Bulldogs can’t keep pace with Chiefs
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RONAN — The Bulldogs came into Ronan limping and couldn’t keep up with the speedy Chiefs in a 48-28 runaway Ronan victory Saturday.
“We’re not healthy. We had three guys that couldn’t start,” Mission coach Lloyd Phillips said. “We had two nights this week where we were missing four starters, so we had a poor week of practice. We’re still not healthy. The good news was we only had one game, even though it was against our rival; at least it wasn’t a conference game, and it was only one game.”
The Bulldogs can’t use their health as an excuse, Phillips said; they still had five players on the court who could’ve stopped the Chiefs from driving to the basket or grabbing a rebound.
“The two things that bother me the most are we didn’t stop their dribble penetration in the zone, and we didn’t block out. We just didn’t. They had 11 offensive rebounds by half,” Phillips said.
The Bulldogs finished with 32 rebounds compared to the much-smaller Chiefs’ 31. The Chiefs pulled down 19 rebounds on the offensive glass and attempted twice as many shots as the Bulldogs.
“We’re not going to win many games, maybe none, when the other team shoots twice as many shots from the field and twice as many shots from the line,” Phillips said.
A healthy Bulldog team has problems dealing with the Chiefs’ speed; a Bulldog team hobbled by the flu and injuries are simply overmatched by the quickness. And the Chiefs took advantage of this, running circles around them in the opening quarter to take a 11-4 lead. The Chiefs had pushed the lead to 26-16 by halftime, then held the Bulldogs to only 12 second-half points for the 20-point victory.
Bulldog leading scorer Jorren Gies scored on the Bulldogs’ opening possession, but then the Bulldogs went nearly seven minutes without another point. Gies ended the Mission scoring drought with a basket inside the paint at 1:25 in the first quarter to cut the Chiefs’ lead to 11-4. Gies, who was coming off a 23-point performance against Thompson Falls, finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, which was a very quiet night for him, according to Phillips.
With their point guard Austin McDonald on the bench in street clothes and guards Gui Silva and Riley Charlo-Whitworth sick and injured, the Bulldogs turned the ball over 27 times and only had five assists. Silva finished with three points and Charlo-Whitworth added two in limited play.
The bulk of the guard work went to freshman Dylan Evans and sophomore Austin Durglo. Evans finished with two points, four rebounds and only two turnovers.
Battling the flu, Bulldog center Jake Durglo finished with six points and 10 rebounds. Mission went 11-of-25 (45 percent) from inside the arc and 1-for-5 behind the arc. Gies hit Mission’s only 3-pointer about midway through the second quarter to cut the Chiefs’ lead to 16-11, when it looked like the Bulldogs might make it a game, but the Chiefs scored the next six points.
The Bulldogs (4-7, 2-3) will play at Bigfork and host Eureka Saturday in a pair of District 7-B games.
Summary
Ronan 48, Mission 28
Mission 4 12 6 6–28
Ronan 11 15 11 11–48
MISSION - Riley Charlo-Whitworth 2, Dylan Evans 2, Jorren Gies 11, Gui Silva 3, Jake Durglo 6, Lakota Matt 2, Josh Durglo 2.
RONAN - Jarod Tanner 8, Marcus Hungerford 3, Lucas Black 15, Justin Dusty Bull 8, Kevin Wroblewski 9, Colton Cheff 2, Jordan Franklin 3.
