Polson blows by Whitefish

COLUMBIA FALLS - It's always better to give than to receive - just ask Polson senior Jen Orchard.

After the Pirates defeated Whitefish 51-34 in the Northwestern A title game on Saturday, the co-captain walked up to Polson coach Bruce Thomas with the Divisional plaque in hand.

"I believe this belongs to you," Orchard said while handing the plaque to Thomas.

It turns out, the Pirates had another gift for Thomas. A few minutes later, several players sneaked up behind their coach and doused him in ice-cold water. After the initial shock wore off, he was able to smile.

"I'm going to be wet the whole way home, but I appreciate it," Thomas said. "Jen giving me the plaque was really cool, but I just tell the girls which basket to shoot on.

"They're the ones who play the game, they deserve the credit."

And there was plenty of credit to go around. From senior Kara Huyser, who scored a game-high 17 points; to Orchard, whose high-energy play ignited the Pirates; to junior Jaelin Vandeberg, who only had two points but helped hold Whitefish's Ashley Ferda, the conference's top scorer to four points - 12 below her season average - it was a total team effort.

"That's why we're No. 1," said Orchard, who added 16 points for Polson. "We're the team that works best as a team, and no one cares who gets the credit.

"That's what basketball is all about."

Despite being defending divisional champs, there were plenty of raw nerves for Polson as the game started. And the tension was obvious for Huyser, who missed badly on her first three shots.

"I was really shaky," Huyser said. "But then my team helped me get in the groove." With the game tied 4-4, Huyser hit a turnaround as part of a 10-0 run. Orchard ended the run with the game's first 3-pointer as Polson went up 12-4. After the Bulldogs battled back on a pair of buckets from senior Tracy Schwada (team-high 16 points), Huyser connected on a put-back to put the Pirates up 14-10 heading into the second quarter.

Polson went into halftime up 24-15, and Huyser opened the second half with a 3-point play, pushing her team's advantage to 27-15. The Pirates never led by less than 10 the rest of the way.

"We were able to loosen up at halftime," Thomas said. "I told the girls that we were going to put bigger rims out there, because we made them look small in the first half. They had a laugh, then we came out ready to play in the second half."

While the Pirates were able to heat up in the final 16 minutes, Whitefish never was able to get going offensively. The Bulldogs shot 13 percent from the field as a team and 44 percent (7 for 16) from the free-throw line.

"You're not going to beat a 19-1 team when you do that," Whitefish coach Dean McFadden said of his team's poor shooting. "We're a great shooting team, but you couldn't tell that tonight.

"Tracy had a good game, and if we can get five people to do that at state we'll be tough."

Despite the loss, which dropped the team's record to 13-7, the Bulldogs still advance to the Class A state tournament, which begins March 9 in Miles City.

After coming from the No. 4 seed to win the divisional title last season, Huyser said there's an different feeling this time around.

"Last year I was crying because it was so unexpected," Huyser said. "Now, it's more of a relief because now we can move on to what we really want to do."

With a two-week layoff before the start of the state tournament, are the Pirates nervous about getting rusty?

"We'll be ready, that's all I have to say," Orchard said with a grin.

PIRATES 51, BULLDOGS 34

Whitefish 10 5 7 12 - 34

Polson 14 10 14 13 - 51

Whitefish - Kirsten NallyMadigan 1 0-0 3, Kirsten Blackburn 1 0-0 2, Ashley Ferda 2 0-2 4, Kali Schmidt 1 0-0 3, Dana Labuda 0 0-1 0, Tracy Schwada 5 6-9 16, Maude Gwiazdon 1 0-0 2, Erin Greiner 2 0-2 4. Totals: 13 6-14 34.

Polson - Jen Orchard 7 1-3 16, Jaelin Vandeberg 0 2-4 2, Gracie Sartori 2 1-2 6, LIsa Mathias 2 1-2 5, Kara Huyser 8 1-1 17, Emily Fors 2 0-0 4, Tatianna Kimler 0 1-4 1. Totals: 21 7-16 51.

3-point goals: NallyMadigan, Schmidt, Orchard, Sartori. Total fouls: Whitefish 15, Polson 15. Fouled out: none.