (SR) – Hot Springs
7. Nicole Davey (SR) – Polson
8. Sierra Pete (JR) – Polson
9. Heather Earhart (SR) – Plains
10. Alice Van Gunten (JR) – Ronan
11. Adele Frost (SR) – Two Eagle
12. Quinci Paine (JR) – Bigfork

Boys
Team A

1. Trent Thompson (SR) – Plains
2. Jorren Gies (SR) – Mission
3. Keenan Evans (SR) – Bigfork
4. Lael Richmond (SR) – Bigfork
5. Justin Dustybull (JR) – Ronan
6. Kody Morigeau (SR) – Arlee
7. Reiley Winebrenner (SR) – Hot Springs
8. Tim Rausch (SR) – Polson
9. Vince Digialornado (SOPH) – Polson
10. Houston Blevins (SR) – Charlo
11. Chance Firestone (SR) – Charlo
12. TJ Cutfinger (JR) – Two Eagle

Team B

1. Jake Durglo (SR) – Mission
2. Brian Green (SR) – Plains
3. Bryce Benson (SR) – Plains
4. Christian Ker (JR) – Bigfork
5. Evan Jordt (JR) – Bigfork
6. Kevin Wroblewski (JR) – Ronan
7. Kyle Felsman (SR) – Arlee
8. Cody Hoff (JR) – Hot Springs
9. Kyle Bagnell (JR) – Polson
10. John Sansavere (SR) – Arlee
11. James Maestas (SR) – Two Eagle
12. Lucas Black (JR) – Ronan

The Polson girls basketball team plays at 6:30 p.m. tonight against Sidney, who has been ranked third in Class A for much of the season.

Boys state wrap-up

What a weekend.
I ended up driving to Butte for the Polson boys championship game. It wasn’t a bad drive, the weather was nice, but once I entered Butte I could tell something exciting was happening. I stopped for some food and the restaurant was filled with purple. Granted, it was Laurel fans, but still.
Entering the Civic Center was the same way. I got there early, halfway through the third-place game, and already the stands were packed with fans for the championship game. Once that game cleared out and the warm-ups started, the place was loud. Between the bands and the student sections, it was impossible to hear someone ask you a question standing right next to you.

Polson sophomore Tyler Krell works down low against Laurel.

Polson stayed in the game until the very end. The refs didn’t do the greatest job I’ve ever seen calling fouls. I don’t like blaming the outcome of a game on the refs and who’s to say the outcome would have changed, but c’mon.
On the drive back. I passed many cars with a 15 a the beginning of its license plate, heading back home after the game.
I was able to grab three Pirates after school yesterday and ask them about the tournament, so their tidbits will be in this week’s paper.
I have only been to one other state championship game. That was six years ago when my schools boys hockey team made the title game. The Xcel Energy Center, home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, was to capacity, and probably beyond. That event is one of the biggest high school sporting events in the nation. It was so sweet and to be there as a student makes things better.

The Xcel Energy Center: home of the Minnesota boys state hockey tournament

Arlee made waves at the Class C tournament, taking fourth. The whole town pretty much shut down to send them on their way and welcome them back on Sunday. I was able to sit down with three of the players yesterday to talk about the tournament and their season. That will be in this week’s paper, but all three were grateful for such an outpouring from the community. As I made my way to the interview, signs and balloons were still hung up.

This weekend will feature another state tournament: the Class A girls basketball tournament. Polson will make its way to Hamilton this week in hopes of coming back with a trophy. The Pirates face Sidney in the first round and will be without Sierra Pete, who suffered an injury during the divisional tournament. I will be traveling down there, so hopefully I will be able to post updates as the tournament progresses. Pete, Nicole Davey and Breanne Kelley sat down with me after a practice to talk about the season and some other random things. That will be in this week’s paper as well.

As the papers are starting to get bigger, I am able to include more stories and at a greater length. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please feel free to send an e-mail to sports @leaderadvertiser.com.