KALISPELL — The Polson girls’ basketball team punched its ticket to state last weekend in the Northwestern A divisional tournament.

The Pirates, seeded third, began the tournament with a 38-32 upset of third-seeded Libby.

Rolling to a 18-6 halftime lead, head coach Randy Kelley said one key to the win came from Polson’s defense. More specifically, junior Sierra Pete shadowing Libby’s main scorer Jackie Mee.

“[Sierra’s] done it three times this year,” he said. “Every time, we just tell [Sierra] to stay on [Mee’s] hip pocket.”

Pete and the Pirates held Mee to 10 total points.

Libby woke up in the second half, outscoring Polson 26-20, but the Pirates were able to hold onto the lead for the win.

“In order to beat us, we knew one of two of their girls would have to step up,” Kelley said.

Junior Breanne Kelley led with 15 points and sophomore Riley Kenney added eight.

The Pirates moved onto the title game against top seed Columbia Falls.

“It was as close as you can get,” Kelley said.

Polson was in the lead after the first with a 13-5 score, and even held a 10-point lead at one time.

But, the top dog wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

Columbia Falls battled back with a 15-point second quarter, but Polson held the lead at halftime 21-20.

The one-point lead held after the third. Columbia Falls’ Kayla DeWit fouled out, although Polson was unable to get the looks it wanted to, Kelley said.

Kelsey DeWit sunk the last two free throws to put Columbia Falls ahead before she also fouled out with 17 seconds left. The Wildkats posted 17 points to Polson’s 14 in the last eight minutes for a 48-46 win.

“If we would have had 30 more seconds, things might have been different,” Kelley said.

Kenney led with 12 points for the Pirates and senior Nicole Davey added 11. Junior Kayla Duford made Polson’s only 3-point shot.

The loss matched Polson against the consolation champion. It turned out to be Libby, but since the Pirates had already beaten the Loggers during the tournament, Polson was declared the winner without a challenge game.

Heading into the Class A state tournament next weekend, the Pirates face Sidney at 6:30 p.m. tonight in Hamilton.

The Pirates are underdogs size-wise. With an injured Pete out of the line-up, Kelley said the Pirates are going to combat Sidney’s size with speed.

“If we use speed and use guards, maybe we can create a little havoc,” he said.