Pirates fall to Columbia Falls in NWA championship game

RONAN - A crowd of 3,954 fans packed the Ronan Event Center for the Northwestern A divisional tournament title. They most certainly weren't disappointed.

Nick Emerson hit the game-winning free throw for the Wildcats, as Polson fell in a 60-59 thriller. Columbia Falls needed everything they had to be victorious. They shot 53 percent from the field, got a combined 39 points from Emerson (16) and Austin Barth (23) and outrebounded the Pirates, 22-13.

Polson? Their starters came through in a big way. Junior Tyler Krell had 19 points as the Pirates leading scorer. Senior Lois Mohr dished out 10 assists and scored 14 points for a double-double. Senior Sheldon Fisher showed that ice-water ran through his veins by hitting two huge three-pointers at the end of the game.

In the end, it was a razor thin margin for two teams that should be contenders at the state tournament this year.

Columbia Falls jumped out to a 21-17 lead in the first quarter and had 38-29 advantage at halftime. Polson outscored the Wildcats 30-22 in the second half including one fourth quarter that will be talked about for years in Lake County.

Polson outscored Columbia Falls 15-8 in that final stanza, with contributions from everybody. First, Louis Mohr hit two buckets to pull the Pirates within 52-48, then Tyler Krell scored another two buckets to tie things up 53-53.

Then Sheldon Fisher happened.

Columbia Falls' Austin Barth scored to give the Wildcats the 55-53 lead near the one minute mark of the game. Fisher answered back for the Pirates, nailing a three-pointer with 54.2 seconds to go to give Polson a 56-55 advantage. Barth answer back with a three-point "And one" play to put Columbia Falls up again 58-56.

Who did the Pirates go to? Fisher. Again. For three.

Polson had the 59-58 lead and after Columbia Falls was unable to score, it appeared they had the game.

Then the Wildcats' press worked, caused a turnover and the Pirates were forced to foul with just seconds left. Emerson calmly sunk his free throws for Columbia Falls and gave them a one-point lead. Polson couldn't convert in one last-gasp effort.

Now their focus will turn to the state tournament next Friday.

Columbia Falls Boys Wildcats 60, Polson Boys Polson Pirates 59
Polson Boys Polson Pirates -  17 - 12 - 15 - 15 - 59
Columbia Falls Boys Wildcats -  21 - 17 - 14 - 8 - 60

Field goals - Polson - 25-47 (53.2%) - Columbia Falls - 22-44 (50.0%)
3 point field goals - Polson - 6-18 (33.3%) - Columbia Falls - 6-16 (37.5%)
Free throws - Polson - 3-6 (50.0%) - Columbia Falls - 10-12 (83.3%)
Rebounds (Total-Off.) - Polson - 13-2 - Columbia Falls - 22-9
Assists - Polson -18 - Columbia Falls - 13
Turnovers - Polson - 10 - Columbia Falls - 13
Steals - Polson - 0 - Columbia Falls - 1
Blocked shots - Polson - 0 - Columbia Falls - 0
Total fouls - Polson - 12 - Columbia Falls - 9
Points in the paint - Polson - 18 - Columbia Falls - 22
Bench points - Polson - 0 - Columbia Falls - 5

Polson Boys player statistics
Player - MIN - PTS - REB - AST - BLK - TO - STL - PF
#4 Krell, Tyler -  29 - 19 - 3 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 5
#22 Fisher, Sheldon -  29 - 14 - 3 - 2 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0
#32 Mohr, Louis -  31 - 14 - 4 - 10 - 0 - 2 - 0 - 1
#12 Bagnell, Kyle -  29 - 10 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 3 - 0 - 2
#10 DiGiallanardo, Vince -  29 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 0 - 2 - 0 - 1
#24 Fischer, Cody -  9 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 2
#20 Camel, Zack -  4 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1
Total - 32 - 59 - 13 - 18 - 0 - 10 - 0 - 12

Here are some photos from the game

Polson survives scare from Whitefish

RONAN - Whitefish hit eight three-pointers against Polson, but the Pirates came away with the 52-49 victory to advance to the Northwestern A divisional tournament finals tomorrow night.

Polson was able to create a 31-24 lead at halftime, but Whitefish did briefly grab the lead in the third quarter and only trailed 40-39 going into the fourth quarter.

The Pirates went on a 10-0 run to begin the fourth to get some breathing room, and a three-pointer at the buzzer made by Whitefish made the score appear closer than it actually was.

Louis Mohr led the team with 17 points while Kyle Bagnell added 15.

Polson - 15 - 16 - 9 - 12 - 52
Whitefish - 13 - 11 - 15 - 10 - 49

Pirates scoring - Louis Mohr 17, Kyle Bagnell 12, Vince DiGiallonardo 8, Sheldon Fisher 6, Tyler Kreen 4, Cody Fischer 2

Ronan falls to Columbia Falls, 74-55

RONAN - Columbia Falls got 25 points off of free throws as they downed the Chiefs 74-55 in the Northwestern A Divisional semi-final on Friday.

The Wildcats grabbed a 25-15 lead in the first but Ronan charged back with a 6-0 run to begin the second quarter to pull within 25-21. However, C-Falls went on a run of their own, a 13-4 jaunt, that gave them a 40-27 lead at halftime.

It was a track meet in the second half, with the Wildcats scoring 34 points and Ronan scoring 28. The Chiefs were as close as 59-49 in the fourth by free throws took over for C-Falls as they scored 10 from behind the charity stripe.

Ronan got balanced scoring with three players in double-digits, led by Justin Dustybull and J.J. Tanner, who both put in 12. Kevin Wroblewski added 10.

Ronan - 15 - 12 - 17 - 11 - 55
C-Falls - 25 - 15 - 18 - 16 - 74

Chiefs scoring - Justin Dustybull 12, J.J. Tanner 12, Kevin Wroblewski 10, Marcus Hungerford 7, Jackson Jore 5, Robert Faoa 3, Brady Oakland 3, Chris Clary 2

Mission falls to Loyola

PABLO - Loyola pulled away late against Mission with a 13-point fourth quarter for a 42-22 victory to move on at the Western B Divisionals on Thursday.

The Lady Bulldogs played close and only trailed 21-13 at the half, but could only must nine points in the second half. They were led by Kyla Mitchell with 12 points.

They will play today at 11:40 a.m.

Loyola - 9 - 12 - 8 - 13 - 42
Mission - 8 - 5 - 4 - 5 - 22

Lady Bulldogs scoring - Kyla Mitchell 12, Stephanie Lewandowski 8, Bryanna Steele 1, Cecilia Koskela 1