Ronan vs. Polson: Ramping up for another Rendition of a Rambunctious Roundball Rivalry

(By John Heglie for the Leader)

Friday night will feature another rendition of the Mission Valley roundball rivalry when Ronan travels to Polson for a boys and girls basketball doubleheader at the Lindermann Gym this Friday, 7 January 2011. Whether one team is up one season and another team might be down, rivalries tend to level the playing field when both teams encounter one another on the court. Some form of verdict will be rendered at the end of each contest that will lend incentive for the next time they tangle later on in the season. Fans can expect a lot of fast-paced, high octane offense in the boys contest and a scrappy affair when the Maidens tangle with the Lady Pirates in the nightcap.

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Boys: Ronan Chiefs at Polson Pirates - 6:00 p.m

The history between the Chiefs and Pirates has gravitated toward contests that were cardiac capers for the most part. In reviewing the scores over the past eight contests, the widest scoring margins were when Ronan bested Polson by 19 in Dec 2006, while Polson overran Ronan by 38 last season. The remaining games were decided by a margin of no more than ten points, half of which were by 3 points or less, one of those being in overtime. Two games that featured the widest scoring margins took place at Lindermann Gym. In Jan 2007, Ronan’s Nolan Harris appeared to have received some kind of special shooting dispensation as a gift for his birthday when he scored 31 points against the Pirates, going 10-15 from the floor with 8 treys. Last season, the Pirate duo of Kyle Bagnell and Tyler Krell swashbuckled their way for a combined 43 points. The average score over the past eight games has been by the narrow margin of 56-53 with Polson holding a slight edge. Factor out those games with the widest scoring margins and the average score shrinks to 53-52. More often than not, the Polson - Ronan rivalry features a contest that tends to be nerve-racking for the coaches but quite entertaining for the spectators.

Last season the Ronan Chiefs led the conference in steals and they continue to hold the top spot at this juncture of the young season. That feature is indicative of the quickness of their players as well as their overall team speed. The Chiefs return their entire starting rotation from last season which provides them with a lot of continuity and experience with senior 5-8 guard J.J. Tanner, senior 5-9 guard Lucas Black, senior 5-11 guard Justin Dustybull, senior 6-2 forward Kevin Wroblewski and junior 5-9 guard Marcus Hungerford. All of their starters are represented in multiple categories of the top ten stats of the NWA conference entering the fourth week of the season. In addition, the Ronan bench has been turning in valuable minutes on the court with key contributions from senior 6-1 forward Gordon North Piegan III, senior 5-9 guard Jackson Jore, senior 5-10 forward R.J. Hesselgesser, junior 6-1 forward Brady Oakland, junior 5-11 guard Robbie Gauthier, junior 5-9 guard Edmond Dupuis and junior 6-1 power forwards Marley Tanner, Robert Faoa and Chris Clary.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Pirates led the conference in shooting treys from behind the arc last year and they continue to hold on to the top spot at this juncture thus far into the season. Ronan has consistently followed in second place in the conference in this category, indicative that they feature a lot of good shooters as well. The Pirates are paced in scoring by a pair of senior 6-3 guard/forwards in Kyle Bagnell and Louis Mohr, both of whom are well represented in a majority of the statistical categories of the top ten for the Northwestern A conference. Rounding out the starters are senior 5-8 guard Sheldon Fisher (tied 8th for 3-point field goal treys), junior 6-0 guard Vince DiDiallonardo (7th for free throw shooting percentage and tied 8th for steals) and junior 6-5 post Tyler Krell (2nd for charges, tied 4th for blocked shots and 10th for rebounds). The Pirate bench has turned in valuable minutes during their court time with key contributions from junior 6-4 forward/post Cody Fischer (tied 4th for blocked shots), sophomore 6-0 guard Zach Camel (tied 7th for 3-point field goal treys after the first week of the season), sophomore 5-11 guard Will Davey, junior 6-2 forward Ian laimbeer and sophomore 6-2 post Riley Sampson.

Whereas Ronan was situated in the middle of the conference hierarchy for combined field goal percentage last year, this season they hold a slight edge over the rest of the teams in the conference in this category entering the fourth week of the season. In terms of total points scored, Polson leads the conference with just under 66 points per contest, with Ronan following closely with an average of 64 points scored in their games. That narrow margin coincides closely with findings after consulting stats with regard to Polson-Ronan rivalry games over the past few years.

What comes as a surprise this far into the young season is in the department of rebounding. Whereas Ronan was sandwiched in the middle of the conference for rebounding at the close of last year, this season they lead the conference by a narrow margin even though they have no significant post presence comparable to the other teams in their conference. The rest of the teams in the Northwestern A Conference each have one player at least 6-5 if not taller, in some cases more than one player who is not vertically challenged. That statistic bodes well for the Chiefs as they enter the new year. If Ronan can continue to outhustle their taller opponents for rebounds, they will not only strip their challengers of second chance opportunities, they will also better position themselves to come out ahead in those tightly contested skirmishes.

It is anticipated that fans will be treated to a fast paced game that is liable to increase one’s susceptibility to whiplash strain from all the back-and-forth action that is liable to take place. Both the Polson Pirates combined with the Ronan Chiefs feature six of the ten top scorers in the conference at this juncture of the season. If both teams start making their shots, the score keeper may have to import some type of cooling unit to keep the scoreboard from overheating.

Girls: Ronan Maidens at Polson Lady Pirates - 7:30 p.m.

After being picked as the uneasy favorite to win the Northwestern A Conference at the beginning of this season, the Lady Pirates started out in a hole 0-3 with dual losses at the NWA vs. SWA Tip-Off and a payback shellacking from AA Missoula Big Sky on the road for upsetting the then two-time defending AA state champions last year. A significant factor underlying the rough start was that the Lady Pirates more closely resembled a hospital ward for the walking wounded at the start of the season than a team that challenged for the NWA divisional title and made some noise at state. As the team started to adapt to the unfortunate circumstances thrust upon them, things began to turn around. While picking up their first win over visiting Whitefish on their home court might have been expected, their triumph on the road over the Stevensville Lady Yellowjackets was more indicative of their capabilities as a contending team. Stevensville had been favored to capture the SWA conference title at the beginning of the season given the depth of their returning roster bolstered by prospective future collegiate prospect sophomore 6-3 post Alycia Sims, who had dropped 27 points on Anaconda the week before, but was held to less than half that amount by the visiting lady swashbucklers.

Encouraging news for the Lady Pirates as they enter the new year will be the anticipated return of all-conference honorable-mention junior point-guard Mariah Hamel, who dislocated her elbow when she got tangled up with another teammate and fell awkwardly during the first week of practice. It is uncertain how much court time she might initially log after being absent the first 3 weeks of the season, but her penchant for creating opportunities as a playmaker and dishing timely assists should boost the productivity of her teammates irregardless. One aspect about her injury that might actually prove beneficial for the team in the long run could be that her zip passes will unlikely carry the same velocity they would have prior to her being sidelined, thereby making some of her zingers more manageable for her teammates to handle. Another side benefit has been the opportunity to further develop sophomore guard MacKenzie Banner during the absence of Hamel. Banner has been absolutely bodacious in her performance - not only doing more than just fill in, but emerging as a statistical presence herself in multiple categories among the top ten conference elite entering the fourth week of the season: tied 6th for 3-point field goals, tied 7th for steals, tied 9th for free-throw percentage as well as assists. All-state, all-tournament honorable-mention, twice all-conference 1st-team senior 5-9 forward Breanne Kelley continues to make noise as expected, being a statistical presence in varying strata within every category of the top ten. The capable hands and soft touch of all-conference 2nd-team junior 5-10 post Riley Kenney likewise has reprised her presence among the top ten in multiple categories (2nd in free-throw percentage, 3rd in 2-point field goal deuces as well as combined field goal percentage, 4th in total points, 5th in blocks, 7th for rebounding) despite having to contend with aggravations to a shoulder injury from time to time. Freshman 5-7 forward Jessica Bagnell has been turning in valuable minutes as she spells starters and has created a niche among the top ten statistics herself for blocking shots with just a fraction of playing time among company that has vastly more varsity experience. Sophomore 5-8 forward/post Heidi “Rumblin” Rausch (tied 8th for free throw shooting percentage after the first week) has been causing no small rumble in the paint, ripping rebounds when she isn‘t clamping down on her defensive assignment. Senior 5-9 forward/post Marlee Berry, junior 5-5 forward Jordan Quinn and sophomore 5-5 guard Anna DiGiallonardo have all made contributions to the team effort as they have logged time on the court. The girls rendition of the Ronan-Polson rivalry should be even more interesting this year with the presence of a pair of former Ronan players on the Polson roster in all-conference 2nd-team senior 5-9 forward Jonna Grant (5th in assists and tied 10th in combined field goal percentage) and all-conference honorable-mention junior 5-6 guard Nina Orozco-Charlo.

On the Maiden’s side of the ledger, their pristine record in reverse merits being viewed in context in that four of their games thus far have been played against Southwestern A opponents, a conference which has been beating up on Northwestern A teams this season. Ronan’s other loss was against a very good Class B Mission-St. Ignatius team that is liable to give other non-conference opponents fits as well. On the bright side for Maidens appears to be the emergence of some superb sophomores in the making. Foremost among them at this juncture of their development is sophomore 5-3 guard Courtney Clairmont, who has turned in a pair of double digit performances thus far into the season and has emerged as a statistical presence among the top ten in multiple categories entering the fourth week: 4th for 3-point field goal treys, 8th for total points scored, 9th for combined field-goal percentage, tied 9th for free-throw percentage, 10th for steals. Clairmont displays the kind of temperament and tenacity that tend to be ingredients for superb ball handlers that develop into playmakers when they are not scoring points themselves. Another is Ashleigh “Rocket” Lynch, who is not quite ready to start flying at mach speed quite yet while she recovers from a minor procedure to alleviate swelling in her knee, but has tied 7th for stolen basketballs nonetheless. Yet another is sophomore 5-3 guard Mariah Cheff, who has scored for the Maidens in a pair of games thus far. Sophomore 5-8 forward/post Justice Burland has put points on the board for the Maidens in a trio of games, but her biggest contributions have been off the glass, where she has placed 10th for rebounding entering the fourth week of the season. A trio of orange & black upperclassmen have flirted with double digit point production entering the new year and lend their experience to supplement the development of their teammates. Junior 5-5 guard Ashley Grandchamp is quick as well as has a nice outside shot, having tied 5th for steals, tied 6th for 3-point field goal treys and tied 9th for assists. The multiple contributions of senior 5-9 forward Tailyr Irvine rank her among more than half of the categories of the top ten in the NWA conference entering the fourth week of the season: 3rd for steals, tied 5th for blocked shots, 9th for 2-point field goal deuces as well as rebounding, tied 10th for combined field goal percentage. Fellow senior 5-10 forward/post Alice van Gunten is currently slated 8th for 2-point field goal deuces and provides the Maidens with an inside presence. Volleyball all-conference honorable-mention senior 5-4 guard Marissa McCrea led the conference in digs during volleyball season as a defensive specialist and can scrap with the best of them on the defensive end. Senior 5-11 post Christin Falcon and sophomore 5-7 forward/post Trinity Rosenbaum round out the Maiden roster.

The Maidens continue to be a fairly young team still in development with half of their roster comprised of underclassmen supplemented by a pair of seniors who haven’t clocked a lot of varsity playing time. Matters weren’t helped by the attrition of veteran experience that they could have built around this season when two of their leading scorers from last year transferred. Such factors go far to account for the lack of consistency in their games at this juncture of the season. In some contests it has been a lack of rebounding and securing of the ball as they brought it up the court that has come back to bite them. On another occasion Ronan was actually able to outplay as well as outrebound their opponent much of the contest, but dismal scoring droughts and paltry free throw shooting from the charity stripe at critical junctures of the game cost them in the end. The pressure defense of the Maidens has been able to force turnovers that provide opportunities for them to score against other teams, but not being able to convert enough of those chances into points hasn’t paid the kinds of dividends they have been looking for thus far. All of these woes are fixable with adjustments and it is inevitable that the tide will eventually turn for any team that can be assessed as “a scrappy bunch that never gives up.” There is nothing like a long-standing rivalry game to direct one’s focus to take better care of business. Last season the visiting Maidens put up a scrappy battle with the Lady Pirates. If Ronan can disrupt the ball movement of the Polson lassies and they start draining a decent percentage of their shots, they will find themselves with a game on their hands that lies in the balance until the waning minutes of the final quarter.