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Feisty Pirate guard Heidi Heytvelt (4) hooks a rebound over Maci Brantner (20) in action from the Lady Bucs' 47-29 win. Pirate teammates Alyssa Wolf (2), Keely Maves (24) and Maddy Dixon (30) all stand ready to help.
Defense played a big role in last Friday's 47-29 win over Gar-Pal. Lady Pirate McKenzie Watko (12) put in some defensive moves against GP's Paige Collier (10).
The Lady Pirates employed full-court pressure to keep the Lady Vikings off balance, and it worked as Pomeroy held a 10-point lead at halftime and cruised to the regular-season-ending win.
POMEROY–Garfield-Palouse offered little resistance to Pomeroy as the league-leading Lady Pirates cruised to a 47-29 win, closing the regular season with a 9-1 league mark, 18-1 overall. Second to the Lady Bucs was Oakesdale, then Colton in third and GP in fourth.
In the first round of the District 9 tournament, the Lady Pirates face GarPal at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14 on the maple in Pomeroy.
In state RPI rankings, Pomeroy finished the regular season in first with an 18-1 record, 9-1 in 1B Southeast League.
The top six teams remained in place from the previous week with Inchelium in second, Colton in third, Oakesdale in fourth, Mt. Vernon Christian fifth, and Garfield-Palouse sixth. Tacoma Baptist bumped Neah Bay from seventh to ninth and Curlew held fast in eighth place.
"We had a really strong team showing," Head Coach Tai Bye said of Friday's win over GarPal. "We worked the ball inside and out, and got ahead of their defense, so it really opened up some great shots for us."
Maddy Dixon moved well on the floor, Bye said, and finished with 18 points, 11 boards, and 3 steals. Sydney Watko had a strong game, finishing with 11 points, 5 assists, and 4 steals.
The Lady Buccaneers mixed it up in the first quarter offensively but prevented scoring by the Lady Vikes, who scored a single trey. Buckets by Dixon, Keely Maves and Sydney Watko gave Pomeroy a 9-3 first-quarter lead.
Heidi Heytvelt kicked off the second with a trey and the race was on. GP's Kenzi Pederson went to the hoop voraciously, scoring 11 of her team-high 15, in the quarter.
But the Pirates were hot, too. Dixon, Sydney Watko, Maves and McKenzie Watko, who nailed a trey with a minute to go in the half, all combined to score 18 and head to the lockers leading 27-17.
The wheels came of GP's wagon in the third. Pederson hit two more buckets, the Pirates adjusted, and then went on a 13-0 run. Sydney Watko went down on the maple and left the game with 2:21 to play, and the period ended with a 17-point lead in hand. Watko did not return to the game and had a wrap on her right ankle after the game. Coach Bye anticipates Watko will return to normal practice and game activities prior to the rematch with GarPal on Friday.
There was a lot of smoke but no fire in the fourth with the Pirates outscoring GP 5-4.
"We had nice control and controlled the tempo and pace of the game," Bye said. "When we do that, good things happen for us."
Pomeroy 47, Gar-Pal 29 (2-7)
GP 3 14 8 4-29
Pom 9 18 15 5-47
Pomeroy (47) Maddy Dixon 9-16 0-3 18, Sydney Watko 5-9 1-2 11 , Alyssa Wolf 1-10 0-0 3, Heidi Heytvelt 2-7 0-0 6, Keely Maves 2-7 2-2 6, McKenzie Watko 1-3 0-0 3.
Gar-Pal (29) Lexi Brantner 0-2 0-0 0, Kennedy Cook 0-4 0-0 0, Madi Cloninger 3-5 0-0 0, Paige Collier 1-6 0-0 2, MaKenzie Collier 1-3 0-0 2, Kenzi Pedersen 7-14 1-3 15, Maci Brantner 0-4 0-0 0, Miranda Richards 0-0 1-2 1.
3 Point Goals: Gar-Pal: None. Pomeroy: Heytvelt 2, Wolf, M. Watko Fouls: Gar-Pal (7), Pomeroy (8) Fouled Out: None Technical Fouls: None Rebounds: Dixon (11) Pomeroy Rebounds: Team (29) Turnovers: Pomeroy (10) Assists: Pomeroy (17).
