Polson exceeds early-season expectations

BUTTE - They weren't predicted to be there.

Three-and-a-half months earlier, 23 teams around the state started with hopes of being where the Polson boys basketball team was: the Class A state championship game.

At the start of the season, the Pirates were predicated to finish behind Columbia Falls and Libby in the Northwestern A divisional tournament and miss out on state.

Wrong.

"I remember reading in the paper [the week before the state touranment], they had a huge article about all these teams making it back to state and it had, what, an inch, inch and a half, or something about, ‘Oh, Polson also made it," junior Kyle Bagnell said.

To open the tournament, Polson beat Billings Central 65-53 after trailing for much of the first half. The Pirates were down 25-12 in the second quarter and worked to a 31-24 score at the half.

Entering the locker room at the half, junior Louis Mohr said his team wasn't worried about the deficit.

"We're a second half team," he said. "Once the nerves went away, we knew what we had to do and the job got done."

Polson used a 21-point fourth quarter to propell themselves to the 65-53 win.

Five Pirates scored double-digit points and were led by Mohr with 19 points, who went 4-for-4 at the line. Senior Tim Rausch added 13 points and eight rebounds, Bagnell added 12 points and three steals, sophomore Tyler Krell scored 11 and sophomore Vince DiGiallonardo had 10 points.

The win was crucial for Polson to get over the nerves.

"Any first win in a tournament is huge," DiGiallonardo said. "We realized they weren't that much better than us."

In the semi-final round against Butte Central, things were against Polson in favor of the hometown team.

"Everything was against us that whole tournament anyways," Mohr said.

"That's what it felt like at least," DiGiallonardo added.

Polson needed an extra eight minutes to get the win 56-50 and silence the crowd.

"It was crazy, beating the hometown team," DiGiallonardo said.

The Pirates held a two-point lead at the half before Butte Central tied things up at the end of the fourth, forcing overtime.

Knowing what had to be done to win, the Pirates put the ball in the hands of Mohr.

"We had to get the ball to the hot hand, which was Louis at the time," DiGiallonardo said.

Mohr started things off with a rebound, an assist and a three-point shot before dropping one in with 27 seconds left to put the game out of reach.

"Anyone on our team can have a hot hand," Mohr said. "That's the thing, anyone can shoot, anyone can score."

Mohr earned a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds. Bagnell added 10 points.

The win put the Pirates in the championship game and Mohr said it felt good to have proved a lot of people wrong. Bagnell said it was the greatest feeling while DiGiallonardo said it was "the biggest accomplishment in my high school sports career so far."

Nerves started to set in again as the Pirates realized they were going to play for first place.

Bagnell and Mohr said they didn't sleep well the night before.

"I stayed awake," Bagnell said. "I slept for intervals of a couple hours. Going into it, I've never been so nervous in my life."

In the championship, Laurel ironically wore the same colors as Polson, making the stands a sea of purple and gold no matter what team was favored.

"It was the biggest crowd, hands down, I've played in front of," Bagnell said.

The last time the Polson boys basketball team played in a title game, the current team could only dream of dunking the ball on the same court.

Twelve years later, the Pirates warmed up for the championship game with fancy shots and a couple dunks as Polson tried to look at this game as a regular game.

"We tried to," DiGiallonardo said. "But once we got there, saw it, we knew it was big."

Laurel beat Columbia Falls in double overtime in the opening round, but that didn't scare Polson.

"We've had Columbia Falls on their backs in their house," Mohr said. "That's hard to do. Laurel is a good team, don't get me wrong. That Swecker kid can shoot the lights out. "

Laurel's David Swecker did, scoring four 3-point shots against Polson.

To start the game, baskets from Bagnell, Mohr and DiGiallonardo gave Polson an 8-3 lead.

Two minutes later, the Locomotives tied the game with two quick baskets. Bagnell stopped them from taking the lead with a blocked shot before Mohr hit a three at the other end for an 11-3 Polson lead.

Laurel pulled ahead with its own three before a series of steals back and forth led to the ball in senior Tim Rausch's hands. With a quick pass to senior Derrick Rathe, who drained his shot, the Pirates took a 14-13 lead with 30 seconds left in the first quarter.

Laurel didn't quit and hit a basket with five seconds left for a one-point lead.

To start the second, Rausch tied the game with a free throw. Three plays later, sophomore Tyler Krell worked down low for a rebound and Polson took a 19-15 lead.

Laurel responded with a quick three and a basket off a steal to regain the lead. After Rausch made another free throw, Laurel went on a seven-point run in a span of 90 seconds for a 29-20 lead with 3:35 left in the half.

Polson took a time out and exited with a basket from Rausch. With 35 seconds left, DiGiallonardo ended the half with a three-point basket as Polson entered the locker room down by nine points.

During the break, Polson knew it had to come out and do whatever it could to get back into it, Bagnell said.

Each team ended the half with five fouls but Laurel stole the ball eight times but Polson out rebounded them with 12.

"Like the Billings game, we weren't worried," DiGiallonardo said.

Polson challenged Laurel to start the third, going on an 11-2 run. The momentum started with Bagnell and ended with a cheer for "Vinny."

Bagnell dropped in a three, Krell put one in at the line, Bagnell added a basket and was sent to the after Laurel junior Jake McKinney spiked his shoe and was called for a technical foul. McKinney apparently lost his shoe after battling Krell for the ball and slammed his shoe down in frustration after Bagnell was able to drive to the basket.

Krell kept his cool and grabbed a rebound on the next play and passed to DiGiallonardo for three and a tie game.

With 1:20 left in the third, Mohr tied the game again with a three-point shot and Rausch tied the game at 41 with 39 seconds left, but Laurel beat the buzzer again to end the third up 43-41.

"We still had a chance," Mohr said. "A couple missed shots we had made all the difference."

The Locomotives started the fourth quarter with two baskets and never looked back as Polson struggled to score. The Pirate's first point of the fourth came from Rausch at the line with 1:37 left in the game before Bagnell added a basket for a 44-53 score.

Bagnell added another and Mohr scored the last two points of the night for the Pirates, who took second after a score of 60-48.

Mohr led with 13 points and seven rebounds. Bagnell and DiGiallonardo added 11 points each. Polson shot 26 percent on the night while Laurel shot 60.

"Every team in the state has games like that," Mohr said. "You can't shoot 60% every night."

The second-place finish has started to sink in for the Pirates, but the feeling of proving people wrong is just as good.

"Once you thought about it, we weren't even supposed to be there," Mohr said. "A lot of people thought we were going to go two and out."

Placing higher then Columbia Falls was an added bonus.

"They can have the divisional trophy," DiGiallonardo said. "We'll take the state one."

Polson will graduate two seniors, Rathe and Rausch, but will look to fill those shoes next year.

"We expect to be in the same spot next year," Bagnell said. "We just have to work hard. We know what it takes."