The Victor Pirates have a couple of new coaches this year. Matt Warren has taken over as head coach and he’s joined by Andrew Elliot as the junior varsity coach. Warren is a graduate of Missoula Sentinel and Montana State University with a degree in K-8 grades.
The Pirates have been concentrating on defense and even though they lost to Valley Christian, 63-19. Warren was pleased with how his team played, especially in the second quarter when they held the Eagles scoreless for almost five minutes.
“We preach it (defense). We’ve worked hours and hours and that’s showing. We’re doing a lot of the right things and now we’re starting to see them piece it together.”
The Pirates had roughly 30 turnovers which contributed to the loss according to Warren. Valley Christian has a 6’5 senior, Billy Boone, who scored 22 points and was difficult to contain. D
“Boone, he’s probably one of the best ‘bigs’ in our conference,” said Warren. “We had a pretty good plan for him for the most part. He’s active and he’s strong.”
Warren was pleased with his young team, there’s only one senior on the team, and proud of the way they didn’t let up. He went on to say that trying to turn a program around can be difficult when sometimes the team or players have been thinking, it’s ok to lose. “But already they are adjusting with small wins.”
He is particularly pleased with how the junior varsity is playing and feels that will help with the older players as well. “We’re doing a lot of things right and we just need to have them all align.”
Valley Christian 63, Victor 19
Valley Christian – Billy Boone 22; Riley Reimer 11; Eyan Becker 10; Zach Streit 8; Brennan Cox 5; Nate Centifanto 4; Micah McCloy 2.
Victor – Carson Varner 9; Canyon Parks 5; Caleb Rosen 3; Landon Nutall 1; Raymond Russi 1.
The Corvallis Blue Devils came out strong against Ronan on Thursday. Although Ronan was a bit bigger than the Blue Devils, the Devils held their own through the first quarter and took a one point lead into the break. They continued to build their lead in the second quarter and were up by eight points at the half. Cole Trexler of Corvallis and Girma Detwiler of Ronan were battling under the basket for rebounds and points. Tanner Jessop stepped up and hit three treys in the game including two in the second quarter. Ronan went on to win, 57-50.
However, in the second half, Ronan put together some runs and came back and scored 22 points in the third quarter including seven points by Detwiler and 8 points by Elijah Tonasket.
“We had our chances,” said Corvallis coach Zane Warnken. “I think we shot 12 of 28 from the line. The efforts fantastic, the defense was great.”
He went on to say Ronan is a very athletic team with some size on them. With seven seniors on the team, the Blue Devils look to be one of the top teams in the conference. “I like our chances but it’s the Southwest A, it’s brutal.
Ronan 57, Corvallis 50
Corvallis – Luke Wolsky 7, Tanner Jessop 14, Jacob Loran 3, Donavon Potter 2, Bryce Mayn 10, Cole Trexler 12, Mitchell Spinetta 2.
Ronan – Ruben Couture 2, Girma Detwiler 11, Payton Cates 1, Zaree Couture 10, Elijah Tonasket 10, Leonard Burke 18. Marlo Tonasket 5.
Hamilton fell to Polson, 30-29. Hamilton had a slow start and couldn’t find the range. Tanner Hanson led the team with nine points. Auston Drake and Tyler Burrows each aded six in the non conference loss.
Hamilton defeated Whitefish, 41-32, on Saturday. Burrows led the Broncs with 14 points and Hanson added nine more. Stevensville fell to Dillon, 81-32. Pier Rottin had 14 points for the Yellowjackets.
Florence fell to Loyola, 65-51, in 6B action. Florence led throughout the first half before the Rams caught fire in the third quarter. Beau Neal had 15 points to lead the Falcons. Eli Pedersen and JP Briney each had 14 points and Blake Shoupe added 11 in the loss. The Falcons lost to Frenchtown, 71-40, in non conference action. Pederson led the team with 12 points.