BUTTE — It’s amazing how poetic the game of basketball can be.

In the last high school basketball game of her career, in the very building that her dad played in over 20 years ago, Polson’s Riley Kenney was chasing history. Against Laurel, the Lady Pirates may have been out of reach for a victory to extend their season, but Kenney wasn’t out of reach from one incredible milestone.

Polson finishes successful season at state tournament, Kenney hits career milestone

BUTTE — It’s amazing how poetic the game of basketball can be.

In the last high school basketball game of her career, in the very building that her dad played in over 20 years ago, Polson’s Riley Kenney was chasing history. Against Laurel, the Lady Pirates may have been out of reach for a victory to extend their season, but Kenney wasn’t out of reach from one incredible milestone.

Scoring 1,000 points in her high school career.

With a mere 10 seconds left in the game, a teammate put up a shot that was off the mark. Kenney grabbed the rebound and cashed in on a putback basket that gave her exactly 53 points in the 2012 Class A Girls State Basketball Tournament. It was the precise amount she needed to reach 1,000 points.

“That was something we kind of knew about going into the game,” Polson head coach Randy Kelley said. “With about two minutes left I checked with the scorekeeper to see where she was because I was thinking about letting the younger players come in. I saw that she had 16 points and thought ‘nope, we’re playing this out.’ Knowing she needed four more points, I decided to play my seniors for the last two minutes.”

Kenney knew how many points she needed before the game, but since she was obviously playing to try and get her team the win, she had no idea her last bucket was a milestone maker.

“I had no idea how many points I needed to get to 1,000,” Kenney said. “I knew coming into the game I needed 20 but I never thought I was even close to scoring that many. I just heard coach [Brad] Fisher yelling for me to get the ball at the end of the game but I didn’t know why. I didn’t know that basket was my 1,000th point, I just wanted to score one more time as a Lady Pirate. I don’t think any of my teammates had any idea either.”

Kenney reached the same statistical club as her dad, Tom, who scorched the nets for Butte Central in the mid-80s.

“It’s pretty cool to end my career on my dad’s court,” Kenney said. “Whenever I go to Butte, I hear about how great of a basketball player he was and to have reached the same milestones he did is an honor. My goal since I started playing has been to be as good as my dad and to reach 1,000 points makes me closer to that goal and to do it in the Civic Center makes it even more special. I just wish we could have won state on that court like he did.”

During her senior season, Kenney scored a whopping 441 points and was the Northwestern A Conference’s leading scorer, averaging over 19 points per game.

“It was something special for Riley to get,” Kelley said of the 1,000 points. “That is a heck of an achievement. There are not a lot of girls that do that. She definitely has put her time in through the years.”

She wasn’t the only one. After the state tournament, Kelley had nothing but praise for his four seniors – Kenney, Mariah Hamel, Jordan Quinn and Macall Banner. Three of the players had played four years in the Lady Pirates’ basketball program while Banner had played for three.

“It’s tough for someone to play all four years but these girls are great,” Kelley said. “Usually we just have one or two senior girls so to have four senior girls is a big plus. I think their leadership and hard work has rubbed off on the younger girls and every one of them brings something different on the court.”

Polson’s thrilling 46-44 victory last Friday over Havre was the Lady Pirates’ first state victory in years. Their 16-7 season was the best since a 19-1 mark in 2006. Their defense this year would scare the heck out of an NBA team.

“I was really proud of them,” Kelley said “We accomplished some things that hadn’t been accomplished by our program.”

DILLON 48, POLSON 40

Dillon was hitting from behind the three-point line and pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 48-40 victory over the Lady Pirates in the opening game of the Class A Girls Basketball State Tournament on Thursday in Butte.

Dillon shot 47 percent from the field and hit 10-of-14 shots from the free throw line. The biggest weapon in their arsenal was an 8-for-18 shooting day from three point land as they avenged an early-season loss to the Lady Pirates back in December.

“I thought our girls had an excellent first half in that game, they shot well and they defended well,” Kelley said. “It was the tale of two halves, in the second half Dillon shot well and defended well.”

Polson started the game with a 5-0 lead thanks to a bucket by Riley Kenney and a three-pointer by Mariah Hamel. The Lady Beavers bounced back though and trailed by just one, 7-6, heading into the second quarter.

After a bucket by Kenney, Dillon hit a three-pointer to tie things up at 9-9 with 6:54 to go. Polson went on a 5-0 run and led 14-9 with under five minutes to play in the first half.

Dillon hit another three to pull within two but Kenney delivered the mail on the basketball court, converting a three-point play and hitting another bucket for the 19-12 lead with less than three minutes to play in the first half. Dillon finished off their scoring in the first half with a three – in fact all their scoring in the second quarter was on threes – but Hamel answered back with a trey of her own with less than a minute to go in the half to give Polson the 22-15 lead going into the break.

The Lady Beavers made their move in the third quarter, holding Polson to just three points by Kenney. Dillon sank two three-pointers, two free throws and a bucket in the third quarter to outscore the Lady Pirates 10-3 in the stanza.

Tied 25-25 heading into the fourth, Dillon took their first lead of the game, 28-27, at the 6:21 mark thanks to yet another three. Despite a valiant effort by young Polson post Hallie Hovenkotter, who hit a basket and scored a free throw to try and fend off the Lady Beaver rally, Dillon hit two more three-pointers and a two-point field goal to lead 36-30 midway through the stanza.

“There’s something for Lady Pirate fans to look forward to,” Kelley said of Hovenkotter. “She’s going to have a huge impact for us in the future.”

The Lady Beavers pushed their lead to nine points thanks to excellent free throw shooting before Hamel hit a second three-point shot for the Lady Pirates to make it 43-37 with 40 seconds left in the game. Dillon scored its last eight points from the charity stripe and held on to win despite 18 points from Kenney and nine by Hamel.

“It’s always nice to have a point guard that’s a little older and more poised,” Kelley said of Hamel.

Polson shot 31 percent from the field but out-rebounded Dillon 31-20 with 10 rebounds by both Kenney and Rausch.

“Of the three teams that we played all three of them had great shooting nights,” Kelley said. “It’s not something you want to go against in the state tournament.”

POLSON 46, HAVRE 44

The Lady Pirates weathered an early storm from Havre and picked up their first state tournament victory in years after downing the Lady Ponies 46-44 on Friday.

Havre shot an eye-popping 57 percent from the field and over 70 percent from the three-point line in the first half, but Polson took nearly twice as many free throws in the game, making six in the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference.

“We wanted to win that second game pretty bad,” Kenney said. “We had to pack up all our stuff at the hotel because if we lost we were going home and I think that motivated everyone to win because we wanted to stay another night. We didn’t want to go two and out, we wanted to make it to Saturday.”

Things started out looking like a repeat of the Dillon game. Havre’s first three buckets were three-pointers and they led 9-6 midway through the first quarter. Junior Anna DiGiallonardo would not let them pull away though, scoring five points in the first stanza.

Heidi Rausch hit a shot in the final seconds of the period to get Polson within one point of Havre, 12-11.

The Lady Ponies opened up a 20-15 lead with 3:16 to go in the half. Havre would hit another three-pointer, but Polson answered back with a last second bucket by Hallie Hovenkotter to make it 23-17 going into halftime. After the break, Polson came out and ran over the Lady Ponies in the third quarter. The Lady Pirates outscored them 17-10, thanks largely to the efforts of Rausch. At one point during the third quarter, Rausch scored six straight points for Polson, including a bucket that gave Polson the 26-25 lead with 4:22 to go in the stanza.

Havre tied it back up, but Riley Kenney hit two free throws to take the 28-26 advantage before the Lady Ponies hit another bucket to even things up again. Havre hit a three-pointer to take the lead but Polson’s Macall and Mackenzie Banner wouldn’t be denied.

The two sisters each completed a three-point play sandwiched around a Lady Ponies’ score to give the Lady Pirates a 34-33 lead headed into the fourth.

“I was really happy with the Banner sisters at the tournament,” Kelley said. “What they bring on defense is exactly what we needed.”

The Lady Pirates defense didn’t allow a Havre score until 5:24 left in the game but the Lady Ponies took the 40-39 lead with 3:15 to go. Mariah Hamel tied things up with a free throw and Rausch scored a bucket to give Polson the two-point lead with 2:40 to go, but Havre answered back.

Polson then pushed the pace and Rausch made an incredible pass to Kenney to complete a three-point play for the 45-42 lead with 1:17 left. Havre pulled to within one, DiGiallonardo hit a free throw, the Lady Ponies’ last second shot didn’t go in and the Lady Pirates lived for another day.

“I think they really came out in the second half to play,” Kelley said. “They just wanted to live to play another day.”

Kenney led the team in scoring, despite the defense keying in on her and a rolled ankle that temporarily sidelined her. She notched 15 while Rausch added 12 and DiGiallonardo had eight. Rausch led the team in rebounds with nine.

“Havre’s defense didn’t seem as tough to me as Dillon’s when they went box and one, but I was just glad to see others like Heidi step up and score when I couldn’t get the ball,” Kenney said. “We also got pretty good at kicking the ball in and out which opened up some holes for me to take it to the hoop.”

Polson shot 48 percent from the field and shot 16-for-28 from the charity stripe. Havre, on the other hand was just 6-for-15 shooting free throws and cooled down in the second half, shooting 39 percent from the field for the game.

Both teams combined for 50 turnovers and Havre notched 17 steals.

LAUREL 61, POLSON 46

On Saturday, Laurel had a great game shooting the ball en route to a loser-out victory over the Lady Pirates, 61-46.

The Lady Locomotives shot 47 percent from the field and knocked down six three-pointers.

“We ran into some teams that got hot on us,” Kelley said. “I watched Laurel in the consolation final against Belgrade and they didn’t shoot as well and I don’t think it had to do with Belgrade’s defense.”

Laurel hit three treys in the first quarter and sprinted out to a 21-9 lead. After a three-pointer by Hamel and two free throws by Rausch, Kenney took the game over for the Lady Pirates and scored the final seven points of the first half including a NBA-range three-pointer that beat the buzzer. Polson outscored Laurel 12-7 in the second quarter and trailed by just 28-21 at the break.

After Laurel opened up the third quarter with a 32-21 lead, Hamel and DiGiallonardo hit back-to-back three-pointers that made it 32-27 with 5:28 to go in the stanza. However, the Lady Locomotives’ offense then hit the right track and pulled ahead 49-34 heading into the fourth quarter.

Kenney scored nine points in the fourth quarter, including her 1,000-point bucket to finish with 20 points. While the Lady Pirates couldn’t crack Laurel’s lead, they still wrapped up a season that was one of the best in Polson’s history.

DiGiallonardo scored 14 for Polson in the final game, and looks poised to be one of the feature players as a senior next season. Nobody can catch her on the basketball court in terms of speed and defense. Kelley said he liked her offensive mindset in the state tournament and hopes it can carry on over to next season.

“At the state tournament, you need girls to step up and make plays,” Kelley said. “I was impressed with how they did getting into the scoring column.”

Polson won the rebounding battle 32-25 with Rausch hauling in 11 boards and Kenney getting nine. Laurel just hit six more field goals than the Lady Pirates and one more free throw while playing largely error-free basketball. The Lady Locomotives had just seven turnovers compared to Polson’s 15.

“The tournament was good experience for the younger girls and hopefully it’s something they want to get to every year,” Kelley said.

Kelley wanted to thank the Lady Pirate fans and the parents who’ve been supporting their girls since the beginning of volleyball season. Through late nights in the gym and road trips, the parents have been very supportive.

“That makes for a long season, but I really think the girls were supported well this season.”

POLSON VS DILLON

Dillon - 6 - 9 - 10 - 23 - 48

Polson - 7 - 15 - 3 - 15 - 40

Lady Pirates scoring - Mackenzie Banner 2, Mariah Hamel 9, Anna DiGiallonardo 2, Riley Kenney 18, Hallie Hovenkotter 3, Heidi Rausch 6

POLSON VS HAVRE

Polson - 11 - 6 - 17 - 12 - 46

Havre - 12 - 11 - 10 - 11 - 44

Lady Pirates scoring - Mackenzie Banner 5, Mariah Hamel 1, Anna DiGiallonardo 8, Riley Kenney 15, Heidi Rausch 12, Macall Banner 3, Hallie Hovenkotter 2

POLSON VS LAUREL

Polson - 9 - 12 - 13 - 12 - 46

Laurel - 21 - 7 - 21 - 12 - 61

Lady Pirates scoring - Mariah Hamel 7, Anna DiGiallonardo 14, Riley Kenney 20, Heidi Rausch 5