It hasn’t been the greatest season for the Mission Bulldogs. They lost their first 12 games of the season before defeating Eureka, who is also have a tough season. However, in the last month or so, the Bulldogs have been getting closer and closer to upsetting some of their opponents. That upset finally came on Thursday night – in a big way. Mission took on Valley Christan at home for their senior night. The Eagles are having an impressive season, and were undefeated until Thursday night. The Bulldogs had previously lost to Valley by over 20 points. This time, Mission came out fast in their throwback uniforms, and took a three point lead after the first quarter. They proved to the crowd that it wasn’t a fluke in the second quarter when they extended their lead to five going into halftime. Valley couldn’t make up the difference in the third quarter, and in the fourth, Mission help on tight to take the win 59-53. The Bulldogs handed the Eagles their first loss of the season and gained some major momentum going into the district tournament this week.

Three Bulldogs scored in the double digits including Nick Durglo, who led all scorers with 18 points. Tate Weingart and Bill Von Holtum each added 14.

Mission 59 Valley 53

V. Christian-  13  14  13  13  –  53

St. Ignatius-  16  16  13  14  –  59

VALLEY CHRISTIAN – Brian Gragg 12, Nic Luoma 3, Elijah Redfern 1, Cameron Ireland 11, Jacob Dargan 2, Zach Baugher 14, Brad Klein 2, Joe Lodine 8.

ST. IGNATIUS – Nick Durglo 18, Andrew Esslinger 5, Tate Weingart 14, Tyler Spidell 4, Isaac Alexander 2, Billy Von Holtum 14, Emilio Bravo 2.

Mission 52 Troy 62

On Saturday the Bulldogs traveled to Troy to finish off their regular season. Things were tied up in the first quarter, then Mission took a one point lead at halftime. Troy came out in the second half and went up by four going into the last quarter. The Bulldogs fought hard but couldn’t make up the points down the line and lost the game by 10. Nick Durglo had another great game, putting up 18 to lead all scorers.

St. Ignatius-  14  18  9  11  -  52

Troy-  14  17  15  16  -  62

ST. IGNATIUS — Nick Durglo 18, Matt Beedo 2, Tate Weingart 4, Isaac Alexander 6, Bill VonHoltum 14, Tyler Spidell 8.

TROY — Zach Cotton 3, Dillon Savage 8, Tucker Winn 6, Adam Tallmadge 6, Sean Opland 17, Mason Chapel 3, Kolton Winebark 16, Trinity Rice 3.

Ronan 50 Florence 85

Last Tuesday, Ronan took on Florence, the top team in the conference. The Chiefs kept it close in the first quarter, then slipped up in the second, allowing the Falcons to take an 18 point lead at halftime. In the second half Ronan couldn’t make up the difference and lost the game 50-75. Kasey Mock led the team with 12 and Zeke Misa added 10 for the Chiefs.

Ronan-  13  10  14  13  –  50

Florence-  19  22  19  15  –  75

RONAN – Kasey Mock 12, Zeke Misa 10, Jackson Duffey 8, Aaron Misa 8, Isaiah ArrowTopKnot 4,  Kobe Morigeau 3, Anthony Camel 3, Ty James 2.

FLORENCE – Levi Clagett 24, Marcus Zeiler 11, Cody Liles 10, Jake Christopherson 9, Dan Mickelson 6, Collin Jelinski 4, Tyce Peterson 3, Bo Zeiler 3, Braxton McCullough 2, Brent Stroppel 2, Carson Katen 1.

3FGs – R (), F7-18 (Clagett 3, M.Zeiler 2, B.Zeiler, Christopherson), R3-17 (Duffey, Morigeau, Camel).

REBOUNDS 17 (Z.Misa 3, Duffey 3, ArrowTopKnot 3, A.Misa 2, Mock 2, James, Camel, Ethan Blevins, Nate Dennis).  ASSISTS 13 (Z.Misa 10, A.Misa 2, James).  STEALS 7 (Z.Misa 2, Duffey, James, A.Misa, Morigeau, Camel).  BLOCKS 2 (A.Misa 2).

Ronan 50 Anaconda 85

On Thursday, Ronan traveled to Anaconda. Ronan had another good first quarter, sticking with the Copperheads for a 19-all first quarter score. In the second Anaconda went up by five, then kicked it into high gear in the third quarter and put 24 points to Ronan’s 11. Another huge quarter in the fourth put the game out of reach for the Chiefs and they lost the game 50-85. Isaiah ArrowTopKnot led the Chiefs with 11.

Ronan-  19  12  11  8  –  50

Anaconda-  19  19  24  23  –  85

RONAN – Isaiah ArrowTopKnot 11, Zeke Misa 8, Kasey Mock 8, Aaron Misa 8, Jackson Duffey 6, Kobe Morigeau 5, Ty James 2,  Elijah Cahoon 2.

ANACONDA – Braxton Hill 29, Caleb Stetzner 11, Bobby Swainston 10, Kayne Cobban 10, Sean Gallagher 8, Ricco Ungaretti 7, Trent Mikalatos 5, Devon Kopp 3, Kaden Stetzner 2.

3FGs – R5- (Duffey 2, Z.Misa 2, Morigeau), A8-21 (Hill 2, C.Stetzner 2, Gallagher 2, Mikalatos, Kopp).

REBOUNDS 23 (A.Misa 5, James 4, Z.Misa 3, Mock 3, ArrrowTopKnot 3, Duffey 2, Camel, Morigeau, Nate Dennis). ASSISTS 15 (A.Misa 3, Duffey 2, Z.Misa 2, James 2, Mock 2, ArrowTopKnot 2, Cahoon, Camel).  STEALS 3 (A.Misa, Z.Misa, Morigeau).

Arlee 68 TER 26

On Friday night, Arlee traveled to Two Eagle River. With three sophomores starting, the depleted Eagles didn’t stand much of a chance against the veteran Warriors. Arlee put up 23 point in the first and 28 in the second, then let some of the younger guys take control and won the game 68-26. Pat BigSam led the team with 15, followed by Aaron Perry with 11.

Arlee-  23  28  9  8  –  68

Two Eagle-  7  9  4  6  –  26

ARLEE – Phillip Malatare 6, Isaac Desjarlais 5, Colt Brazill 4, Tyler Tanner 13, Greg Whitesell 6, Ivory Brynn 2, Patrick Bigsam 15, Aaron Perry 11, Rory Bird 4, Brad Brazill 2.

TWO EAGLE RIVER – Dante McDougal 3, Julian Cutfinger 12, Cory CaDeaux 3, Basseu Eneas 5, Josiah Nichols 3.

Arlee 77 Charlo 34

In a tense rivalry match up on Saturday, Arlee hosted Charlo for their senior night. In the first quarter, things got a little heated. The frustration from Charlo showed through as the Arlee defense created steals and put up 28 point while holding the Vikings to 8. Things didn’t get much better for Charlo in the second and Arlee led 56-23 at half. The fast paced Arlee offense slowed down in the second quarter, but they still coasted to a 77-34 win. Pat BigSam led all scorers with 19 points, followed by 12 from Tyler Tanner and Aaron Perry.

For Charlo, Jade Smith led the team with eight points and Dugan Runkel, Landers Smith, and Michael Delaney all added seven.

Charlo-  8  15  5  6  –  34

Arlee-  28  28  14  7  –  77

CHARLO – Michael Delaney 7, Tyson Petticrew 2, Landers Smith 7, Vaughn 3, Dugan Runkel 7, Jade Smith 8.

ARLEE – Phillip Malatare 11, Isaac Desjarlais 2, Dennis Fisher-Ahenakew 2, Tyler Tanner 12, Greg Whitesell 5, Patrick BigSam 19, Aaron Perry 12, Rory Bird 2, Brad Brazill 12.

Charlo 59 

Hot Springs 83

On Friday, Charlo traveled to Hot Springs. The Vikings lost in the last matchup between the two and were looking for redemption, but they wouldn’t find it. Hot Springs took a six point lead at halftime, then an 11 point lead after three. The game was still in the reach of the Vikings until Hot Springs went off for 30 points in the fourth to win the game 83-59. Tyson Petticrew led the Vikings with 26 and Michael Delaney added 13.

Charlo-  8  14  20  17  –  59

Hot Springs-  11  17  25  30  –  83

CHARLO – Michael Delaney 13, Tyson Petticrew 26, Dugan Runkel 6, Greg Montgomery 4, Landers Smith 10.

HOT SPRINGS – Trevor Paro 24, Zach Osborne 27, Jamo Morigeau 8, Sam Hoff 13, Blaine Carr 1, Jack Dolson 10.

TER 20 Plains 65

In their last regular season game, TER hosted Plains. In a rough first quarter, the two teams only managed three points apiece. After that the Horsemen kicked it into high gear and put up 33 in the second. From there, they coasted to a 65-20 win. Julian Cut Finger led the team with nine points, and only three others scored.

Plains-  3  33  18  11  –  65

Two Eagle-  3  9  8  0  –  20

PLAINS – Ryan Ovitt 12, Aaren Vonheeder 9, Trent Brouillette 14, Alec Cole 5, Sam Rehbein 2, Cole Benson 10, Sinjin LaDeaux 2, Jay Vonheeder 6, Tanner Ovitt 5.

TWO EAGLE RIVER – Darius McDougall 2, Julian Cutfinger 9, Coree Cadieux 2, Basseu Eneas 7.

Polson 84 Bigfork 87

by john heglie

At Bigfork last Thursday, the visiting Pirates engaged one of their toughest opponents of the second half of their season as they clashed with the 7B Vikings (17-1) on foreign turf, whose only regular schedule loss had been to 6B power Florence.

The Pirates held an 18 point lead at one juncture during the third period, but the Vikings refused to fold as they capitalized on empty Polson trips to battle back to within ten entering the final frame.  With just under the three minute remaining, the Pirate lead had evaporated to a mere 77-76 advantage when Bigfork would take their first lead of the contest after draining their pair of free throws.  The contest would then see-saw back and forth until just under 30 seconds remained with the scored tied 84 all.  Clutch 7-8 free throw shooting down the stretch by Jonathan Landon and a key steal would complete the Viking rally.

A quartet of players on both sides tallied double figures with Matt Rensvold taking game high honors.  Yet the Pirates would taste the sharp end of the Viking sword via their high conversion rate from the floor coupled with efficiency from the charity stripe (FTs 31-41).

Polson- 24  17  29  14  -  84

Bigfork-  15  18  27  27  -  87

POLSON – Matthew Rensvold 28, Julian Jones 17, Payton Lefthand 13, Jeremiah NorthPiegan 12, Tanner Wilson 9, J’von Niemeyer 3, Hudson Smith 2.

BIGFORK – Jonathan Landon 22, Anders Epperly 19, George Gibson 19, Adam Jordt 16, Joseph Potkonjak 7, Garrett Beville 4  31-41

3FGs P7-14 (Wilson 3, Lefthand 2, Jones, Rensvold).  REBOUNDS  33 (Rensvold 15, Jones 5, NorthPiegan 4, Niemeyer 4, Wilson 2, Main 2, Smith).  ASSISTS 26 (Rensvold 6, Wilson 5, Jones 5, Lefthand 4, NorthPiegan 2, Main 2, Niemeyer 2). STEALS 5 (Lefthand 4, NorthPiegan).  BLOCKS 3 (Rensvold 2, Lefthand).

Polson 54 Libby 48

At Libby this past Saturday, the visiting Pirates delimbed the Loggers with a strong opening period, then countered subsequent incursions with sound strategy to secure their final nonconference contest of the regular schedule.

The Pirate junior contingent of Jeremiah NorthPiegan, Matt Rensvold and Tanner Wilson collaborated on almost three dozen points, while the senior backcourt of Julian Jones along with Payton Lefthand chipped in another dozen.

Polson (13-4) will have already faced the visiting Bulldogs from Whitefish for Senior Night this past Tuesday, then gear up for Western A Divisional play next week.

Polson-  18  8  12  16  -  54

Libby-  9  9  12  18  -  48

POLSON – Jeremiah NorthPiegan 15, Matt Rensvold 12, Tanner Wilson 8, Payton Lefthand 7, Julian Jones 5, Shade Main 4, J’von Niemeyer 3.

LIBBY – Jonny Cielak 15, Erik Lauer 10,  Anthony Johnson 8, Ryggs Johnston 7,  Colin Maloney 5, Jason Brant 2, Brandon Sadewasser 1.

3FGs P0-7.  REBOUNDS 21 (Rensvold 10, Lefthand 3, Jones 2, Niemeyer 2, Wilson, Main, NorthPiegan, Hudson Smith).  ASSISTS 17 (Rensvold 7, Lefthand 5, Jones 3, Niemeyer, Wilson)   STEALS 11 (Rensvold 5, Wilson 2, Jones 2, Main, Smith).  BLOCKS 2 (Rensvold, NorthPiegan).