Polson Pirates place second at State A tournament

Louis Mohr led the late season resurgence of the Polson Pirates that culminated in a trip to the State A tourney. For his efforts he was named the MVP of the tourney. (B.L. Azure photo)

BUTTE — The Polson Pirates made it to the State A tournament for the first time since 1998 when they topped Billings Central in the championship game. The Pirates also won the 1993 State A tourney championship with an overtime victory over Belgrade.

The Pirates opened play against the Billings Central Rams, winners of the Eastern A divisional tournament.

Polson 65, Billings Central 53
The Pirates used a well-rounded offensive attack from its starting five to overcome an early scoring deficit - all five starters scored in double figures.

The Rams seemed at home on the Butte Civic Center court in the first half of the game and the Pirates looked a little jittery and out of sync at times. The Rams used an inside and a long-bomb scoring attack to forge an 18-12 first quarter lead.

The Rams opened the second with a 5-0 run to go up by 11 (23-12) a couple of minutes into the quarter. Polson called a time out and regrouped and began chipping away at the Rams’ lead. They outscored the Rams 12-8 to narrow Billings Central’s lead to seven (31-24) at the half.

The Pirates went on a 14-7 run to tie the score at 38-38 with 2:25 remaining in the third quarter. Pirate Louis Mohr scored the basket that brought the Pirates within two (38-36) with 2:50 on the clock then dropped in a 12-foot jumper to knot it at 38-all. Both teams scored six more and the game was tied at 44-44 going into the fourth.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Pirates who went on a 21-9 run to earn 65-53 victory.

Pirate Louis Mohr led Polson with 19 points; Tim Rausch had 13, Kyle Bagnell 12, Tyler Krell 11 and Vince DiGiallonardo had 10 points.

Ram Conner Cunningham led Billings Central with 16 points and Conner Novakovich had 15.

The win sent the Pirates to a semifinal game against the Butte Central Maroons.

The Billings Central loss sent them to a loser out game against Corvallis.

Pirate Louis Mohr launches a 15-foot jumper against the Laurel Locomotives in the State A championship game

Polson 56, Butte Central 50, OT
The Pirates battled with another Catholic school, Butte Central, in their semifinal game. The game was close throughout and it took an overtime period to decide the winner.

The Pirates established a slim 11-10 first quarter lead then added another point to their lead with a 9-8 second to take a 20-18 halftime lead. Both teams scored 15 points in the third quarter; the Pirates led 35-33 going into the fourth. The Maroons tied the score at 45-45 at the end of regulation with a 12-10 fourth quarter to send the game into overtime.

Louis Mohr, who had 13 points in regulation, then took charge of the scoring load in the overtime period and scored seven of the Pirates 11 overtime points. The Pirate defense limited the Maroons to five points in overtime and won 56-50.

Pirate Louis Mohr led Polson with 20 points and Kyle Bagnell had 10.

Marooner Jonathan Richards led Butte Central with 25 points.

The win sent the Pirates to the championship game against the Laurel Locomotives.

The loss sent the Maroons to a loser out game against the Columbia Falls Wildcats.

Pirates Vince DiGiallonardo, Kyle Bagnell and Louis Mohr get a tad giddy after they realized Polson would win their opener against Billings Central. (B.L. Azure photo)

Laurel 60, Polson 48
The Laurel Locomotives were the top ranked Class A school coming into the tournament. The Pirates were at times ranked as high as fifth but slipped out of the state rankings towards the end of the season. However, the return of Louis Mohr to the Pirates line up added another offensive dimension to the team and they held their own with the top ranked Locomotives until late in the game.

Laurel took a one point lead (15-14) after one quarter then widened their lead with a 19-11 second quarter to go up 34-25 at the half.

Polson opened the second half with a 16-9 third quarter scoring advantage and pulled within two (43-41) going into the fourth. The Locomotives opened the fourth with a 10-0 run to go up 53-41 with two minutes remaining in the game. Both teams scored seven points each in the final two minutes and Laurel won the State A tournament championship game 60-48.

Pirate Louis Mohr led Polson with 13 points; Vince DiGiallonardo and Kyle Bagnell each scored 11 points.

Jake McKinney led Laurel with 20 points and David Swecker had 13.