Lady Pirates make impressive comeback but fall short

SUNNYSIDE–After handling the Lady Knights' trap in the first quarter, Sunnyside Christian switched defenses and capitalized on the change and the Lady Pirates' drop in energy to nearly treble their lead and go on to win 48-36 here May 20.

The Lady Buccaneers are now 1-4 with a week to go in the quick covid season.

Starting a four-day sprint down the home stretch, Pomeroy faced Oakesdale on the home maple Monday night, May 24, losing 42-24, then Yakama Tribal visited Tuesday, May 25, for Senior Night. Wednesday the Lady Pirates traveled to Liberty Christian and tonight, Thursday, May 27, is the final regular-season game at DeSales. Look for full reports on these games in next week's East Washingtonian.

At Sunnyside Christian, the combination of a switched-up defense and a lack of energy combined for the Lady Knights to rip off 22 second-quarter points while holding the Pirates to just two points, enough for a commanding lead that secured the win.

"Sunnyside Christian is a tall team that likes to trap teams," said Brock Ledgerwood, interim head coach. "We again started well by easily breaking their traps with good ball movement and led 8-6 after the first quarter.

"The second quarter was a different story," Ledgerwood said, noting the change in defense and Pomeroy's lack of energy. "SCS was controlling the game, and we were down 18 at the half," he said.

But the Lady Pirates weren't about to be counted out.

They responded in the second half, turning up the defensive pressure and giving the Pomeroy offense some spark. By the end of the third quarter, the Lady Bucs were back in the game, trailing 33-26.

Leading the charge was Maya Kowatsch, who swiped four from the Lady Knights and took the ball to the hoop for easy buckets, and Chase Caruso drained some big threes, hitting one in the fourth quarter that put the Lady Pirates up 34-33.

"We battled tough, but ran out of gas in the last few minutes," Ledgerwood said. "SCS capitalized on a couple of three-point plays to open a lead back up.

"I was extremely proud of our guts," he added. "We could have easily folded after our poor second quarter, but we came together as a team and battled to the end. Our defense continues to get better for longer stretches of time and that is key as we continue to look for more consistency offensively."

Ledgerwood praised Keely Maves and Kowatsch for keeping SSC's star, Jenna Andringa, under control with just 14 points, although it cost Maves five fouls. Andringa averages 25.5 points per game, Ledgerwood said, and had just scored 28 and 31 in the two previous games. "Keely and Maya did a great job of limiting her looks all night and got timely help from their teammates when they needed it," Ledgerwood said.

Sunnyside Christian 48, Pomeroy 36 (5/20)

Pom 8 2 16 10-36

SSC 6 22 5 15-48

Pomeroy (36) Chase Caruso 2-3 0-0 6, Elizabeth Ruchert 0-0 0-0 0, Jadence Gingerich 0-0 0-0 0, Maya Kowatsch 5-9 0-0 11 9 (4 steals), Jillian Herres 1-9 0-2 2 9 5 (assts), Keely Maves 7-12 2-6 16 (8 rebs), Kendall Dixon 0-13 1-4 1, Hallie Brewer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-46 3-12 36

SCS (48) Violet Bosma 0-0 0-0 0, Kelli Candanoza 2-5 3-3 8, Sydney Banks 4-11 2-2 11, Taylor's Andringa 2-6 2-3 8, Jenna Andringa 4-13 5-5 14, Haylie Wolters 3-6 0-0 6, Victoria Velasquez 0-0 1-2 1. Totals15-45 13-15 48.

Three-point shots: Pomeroy 3/7-43%. SCS 5/23-22%.

Fouls: Pomeroy 13. SC 10. Fouled Out: Maves.

Colton 50, Pomeroy 35

Ahead 9-7 going after the first quarter, Pomeroy had no answer for Colton's Rylee Vining, whose second-quarter hot streak carried the Lady Wildcats to a 50-35 win in Pomeroy May 17.

"Colton played some tremendous pressure defense for the entire 32 minutes that made it tough for us to score and wore us down as the game went on," Ledgerwood said.

"Jillian Herres, with five assists, did a great job of taking care of the ball for us and getting the ball inside to Keely Maves, who had a solid game in the post and on the boards, scoring 18 points and making seven rebounds. It was Kendall Dixon though who really stepped up inside pulling down 13 rebounds for us.

"Herres did a good job getting the ball up the court and getting us into our offense, but we just weren't able to get enough good shots to fall," he said.

"We have been starting strong in games and we jumped out to a 9-7 lead in the first quarter," Ledgerwood said.

In the second quarter, Vining got hot and never cooled down, Ledgerwood said. Vining hit three of three from the three-point line and scored 11 points in the second quarter.

On Vining's back, Colton took a 20-15 lead, but the Lady Pirates attacked the basket and converted at the free-throw line, hitting six of seven in the second quarter along to take a one-point half time lead.

In the third quarter, the Lady Pirates came out flat while Colton continued its scoring pressure and Pomeroy was unable to recover, Ledgerwood said. "Vining finished with half their points and Josie Schultheis was 7-8 from the free-throw line in the second half," he said.

Colton 50, Pomeroy 35 (5-17)

Pom 9 12 4 10-35

Col 7 13 13 17-50

Pomeroy (35) Chase Caruso 0 2-4 2, Elizabeth Ruchert 0 0-0 0, Maya Kowatsch 3 2-2 8, Jillian Herres 0 1-4 1 (5 assts), Keely Maves 6 6-9 18 (7 rebs), Kendall Dixon 3 0-0 6 (13 rebs), Hallie Brewer 0 0-0 0, Ashlee Pemberton 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 11-19 35.

Colton (50) Rylee Vining 10 0-0 27, Maggie Meyer 1 1-4 3, Mary Pluid 1 2-4 4, Kyndra Stout 3 0-0 7, Josie Schultheis 1 7-8 9, Kaydee Heitstuman 0 0-0 0, Sidni Whitcomb 0 0-0 0, Lela Baerlocher 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 10-16 50.

Fouls: Pomeroy 13. Colton 20. Fouled Out: Whitcomb Colton.

Three-point shooting: Pomeroy 0-4, Colton 6-15.