COLUMBIA FALLS — After a thrilling 40-35 overtime victory over Whitefish on Monday night, the Pirates advanced to the Class A State Tournament for the third straight year. This year, however, might be the most memorable because of the way Polson got to the state tournament. 

After losing star post Tyler Krell to injury and going through shooting droughts, the Pirates readjusted their offense to be more deliberate and focus on high-percentage shots.

COLUMBIA FALLS — After a thrilling 40-35 overtime victory over Whitefish on Monday night, the Pirates advanced to the Class A State Tournament for the third straight year. This year, however, might be the most memorable because of the way Polson got to the state tournament. 

After losing star post Tyler Krell to injury and going through shooting droughts, the Pirates readjusted their offense to be more deliberate and focus on high-percentage shots.

Last weekend, it worked. Polson defeated Libby twice, and then Whitefish at the Northwestern A Divisional Tournament despite having the second-to-last seed going into the postseason tourney.

Polson will play Dillon on Thursday at 2 p.m. in the first round of the Class A State Tournament in Butte at the Civic Center.

Polson 40, Whitefish 35

The Pirates weathered a late comeback by the Bulldogs and outlasted them in overtime to win the NWA challenge game. In the overtime period, Polson’s Zack Camel scored seven of his team’s nine points, but the real momentum shift happened when Whitefish trailed by one, 36-35. With less than 20 seconds left the Bulldogs called a timeout even though they didn’t have any left, resulting in a technical foul. Vince DiGiallonardo hit both free throws, and Camel hit another two free throws before the games’ conclusion for the 40-35 win. Camel led Polson with 18 points in the game.

Polson head coach Brad Pluff knew going into the game that his team would have to closely defend the Bulldogs’ shooters and they did just that. Polson held the Bulldogs to five points in the first quarter and led 20-15 at halftime. After Polson extended their lead by two points in the third quarter for the 29-22 advantage, Whitefish erased the deficit in the fourth and forced the extra period.

Polson destroyed the Bulldogs on the boards, outrebounding them 33-15, and a big reason for that was glass-crasher Ian Laimbeer.

The Polson senior hauled in boards at an impressive rate all season, and he led the Pirates on Monday night with nine, six of those coming in the first half.

His resume is impressive. Laimbeer is the team’s leading rebounder for the season and is ranked in the Northwestern’s A top five.

Teams in the state tournament might have a tough time dealing with the multi-faceted Laimbeer, who can affect stretches of the game with his offense around the basket as well.

Polson 42, Libby 23

Camel led the way with 10 points and the Pirates used their stingiest defensive effort of the season to defeat the Libby Loggers in the third-place game of the NWA tournament, 42-23, on Saturday night.

Riley Sampson added six points and a team-leading six boards for the Pirates, who knocked off Libby for the second time in three days.

Polson was hardly challenged on Saturday, thanks to a deep bench and a brick wall defense.

“It was our best defensive game of the year,” Pluff said.

The Pirates jumped out to a 12-2 lead after the first quarter and the Loggers wouldn’t get within seven the rest of the way.

After falling behind 19-8 at halftime, Libby pulled to within 24-17 midway through the second, but Polson answered with an 8-0 run to boost the lead to 15 at the end of the third quarter. It was academic from there, as the Pirates downed the Loggers for the third time in four tries this season. It was the lowest point total that Polson allowed this season and the game showcased several players off the bench.

“That’s a sign of good things to come,” Pluff said. “They definitely looked like they belonged out there. We kind of thought that Libby would beat Frenchtown and play us and we knew they were going to be tired. We thought if we could run fresh kids at them it would be to our advantage.”

Cody Fischer scored seven points and four Polson players added four in the victory. Pluff credited the defense of Will Davey on Libby’s Jared Winslow as a factor in the game too.

“Winslow is a good player and Will defended him well,” Pluff said. “When he sets his mind to it he’s pretty tough. Winslow hurt us when we went up and lost in Libby but in the tournament, Will came out and was right on him. He can do that, he’s our best defensive player.”

Pluff said that Davey does the little things out on the court that sometimes people don’t notice, but they add up and help a lot in games.

Cedrick Smith was also vitally important in the divisional tournament, coming off the bench and looking as comfortable as Chris Paul in the NBA All-Star game, despite the pressure of the postseason and varsity players trying to disrupt his handling of the ball.

“Cedrick did a great job coming off the bench,” Pluff said. “We didn’t miss a beat.”

Columbia Falls 52, Polson 36

Eventual Northwestern A Champions Columbia Falls got out to a quick start and maintained their lead throughout the game, though the Pirates did their best to crack the deficit in a 52-36 semifinal loss on Friday.

The Wildcats jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first quarter and had a 23-11 lead at halftime. Both teams played evenly in the second half with Columbia Falls only able to extend their lead by four points.

Sampson led the team with 10 points while DiGiallonardo and Brady Hislop both added seven for Polson.

“Over the weekend, he was very big for us,” Pluff said of Sampson. “He led us in scoring and rebounding.”

Polson 33, Libby 32

On Thursday, Camel hit the shot heard around Flathead Lake, a game-winner with four seconds left for the 33-32 victory.

“I had all the confidence in the world that he would hit the shot,” Pluff said. “In the timeout he said he was making the shot and I’ll be darned he made it. He’s a confident kid and we need that. A good shot for Zack is a tough shot for someone else. He’s capable of making those shots because he’s in the gym taking those all the time.”

He hit the shot after the lead had gone back and forth during the game. After Polson took an 8-4 lead in the first quarter, Libby had a 17-16 advantage heading into halftime. Polson again took the lead, 25-24, going into the fourth quarter before Camel’s big shot.

“We needed a win. Bad. We hadn’t won a game since Tyler got hurt,” Pluff told the Daily Inter Lake. “We’d lost five in a row coming into this thing, so we had to find a scrapping way to win.”

Sampson led the Pirates with nine points and DiGiallonardo had eight.

ON TO STATE

By trouncing opponents that had previously defeated them, Polson showed they’re a much improved team in the postseason.

In their four games at the divisional tournament, the Pirates allowed just 35 points per game well below their season average of 56 points per game.

When the Pirates line up in Butte to play their first-round opponent, Dillon, on Thursday, they’ll see some familiar faces. In the Tipoff Tournament to begin the season, Polson played Dillon in the second game and lost 53-42.

However, several players on Polson’s roster were taking important academic tests at the time, so the outcome could be very different this time around.

The Pirates’ record is 10-12 going into the state tournament, and tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Butte Civic Center this Thursday.

POLSON VS W-FISH

Polson - 8 - 12 - 9 - 2 - 9 - 40

W-fish - 5 - 10 - 7 - 9 - 4 - 35 

Pirates scoring - Vince DiGiallonardo 5, Will Davey 3, Zack Camel 18, Cody Fisher 6, Riley Sampson 4, Ian Laimbeer 4

POLSON VS. LIBBY

Polson - 12 - 7 - 13 - 10 - 42

Libby - 2 - 6 - 9 - 6 - 23 

Pirates scoring - Vince DiGiallonardo 4, Will Davey 4, Zack Camel 10, Cody Fischer 5, Riley Sampson 8, Ian Laimbeer 4, Brady Hislop 4, Cedrick Smith 3

POLSON VS C-FALLS

Polson - 2 - 9 - 7 - 18 - 36

C-Falls - 11 - 12 - 9 - 20 - 52 

Pirates scoring - Vince DiGiallonardo 7, Will Davey 3, Ian Laimbeer 2, Cody Fischer 5, Brady Hislop 7, Cedrick Smith 2, Riley Sampson 10

POLSON VS LIBBY

Libby - 4 - 13 - 7 - 8 - 32

Polson - 8 - 8 - 9 - 8 - 33 

Pirates scoring - Vince DiGiallonardo 8, Will Davey 2, Ian Laimbeer 5, Zack Camel 2, Cody Fischer 5, Brady Hislop 2, Riley Sampson 9