KALISPELL — The Polson Pirates Purple seventh grade AAU squad won four games last weekend at the Kalispell AAU Tournament, advancing to the championship game before falling to Tenacious D.

Polson started its weekend off on Saturday with a 35-22 loss to Tenacious D and it would be the team’s only blemish before the championship game.

KALISPELL — The Polson Pirates Purple seventh grade AAU squad won four games last weekend at the Kalispell AAU Tournament, advancing to the championship game before falling to Tenacious D.

Polson started its weekend off on Saturday with a 35-22 loss to Tenacious D and it would be the team’s only blemish before the championship game.

“We just didn’t shoot very well,” coach Pete Hamper said. “They have big kids and packed the zone. We played hard and our kids hustled all weekend, we just couldn’t shoot over the zone.”

The Pirates bounced back in their next game with a 37-31 win over the Kalispell Kings. Polson held a six to 10 point lead the entire game.

Polson finished up Saturday with a 48-10 defeat of Libby. The Pirates led 31-4 at halftime and never looked back. On Sunday, the Pirates opened the day up with a 38-31 victory over Whitefish. That put them in the semifinals against the host team, the Glacier Ice. The Pirates held the Ice to just 12 points in the second half and cruised to a 46-29 victory.

“Our kids are athletic and competitive and where it shows up is on the defensive side of the ball,” Hamper said. “When we run our offense, we’re really tough.”

In the championship game, Tenacious D opened up a double-digit lead at the beginning of the second half but Polson rallied back to cut it to three. Hamper credited this comeback with how his kids played a full court press.

However, a weird clock rule allowed precious time to tick off the clock and Tenacious D was able to hold on for the 34-29 victory. Polson’s record on the season is 14-6, and they’ll wrap up the season this weekend in Ronan.

“We played really well and only one team beat us at the tournament,” Hamper said. “That full-court press is hard to do with as few as kids we have but they don’t quit. They have a good attitude.”