PIRATES B-BALLERS FINE-TUNING SKILLS DOWN THE STRETCH

January 26, 2017 at 11:43 am | By Jason Blasco

Polson Pirate Tanner Wilson drives to the hoop Saturday against Whitefish during the third quarter of its 63-54 win over the Bulldogs. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)

Polson Pirates basketball coach Randy Kelley knows the days of fine-tuning his basketball team for the postseason is coming to an end.

Kelley said he knows his Pirates have to start peaking soon as they prepare to play their final game of January against Frenchtown.

The Pirates got a much-needed conference win with a 63-54 victory over Whitefish Saturday night at Whitefish. Poison (6-5 overall, 2-1 in conference) looked “efficient,” according to Wilson.

“I would say we were efficient at times,” Wilson said. “We had a really good first half and a solid third period. We just need to play four periods of basketball. We are getting closer and closer.”

Kelley said he saw “significant improvements” in his team’s ability to shoot.

“I think we shot about 50-percent from the floor, shot the 3-ball well and two-point field goal really well,” Kelley said. “Our team didn’t miss a free throw. We only had three turnovers and were able to move the ball. Stat wise, we just did a lot of good things.”

With the team on the cusp of its big rematch with Frenchtown Friday at Linderman Elementary School, Kelley knows there is some work to do. In the Pirate’s first meeting with Frenchtown, the Pirates lost 76-75 in double overtime.

“Basically, if we want to have a shot at the No. 1 seed in the conference, we are going to have to worry about what we can take care of with ourselves in a big game on Friday,” Kelley said. “Going back on film (against Whitefish) and looking at half court man-to-man defense, we didn’t look really sharp. They had trouble with the pressure we put on them in the game. Offensively, we had a time getting in our sets in their man-to-man defense.”

Kelley said he felt the Pirates will have to focus on containing Austin Means and Jacob Price.

“Those two are very athletic seniors and (Frenchtown) has a lot of younger kids that have really stepped up,” Kelley said.

Kelley hopes to win the Frenchtown game as his Pirates continue to position themselves for seeding as they prepare for Divisionals in Hamilton on Feb. 22-25.

The Pirates will have two conference games left in Feb. against Columbia Falls and Whitefish.

“The conference seeding will be determined next Friday for us in the Northwest,” Kelley said. “When you go down to the southwest, hopefully you end up playing the bottom seed opposite bracket of what it looks like for Dillon in the championship game instead of Friday. I know we can play against Hamilton but we would have to do some work to go against Dillon. I am glad we have a solid month to still get better.”

Kelley said he is going to use this next month to “fine tune” everything.

“I think we are shooting the ball pretty well right now,” Kelley said. “Our defense, our full court, trapping, and also our man to man had some breakdowns in communication and some stuff that we still have to clean up. I hope we play with some of the best teams in Class A. I am happy with where our offense has gone. It is a big week for us and we won’t get a lot of practice time to prepare for Frenchtown.”