After a long tournament weekend, the Polson Pirates are headed to state as the fourth seed in the Western A Division.

Playing just down U.S. 93 in Ronan, the Pirates opened the tournament against Frenchtown. Although the Pirates hung with the Broncs in the first three quarters, Polson faltered in the fourth quarter only scoring five points in the final eight minutes.

Colton Graham had a big 16-point game for the Pirates, but it was not enough as they fell to the Broncs 48-39.

Despite failing to get off to a good start in the tournament, Polson fought hard for victories over Ronan and then Whitefish in the next two games.

In both consolation rounds Polson got out to a hot start, and held on to that momentum all the way to the finish.

Against Ronan the Pirates jumped out to a 22-7 first-quarter lead and then held Whitefish to only four points in the opening quarter.

Graham was a huge asset again in both games scoring 18 points against the Chiefs and then 15 points on the Bulldogs.

Polson defeated Whitefish last Saturday, then had to turn around and play in the final consolation game against Butte Central later that afternoon.

The Pirates came out flat-footed and allowed Butte Central to stack up a 25-11 point first-half lead. Polson was not able to shut down the aggressive post game by the Maroons as Butte coasted to a 63-35 win.

The Maroons shot 53% from beyond the arc.

The Pirates will take on East champ Hardin in the quarterfinal round of state at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, March 12, in Billings.

Western A Consolation

Butte Central 63, Polson 35

Polson (13-9), Butte Central (18-4)

Butte C 17 8 20 18 – 63

Polson 6 5 11 13 – 35

BUTTE CENTRAL – Braden Harrington 14, Trevor Neuman 11, Matt Simkins 10, Aaron Richards 6, Ryan Wahl 4, Gator Yelenich 4, Jared Simkins 4, Brian Holland 3, Egan Lester 3, Kyle Holter 2, Luke Heaphy 2. 16-44 22-25

POLSON – Ryker Wenderoth 6 0-0 12, Anton Lefthand 4 0-0 9, *Colton Graham 2 4-4 8, Jarrett Wilson 1 1-2 3, Trevor Lake 2, Bo Kelley 1. 14-37 6-8

3FG – BC9-17 (Harrington 4-4, Neumann 3-4, Lester 1-2, Wahl 1-3), P1-10 (A.Lefthand 1-2). REB – BC22 (Richards 6), *P17 (Graham*6, J.Wilson*3, R.Wenderoth 2, A.Lefthand 2, X.Fisher*2, T.Lake, Grisak). AST – BC13 (J.Simkins 3, Heaphy 3, Harrington 3, noID2), P (Graham 3, R.Wenderoth 2, X.Fisher). STL – BC (), P3 (X.Fisher, R.Wenderoth, Graham). BLK – P (Grisak 2). (Sa29Feb20gm21div)

Consolation Semifinal

Polson 50, Whitefish 44

Ryker Wenderoth crested the triple century (300) point plateau for varsity career scoring, while Gunner Grisak surpassed the century mark for season scoring.

Polson (13-8), Whitefish (9-13)

Polson 11 15 10 14 – 50

Whitefish 4 17 11 12 – 44

POLSON – Colton Graham 7 0-1 15, Ryker Wenderoth 5 0-0 11, Trevor Lake 4 1-3 9, Xavier Fisher 0 6-6 6, Anton Lefthand 0 5-8 5, Gunner Grisak 2 0-0 4. 18-50 12-18

WHITEFISH – Justin Conklin 14, Jayce Cripe 10, Bodie Smith 9, Sam Menicke 6, Talon Holmquist 5. 14-49 11-16

3FG – P2-8 (Graham 1-2, R.Wenderoth 1-3), W5-24 (Conklin 3-12, Cripe 2-4). REB – *P24 (Graham*11, T.Lake 4, B.Kelley 3, J.Wilson*3, Lefthand 2, R.Wenderoth), W24 (Holmquist 9, Menicke 5). AST – *P9 (B.Kelley 2, Graham*2, J.Wilson*2, X.Fisher, R.Wenderoth, A.Lefthand), W6 (B.Smith 2, Cripe 2). STL – P7 (R.Wenderoth 3, B.Kelley 2, J.Wilson, Graham), W (Conklin 2). BLK – P (T.Lake), W (S.Menicke). (Sa29Feb20gm18div)