Polson state basketball preview by John Heglie

Here's a preview from Polson's very own John Heglie, writing for ihigh.com. Click on the read more after the intro paragraph for the full preview.

This weekend the winter hoops season reaches its crescendo with the playing of early rounds of state tournament basketball, culminating in state championship matchups on Saturday. At this juncture, qualifying prep basketball teams are anticipated to be playing at a level of exceptional quality. The stakes are high. All the marbles are on the table. Eyes are focused on coveted prizes that await - hardware. A mediocre season can be redeemed in the matter of an instant. A stellar season can be dismantled and relegated to the trash pile of what could-have-been in a matter of moments. An opposing team will cut their opponent little slack if the other should succumb to a bout of miscues and hiccups. The dictums of postseason tussles remains apropos: do at your level best the things that got you to where you are, take care of the business at hand, survive and advance. When one should be fortunate enough to find oneself aligned with a moment of destiny set upon the table before you, carpe diem, “sieze the day.”


As the postseason State A Basketball Tournament gets underway in Bozeman, a number of encounters await. East will engage West. Mascot will tangle with mascot. The top half of the bracket will toss a pair of ferocious felines into the arena to see which will emerge victorious into the next round: the top-ranked Northwestern A Columbia Falls Wildcats (19-1) will be pitted against the unranked Central A Belgrade Panthers (13-9), the latter successfully unseating the Browning Indians in a challenge game. The other portion of the upper half of the bracket will place the defending champion and currently 2nd-ranked Eastern A Laurel Locomotives (17-3) on a collision course with the several-weeks-ranked Southwestern A Corvallis Blue Devils (16-5), the mascot of the latter derived from a nickname given to those who fought with or alongside a French Alpine light infantry battalion during World War I. Such Blue Devils are renowned for being an effective fighting force and this rendition boasts a pair of potent scorers in Rodee Anderson and Riley Bradshaw, the latter coming off a 41 point performance while fending off Stevensville in a challenge game for the right to go to state.

In the bottom half of the bracket, the Eastern A Billings Central Rams (8-13) will use their horns in an attempt to push the 3rd-ranked Southwestern A Dillon Beavers (18-2) out of their path, whereas the Beavers can be expected to bare their teeth in an attempt to whittle down any chance of their opponent advancing in the competition. In the other matchup from the lower half of the bracket, the runner-up from last year and currently 5th-ranked Northwestern A Polson Pirates (14-6) will attempt to strand the early-in-the-season-ranked Central A Butte Central Maroons (15-5) in a battle to fly which flag of colors from the mast, a rematch of the semifinal from last season in which Polson emerged victorious 56-50 after overtime.

The Class A state tournament features a wealth of entries each worthy of an article devoted exclusively to themselves. This presentation will focus its attention upon profiling some of the capabilities undergirding the Purple & Gold of the Northwestern A Polson Pirates. As the Pirates set sail into the turbulent waters of postseason competition at state, they come prepared for the skirmishes that will ensue during their quest for the coveted treasure of postseason hardware. They will be shouldering a smattering of weapons locked and loaded to take down the most formidable quarry they have faced as of yet this season.

Among the Pirate arsenal is 2010 state tournament MVP senior 6-3 guard/forward Louis Mohr, who is represented among every statistical category of the top ten of the NWA Conference with the exception of drawing offensive charges. In half of those categories he is rated as the conference top gun and in a pair of others he is either rated second or third. The only exceptions to upper eschalon performance are in converting free-throws at the charity stripe, where he is ranked 4th, and for blocking shots, where he is tied for 7th. Mohr happens to be one of those players which scientists would describe as having a low drag coefficient. In other words, he is fast and fluid, at times seeming to defy physical science constraints of air friction and wind resistance that many players ordinarily have to contend with which slow them down from achieving all that they wish they could do. Mohr has scored in double figures in every single game he has played this season and has turned in seven double-double performances, the most recent being in the NWA Divisional title game against top-ranked Columbia Falls where he dished for ten assists. Mohr finished the regular schedule as the leading scorer in the NWA Conference and is converging upon the 400 point barrier as the state tournament commences. He also has exceptional peripheral vision when it comes to seeing the court around him, which partly explains why he was the conference leader in total number of assists.

As if the performance of Mohr was not intimidating enough to contemplate, the Pirates also bring with them the leading scorer in the conference from last season in all-state, all-tournament honorable-mention, two-time all-conference (1st-team 09/10, 2nd-team 08/09) senior 6-3 guard/forward Kyle Bagnell, who is bound for Oklahoma State on a baseball scholarship. Bagnell is represented among 8 of the 10 statistical designations of the top ten in the NWA Conference. The only place he is absent is for drawing offensive charges and for assists, lying just off the grid for the latter. The season totals for Bagnell place him 2nd in shooting treys from behind the arc, 3rd for free-throw shooting percentage, 4th in combined field-goal shooting percentage, total points as well as steals, tied 4th for rebounding, 7th for scoring deuces, tied 7th with Mohr for blocking shots. Bagnell has scored double-digits against his opponents in almost every contest this season except for three and has turned in a trio of double-double performances. He should crest the 300 point barrier for the season sometime during the state tournament and has scored over 900 points for his career. Bagnell’s career-highs thus far have been 20 strikeouts in a single game of baseball and a 39 point barrage in a double-OT loss against Hamilton during his junior year in basketball. One of his teammates from last season described Kyle as someone who can make it rain when he is on, which doesn‘t come as too much of a surprise coming from someone who is capable of finding a strike zone with consistency.

All-conference 1st-team junior 6-6 post Tyler Krell is tantamount to Mr. Postman around the paint for the Pirates, their courier who seldom needs to ring twice when making a delivery. He led the conference in drawing offensive charges because he doesn’t flinch when other players try to run through him in an effort to back him off from guarding the basket. Krell was also ranked 2nd in the conference for blocking shots and finished the regular schedule at 10th for 2-point field goal conversion. He has also been ranked among the top ten for rebounding much of the season and currently lurks just off the grid in this category and quite possibly others. Krell has turned in a half dozen double-digit scoring performances and has posted one double-double performance, flirting with coming close on other occasions, He is a bonefide century club member for scoring and should attain dual membership for rebounding as well sometime during the course of the state tournament.

Senior 5-8 guard Sheldon Fisher is a scrappy defender and savvy ball handler who finished the regular schedule ranked 6th among the top ten for 3-point field goal shooting. Fisher has turned in a half dozen double-figure scoring outings and has crested the century mark for total points scored this season. By the end of the state tournament it is anticipated that Fisher will be a century club member for total points scored by means of the triples he has converted alone.

All-conference 2nd-team junior 6-0 guard Vince DiGiallonardo is the quarterback for the Pirates in the back court. He finished the regular schedule represented among a pair of the top ten statistical categories (7th for steals, tied 9th for free-throw shooting percentage) in the NWA conference and lies just off the grid for assists. DiGiallonardo has turned in a single double-digit scoring outing, although he has flirted with cresting that plateau on nine other occasions. So far his career high has been a 22 point assault against visiting Hamilton in double overtime his sophomore year.

Sophomore 5-11 guard Zach Camel often supplements the backcourt in relief of starters, although he has started for the Pirates on a handful of occasions. A capable scorer, Camel has connected a double-digit number of times for both treys as well as deuces this season. He has been working on boosting the elevation he attains for his jumpers, which has resulted in better looks at the basket when a shot warrants being taken. Camel was an early season statistical presence for shooting treys among the top ten of the NWA conference and is one of the weapons the Pirates employ when they dial the operator long distance from beyond the arc.

The Pirates have a pair of proficient golfers on their roster who can drive for show as well as putt for dough in junior 6-4 forward/post Cody Fischer and sophomore 6-0 forward Hayden Congdon. Fischer was a statistical presence among the top ten of the NWA conference for blocking shots during the regular schedule and has turned in a pair of double figure scoring performances this season. If Fischer has a good tournament, cresting the century mark in scoring for the season lies within reach. Congdon has been added to the team as part of the expanded roster to supplement the team shooting capabilities. Both have developed and refined those fine-motor skills and that soft stroke that mark them as scoring threats both inside and beyond the arc.

Junior 6-2 forward Ian Laimbeer, sophomore 5-10 guard Will Davey, sophomore 6-1 post Riley Sampson and sophomore 5-11 guard/forward Dylan Kelley play more subsidiary rolls for the Pirate roster, but all four are capable of filling in at a moments notice. Laimbeer and Davey have both scored in double figures this season. Sampson and Laimbeer have posted double-doubles in competitive junior varsity contests and on some occasions have flirted with a triple-double. Kelley recently joined the Pirates as part of their expanded roster for the tournament and has good court awareness due to having grown up around coaches, a background that equips him well to handle some of the intricacies of the game.

As a team, the Polson Pirates lead the NWA Conference in 4 of the 10 statistical categories as of the end of the regular 18 game schedule. A trio of them pertained to combined field-goal percentage, free-throw shooting percentage and total points generated per game. If the top-ranked Columbia Falls WildCats were to be considered masters at converting deuces inside the arc among the NWA conference closer to the basket, the Pirates ruled the seas that extend beyond the arc, successfully dialing the operator long distance to connect for a trey more than twice as many times as Columbia Falls has been successful this season. Those trends were born out in their first encounter this season, where the WildCats scored almost twice as many deuces as their hosts, but the Pirates drained almost triple the amount of treys than their visitor. However, during the NWA Divisional title game, the WildCats showed a different stripe from their characteristic trends, match the Pirates for number of treys, a pair of them coming from an unexpected source in 6-6 post Austin Barth. On the flipside, the Pirates demonstrated a very capable inside game in which their post Tyler Krell scored 19 points against on of the best adversaries in the state. The Pirates place 2nd among the conference hierarchy for rebounding, blocking shots and steals. They stratify tied 2nd for drawing charges and assume 3rd place in the middle of the conference for converting deuces and dishing assists.

Much of the competition Polson is liable to face in each round of state has a tournament history with the Pirates. First-round opponent Butte Central lost to the Pirates in overtime 56-50 during the state semifinal of last season‘s tournament. The Maroons will be looking for payback, seeking to redye the Purple & Gold colors of their opponent with a darker shade of red. The Pirates will need to be mindful of the 3 R’s. Not reading, [w]riting and [a]rithmetic, but a reference to Ritter (Andy), Richards (Jonathan) and Richards (Aschan). Head coach Brad Pluff notes that they are a hard-nosed, athletic bunch with four members on their roster slated to move on in their sports careers to the collegiate level on football scholarships.

If Billings Central emerges as the 2nd-round opponent, they will likewise to looking for some payback as the Pirates beat them 65-53 in the 1st-round of the state tournament last year. If Dillon emerges as the 2nd-round opponent, the Pirates will be looking for some payback of their own as the Beavers nipped them by a basket in the waning seconds of the Tip-Off Tournament at the beginning of the season when they stole the ball as Polson was making its move with the last possession in the waning seconds of a tied score.

Assuming the Pirates can successfully navitate through the first two rounds of the tournament to qualify for the championship, the higher probability would be that either top-seeded Laurel or Columbia Falls will have emerged. If the Locomotives should make it successfully to the championship like they did last year, the Pirates have more than enough motivation to erase the sting of last year’s loss to them. Polson was within two points 43-41 entering the fourth quarter of that contest when they were plagued by an untimely scoring drought that ultimately resulted in a second-place finish 60-48. Should Columbia Falls emerge unscathed as they claw their way through the opening round skirmishes to qualify for the championship, the Pirates have plenty of history to draw upon with the top-ranked WildCats. Polson is the only team to have beaten the Cats this season. The other two encounters were a defensive battle on C-Town’s home turf that resulted in a narrow loss, and a one point heartbreaker during the divisional title tilt on a neutral court that could have tipped either way. The Pirates haven’t faced the Blue Devils this season if Corvallis should emerge as a contender for the championship, but last year they managed to sink the Pirates 78-58 at an early juncture of the nonconference schedule.
Polson has no recent history with Belgrade to draw upon should the Panthers qualify for the championship, but any team that can eliminate teams like Havre and Browning from postseason play would be a formidable opponent.

One advantage that the Polson Pirates will be bringing into the state tournament that might give them a slight edge over the other entrants is that over the course of their last six games, half of those encounters have called for the sharpening of their skills against the top-ranked team in the state. Given the close nature of that trio of games, the Pirates have demonstrated that they are ready to rumble and know they can hang with the best. In their two losses against the WildCats, the Pirates have actually had narrow leads at one point in the final quarter.

These traveling swashbucklers would be advised to steel themselves for the encounters that await with an added dose of mental preparation. There isn’t much one can do about nervous butterflies under such circumstances when the stakes are so high and the arena is abuzz with activity in anticipation of games featuring a superb quality of prep basketball. Instead of letting those nervous butterflies flitter to and fro all over the place in undisciplined fashion, one would benefit from harnessing their energy by getting such nervous butterflies to fly in formation, thereby envigorating one’s level of play rather than detracting from one’s concentration upon the game at hand. It might also prove beneficial the night before each tournament game for the Pirates to eat their meat and vegetables: carrots so that their eyes are as sharp as an eagle when they opt to dial long distance, and a suitable portion of BEEF (balance, eye, elbow, follow-through) to fuel the shooting diet so that fundamentals are solid. Instead of counting sheep jumping over a fence as tends to be stereotypically portrayed when people doze off to sleep in the evening, it might be adviseable to try visualizing the swishing of basketballs splitting the net multiple times over to put one’s subconscious in the right frame of mind before each tournament game.

Likening postseason basketball rumbles at a state tournament to a battle among battles such as Armageddon may seem a bit overly dramatic, but there are some aspects that sustain such an analogy. For the teams that are entered in the tournament, a loss at this crucial juncture of the season dashes higher hopes and greater aspirations. But with the culmination of the tournament, basketball life as it has come to be known over the duration of the winter season is brought to an end for many players. From the perspective of the Purple & Gold, the Pirates will attempt to initiate an alternative version of “Arrgh”mageddon as they give no quarter in the battles they find themselves engage upon on the hardcourt in their quest for postseason treasure. In the era of cryptic acronyms frequently used in text messaging, the Purple & Gold fan base would like to convey to the Pirates the following wish: HHH, as in Happy Hardware Hunting.

NWA Conference statistics courtesy of Terry Werner www.ihigh.com/nwmta

NOTE TO SPORTSWRITERS: If some of the following material should prove helpful in providing a more comprehensive preview of the Polson Pirates as you embark upon write-ups for the State A tournament, you are hereby authorized to utilize this information in your presentations.