It was career week for Kolby Finley, who notched his 1,000th point, and the Ronan Chiefs as all Class A Lake County teams began to wrap up their regular seasons.

With just one week left in the regular season for the Ronan and Polson basketball teams, the seeding is almost locked in, although with only a couple of games left, there's still time to move up in the standings. Here’s a check on this week’s slate of matchups.

Ronan Boys 59, Polson Boys 54

The game of the week was also the final game of the week as Ronan and Polson each searched for a quality win.

It was senior night for the Ronan boys, with Kolby Finley, Jhett McDonald, Tryance Matt, Devon Big Medicine, Masyn Wayman, Jordan Messerly and Nate Bisson all being honored.

With a swathe of seniors seeing the end of their high school careers nearing, it felt like Ronan was going to have a solid showing. However, Polson wanted revenge for their close home loss just weeks ago.

Polson’s Malakai Curley led the charge as the Pirates took an early 15-13 lead on the back of some turnovers and strong shooting.

The Pirates refused to relent as they put immense pressure on Ronan throughout, while the Chiefs struggled to control the pace of the game. Polson led 32-26 going into halftime.

It wasn’t until the second half that the Chiefs came to life. Finley found his scoring touch by hitting threes and making tough buckets, while teammate Matiya Nenemay also picked up the scoring. 

Polson’s shooting started to slow and the Chiefs were back in it with a 43-42 third-quarter score.

Again, the Chiefs outscored the Pirates. Despite that, Polson’s Maddox Bird stormed to the hoop for a layup with just over a minute left in the game to put the score at 54-52. Polson trailed by just two points before a wide-open Nenemay found the bottom of the night with a dagger three.

“It's a big night for us,” Nenemay said. “This was to clinch the conference champion and it's on senior night. Everybody just stepped up and it was awesome. And just to hit that solidifying three felt amazing.”

Polson scored once again on a layup, but after stopping Ronan, their attempts to tie the game were no good. Two missed threes lead to McDonald shooting two free throws to ice the game 59-54, giving the Chiefs the season sweep.

“I'm pretty emotional, man,” Finley said. “Last home game, it's tough. It's crazy. It's surreal. It came fast. I didn't think any of that was going to happen." 

"Locking out the number one spot in the conference is huge," he added. "First time we’ve done it in like, I suppose, 30 years is what our coach said, so that's pretty big.”

Finley and Nenemay both led Ronan in scoring with 16 points, while Finley hit the 300-point mark for the season.

Polson's Curley notched a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds; he also hit the 600-point mark for his career. Bird earned the 200-rebound mark for his career.

Ronan Girls 52, Polson Girls 47

It was a close rematch on Feb. 14 as Polson looked for a season sweep over Ronan to raise their own stock before divisionals.

The main difference in this one: it was senior night.

Nevaeh Perez, Natalie Adams, Maddy Illig and Bailee Woll were all honored in a packed-out Ronan gym as they approach the end of their high school careers. The raucous environment and ceremony before the game weren’t just a sign of respect but a sign of competitiveness. The Maidens were not going to lose the night their seniors were being honored.

And, just like all of Ronan’s wins, they played hard-nosed defense in the face of one of the more explosive offenses in Northwest A. With quick guards and strong shooting, it felt like a matchup nightmare for Ronan was incoming. However, they controlled the pace early with an 11-5 lead.

Shots started to fall in the second quarter as Ronan continued to fight off a Polson lead. Rylee Taylor-Jefferson put up her typical strong performance but it was the likes of Perez that made the difference.

“I know that I'm bigger than these guys, so I know that I'm able to get easier buckets on them,” Perez said. “So a lot of that. And then if they leave me open, I'm going to shoot. It's a lot of work off the court to be able to make those shots too and be able to finish in a really loud environment like this.”

Perez’s confidence and playstyle helped control the clock, putting Polson in tough positions on the defensive end. The Maidens led 27-19 going into the second half.

Ronan continued their strong scoring in the third quarter but Polson stayed more consistent as well. It wasn’t a high-scoring affair but both teams were able to find good looks as Polson tried to keep it close. The Maidens took a massive 43-27 lead going into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Pirates were not done yet, though. Polson started a massive comeback that saw them trail by just one point with just two and a half minutes left in the game. However, with a 48-47 score, the Maidens prevented the Lady Pirates from scoring for the rest of the game while adding some extra buckets as collateral. Ronan secured the rivalry win 52-47.

Perez led the way for the Maidens with 13 points, while Taylor-Jefferson led the Lady Pirates with 22 points. Perez also earned 300 rebounds in her varsity career, while Adams got to 100 points on the season. Polson’s Hinkley Moss earned 100 rebounds on the season, while her teammate Aleysia Black got to 300 points in her varsity career.

Ronan Boys 80, Bigfork Boys 62

The week started with a historic mark for the Chiefs with Finley helping secure a win over Bigfork on Feb. 10, on top of earning 1,000 career points.

Ronan led early with a 16-14 first quarter. In a game defined by offense, the Chiefs were all about feeding the hot hand of Finley. A 23-point second quarter and a 28-point third quarter were all Ronan needed to make their case for being the best team in the division.

The Chiefs cruised to the victory 80-62 on the back of three standout performances.

In addition to Finley’s 1,000-point mark being passed, he matched his season high in points with 24 in that game. Nenemay followed up with 21 points of his own, while McDonald had 19 points to close out the double-digit scorers.

Ronan now sits at 9-2 in the division and 14-3 overall. They hold sole possession of the Northwest A one seed.

Bigfork Girls 68, Ronan Girls 44

The Ronan girls didn’t start the week with a promising result as they took a loss on Feb. 10 against Bigfork.

Ronan’s key to success has been defense and Bigfork was able to break away from it. Much like most games this week, it started close with a 13-9 first quarter score. But the Valkyries broke through with back-to-back 19-point quarters to end the first half and start the second half.

With Ronan struggling to keep up, the Maidens fell behind and, despite a close fourth quarter, lost out 68-44.

Perez led Ronan with 12 points, while teammate Adams followed up with 10 points.

This split week brings the Maidens to 4-7 in the Northwest A and 5-12 overall.

Columbia Falls Boys 58, Polson Boys 46

The start of Polson’s week was on Feb. 10, when both teams took on Columbia Falls.

The boys drew a tough one on their roadtrip. It started strongly for the Pirates as they secured a close 26-24 score in the first half. Despite trailing by two, the Pirates had the scoring numbers going into the half to go up.

However, the Wildcats were not to be denied at home as they went off for 19 points in the fourth quarter. Polson couldn’t keep up and only managed 11 points in both quarters in the second half. The Pirates lost 58-46.

Malakai Curley led the way with 14 points on the night. Amadeus Old Shoes had 10 points as the only other double-digit scorer.

Polson ended the week with two losses, dropping to 4-6 in their division and 7-10 overall.

Columbia Falls Girls 53, Polson Girls 35

The girls also drew a tough one on Feb. 10 against Columbia Falls.

It was low scoring for the Lady Pirates. Even though they kept it close with a 15-11 first quarter score, the numbers only went down. They couldn’t manage to score double-digits in any other quarter as Columbia Falls remained steady.

There were no double-digit individual scorers either as Columbia Falls went to get a defensive 54-35 victory.

Taylor-Jefferson and Olivia Cottet both led the team with nine points each. Koko Scott also crossed the 100 rebound mark for the season.

This week concludes with two losses, dropping them to 5-6 in their division and 9-8 overall.

    Ronan senior Kolby Finley makes a jump pass over multiple Polson Pirates in a game on Feb. 14 in Ronan High School. (Max Dupras/Leader)

 Ronan senior Natalie Adams attempts a layup over Polson sophomore Koko Scott on Feb. 14 in Ronan High School. (Niki Graham Photo)

 Polson senior Cody Haggard goes for a midrange jumpshot over Ronan junior Oliver Rowe on Feb. 14 at Ronan High School. (Niki Graham Photo)

 Polson junior Rylee Taylor-Jefferson looks for a passing lane while Ronan senior Bailee Woll guards her on Feb. 14 at Ronan High School. (Max Dupras/Leader)