POLSON — The Polson Pirates didn’t have a pretty weekend at home, starting with a 61-51 loss to Stevensville on Thursday, but got the conference win they needed when they budged victorious 42-40 over Bigfork on Saturday.

And they’ll take it, Polson head coach Karl Tait said.

“A wins a win, and it gave us another conference win which was important,” Tait said.

The Bigfork Eagles hung around with the Pirates all game, but when it came down to the bitter end, the local boys pulled it out against the team from across the lake.

The win broke a four-game losing streak for the Pirates and put them at 4-2 in conference.

Topping the scoring column for the Pirates was Tim Rausch who muscled his way to 18 rebounds in addition to the team-leading 13 points.

Senior Craig Bagnell sniped eight points, his sophomore brother Kyle Bagnell sunk seven, senior Waylon Michel and sophomore Louis Mohr put away five each and senior Ryan Kelley had four.    

When Stevensville came to town, they brought some intensity.

Off the bat, Polson met them with its own tenacity falling just short in the first quarter. But a slight lead for Stevensville quietly grew until the Pirates found themselves down 10 going into the fourth.

Playing with heart until the end, the Pirates played an even fourth with the Yellowjackets, but couldn’t close the lead.

“Ironically, we had more field goals,” Tait said.

It was true, the Pirates out-shot the visitors from the field – it was at the line they struggled. Or, put a little better, it was getting to the line.

Stevensville accounted for 17 of their points in free throws out of 26 attempts.

The Pirates went just 4-6.

“I think part of it was we were out of position a lot and reached a little bit,” Tait said. “We got to move our feet better on defense.”

This time, Kyle led the team with 16, Rausch netted 14, Kelley had seven, Craig had six, Mohr scored four and junior Derrick Rathe notched two.

Staying out of foul trouble is one thing the team needs to work on. Another is getting the right personnel on the floor at the right time and getting everyone on the same page.

“Most of it’s my fault,” Tait said. “We’re not getting the chemistry right.” 

The team has had its successes in both zone and man-to-man defenses, Tait said. They just need to fine tune each defensive set.

“We certainly need to be proficient in both of them,” Tait said. “That’s what I’m hoping for in the next two games.”

With weekend road games against Ronan and Columbia Falls, Polson’s conference record sits in the balance.

Squaring off against two teams that press and press hard, Polson will have to slow things down, Tait said.

And taking care of the ball is how you do that, Tait said.

Though aware of Ronan as a fast-paced threat, he said slowing down Columbia Falls is the weekend’s bigger challenge.

“You have to slow things down and be real patient on the offensive end and not turn the ball over – period,” Tait said.

Polson plays at 8 p.m. on Friday at Ronan.

They go to Columbia Falls on Saturday. Games begin at 3 p.m.