Lady Pirates off to rocky start on hardwood
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POLSON — With a current season record of 2-6, it has been a shaky start for the Polson Lady Pirates basketball team. First year head coach Joe Quinn is looking to build the teams’ confidence going into the next half of their season.
“When you have a history of losing games, you start to have that mindset,” Quinn said. “These girls need to start having a winning mentality. They have what it takes.”
Seniors’ Erin Sampson and Nichole Lake agree that the start to their 2015-16 season has not been ideal.
“We struggle with keeping our heads up, “ Sampson said.
“Our confidence is getting better every game,” Lake added. “We still have over half our season left — it is not over yet.”
Although the Lady Pirates have had a rough start, Sampson and Lake are happy to have a fresh coaching staff for their final season as Lady Pirate basketball players.
“It has been nice to change things up this year,” Lake said.
“The team chemistry is better than it has ever been,” Sampson added. “Our on and off the court team relationships are really strong.”
Thursday, Jan. 14, the Lady Pirates fell to host Stevensville, 56-43. Quinn was pleased with girls’ effort, but would like to see his team make better decisions offensively.
“Our girls are really athletic and fast, but they need to work on taking better shots,” Quinn said. “It isn’t always the best option to shoot the first look that is open. We can take our time offensively and find the right shot.”
On Saturday, Jan. 16, in a home game against Libby, Quinn got what he was asking for. With five minutes left in the third quarter and Polson only leading by one point at 24-23, senior Marlee Congdon stepped up and hit three back-to-back three-point shots to build the lead by 10 points. Congdon, with 11 points on the night, gave the team the extra momentum they needed entering the final quarter of the game to beat Libby 44-32.
Other key players in Saturday night’s win were Lauren Lefthand leading the team with 18 points and Brenna Clarke adding six.
Looking forward, the Lady Pirates are determined to put their handwork and teamwork to a better second half of their season.
“Sometimes teams just have a rocky start, but I am excited to see how we finish,” Sampson said. “By divisionals we will be a totally different team.”
“We are ready to see some wins,” Lake added.
Searching for these wins, the Lady Pirates travel to both Glacier on Tuesday, Jan. 19 for a 7 p.m. game and Whitefish on Saturday, Jan. 23 for a 5 p.m. game.
Thursday, Jan. 14 game results against Stevenville were not reported.
Saturday, Jan. 16
Libby 32, Polson 44
Libby10679-32
Polson1071710-44
Polson – Points: Lauren Lefthand 18, Marlee Congdon 11, Brenna Clarke 6, Nichole Lake 4, Makenna Weltz 3, Mollie Fisher 2. 3-pointers: Congdon 3, Lefthand 2.
