Chiefs finish season strong at Western B Tourney
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HAMILTON — The Ronan Chiefs ended their season with a bang at the Western B Divisional Tournament in Hamilton last weekend, exploding out of the gate with a four-overtime win over Troy before being edged out by eventual divisional champion Deer Lodge the following day. The Chiefs then put up a strong fight against a talent-stacked Loyola team in the loser-out game on Friday, but lost to the Rams by three points, ending Ronan’s season 9-15 overall.
Conditioning wasn’t an issue for the Chiefs during their quadruple overtime against Troy in the opening round of the tournament. The Chiefs outscored Troy 11-3 in the fourth overtime period to pull away with a 77-69 win.
Troy shot out to a 12-11 lead after the opening quarter, but Ronan’s defense stepped up in the second quarter, holding Troy to only three points before the break. Ronan led 17-15 heading into the second half.
The Spartans bounced back in the third, rallying to regain the lead by two, but the Chiefs weren’t finished just yet. Ronan and Troy were tied up at the final buzzer 38-38, but the game was only halfway over.
Both teams put up 10 points in the first overtime, and the game was pushed into a third overtime when both scored 12 in the second overtime. Both teams started to feel the effects of the drawn-out game, but the Chiefs finally broke away with an 11-3 run in the fourth overtime to advance to the semifinals.
Marcus Hungerford paced Ronan with 24 points and eight rebounds, while Edmond Dupuis added 16 points, 12 of them coming from beyond the 3-point line. Robbie Gauthier tacked on nine, while Zach Wagner contributed eight.
For the Spartans, Ryan Rayson put up 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the way, while Cody and Cory Orr finished with 14 apiece.
The win moved Ronan to the semifinal round, where they played the Deer Lodge Wardens the following day.
The marathon game against Troy didn’t seem to wear the Chiefs out too much, as they took an early 8-5 lead over the Wardens. Deer Lodge rallied in the second frame, scoring nine points to lead by one point at the break.
It was more of the same in the second half, as both teams put up close numbers. It was anyone’s game as the final frame rolled around, with Deer Lodge leading by two.
The Wardens closed out the game on a 14-13 run to win 37-36. The victory moved Deer Lodge to the Class B Divisional Championship game against Florence, while Ronan moved to the loser-out game against Loyola.
Hungerford led Ronan with 13 points, while Carston Baertsch tacked on five.
For Deer Lodge, Robert Stone led with 13 points, while Jesse Vasquez contributed 11.
Ronan put up a good fight against the Rams, but Loyola’s free throw shooting made all the difference, outscoring the Chiefs 20-11 at the line.
Loyola led 11-8 at the end of the first quarter, and scored another 13 in the second to lead 24-18 at the break. The Chiefs were down seven at the beginning of the fourth frame, and scored 22 in the final eight minutes of regulation, but Loyola held on by a thread, winning 50-47.
Wagner led Ronan with 11 points and one 3-pointer, while Hungerford added eight. Chris Clary and Carston Baertsch both tacked on seven apiece.
Loyola was led by Josh Janssen’s 12 point performance. Josh Gilligan tacked on nine more, while Forestt Cooper, Andrew Sopko and JJ Anderson all tallied eight points apiece.
SUMMARY
Loyola 50, Ronan 47
Loyola 11 13 8 18 – 50
Ronan 8 10 7 22 – 47
LOYOLA –Josh Gilligan 9, , Andrew Sopko 8, JJ Anderson 8, Matt McHugh 5, Josh Janssen 12, Forestt Cooper 8.
RONAN – Carston Baertsch 7, Edmond Dupuis 3, Marcus Hungerford 8, Zachary Wagner 11, Marley Tanner 6, Brady Oakland 5, Chris Clary 7.
3-point goals – Loyola 4-11 (Sopko 2), Ronan 4-25 (Baertsch, Dupuis, Hungerford, Wagner).
Semifinal
Deer Lodge 37, Ronan 36
Ronan 8 5 9 14 - 36
Deer Lodge 5 9 10 13 - 37
RONAN - Edmond Dupuis 4, Marcus Hungerford 13, Brady Oakland 4, Chris Clary 2, Carston Baertsch 5, Robert Faoa 2, Zach Wagner 6.
DEER LODGE - Robert Stone 13, Jesse Vasquez 11, Hayden Benjamin 6, Andrew Pierson 1, Logan Doiron 1, Malik Parham 5.
3-point goals Ronan 3-19 (Wagner 1-1, Baertsch 1-4, Dupuis 1-8), Deer Lodge 4-14 (Vasquez 2-5, Benjamin 2-6).
Ronan 77, Troy 69
Ronan 11 6 7 14 10 12 6 11 - 77
Troy 12 3 11 12 10 12 6 3 - 69
RONAN - Robbie Gauthier 9, Edmond Dupuis 16, Marcus Hungerford 24, Brady Oakland 4, Chris Clary 3, Carston Baertsch 6, Zach Wagner, Marley Tanner 7.
TROY - Creede Garcia 5, Cory Orr 14, Ryan Rayson 18, Cody Orr 14, Justin Randall 2, Gabe Hickman 16.
3-point goals - Ronan 7-17 (Dupuis 4-7, Hungerford 3-6), Troy 0-11. Total fouls - Ronan 26, Troy 24. Fouled out - Gauthier, Oakland, Garcia, Cory Orr, Cody Orr.
