Lady Bucs finish final sprint with win

By Loyal Baker

WALLA WALLA–The Lady Pirates finished the season with a four-games-in-four-nights run, winning the final two games and finishing with a 3-5 record.

Pomeroy defeated DeSales 55-39 May 27, downed Liberty Christian 51-25, fell to Yakama Tribal 61-50 and lost to Oakesdale 42-24.

"We played eight games in 15 days, capped off with four straight this week," said Brock Ledgerwood, Interim Head Coach. "We played a short rotation all season and our girls are flat out exhausted right now. To finish with two solid wins is a testament to their guts and toughness." Ledgerwood pointed out that many of the student-athletes have finished their third sports season, plus a livestock show, in the past three and one-half months.

Each of the team's wins were "solid," Ledgerwood said, and the Pirates were leading in the second half in each of the three losses.

DeSales

"Keely Maves got us going, scoring 16 in the first half, and our guards took over attacking the basket in the second half," he said. "Teams focus on defending our post play. Tonight, we were able to spread the floor a bit and Jill, Maya, and Chase did a great job attacking the hoop off the dribble and with back door cuts."

Rebounding was strong with Dixon pulling 10, Maves 8 and Herres six.

"DeSales hit some threes in the second quarter to make a run at us," Ledgerwood said. "We were able to dig deep defensively to shut down the three-point line and we kept control of the game after that."

Liberty

The Pirates "came out with great energy and executed its defensive game plan well," Ledgerwood said.

"It was a solid team effort and our defense led to some easy offense," he said.

Jillian Herres hounded Emma Reed most of the night and her teammates gave her lots of help, he said. Reed was averaging 20-plus points per game and is the keystone to their offense. "We controlled the tempo of the game well," he said, "and success on the defensive end helped us get more of a rhythm on offense."

Yakama Tribal

After Yakama Tribal built a 34-25 halftime lead, Maya Kowatsch drained back-to-back threes to draw the Lady Bucs within five points in the fourth quarter, but the run fizzled.

"We then couldn't get enough stops and rebounds to get any closer," Ledgerwood said. "We couldn't overcome the 43-22 rebounding difference."

Yakama's Juda Livlamaga had 17 points in the first half and was tough to contain, he said, while Kowatsch and Maves were "a solid one-two punch offensively," giving the Pirates its best offensive output of the covid-shortened season, Ledgerwood said.

Oakesdale

A second-quarter lead evaporated and the Pirates were flat in the third quarter, and although the team fought hard, the lost ground wasn't recovered and Oakesdale hit a few easy buckets to pull away.

Pomeroy shot just 16% from the field, Ledgerwood said, crediting the Nighthawks with defense that made getting good shots difficult.

"I felt we played another solid half of defense in the first half, then the frustration of struggling offensively crept in," he said.

Pomeroy 55, DeSales 39 (5-27)

Pom 17 14 12 12-55

DeS 5 15 10 9-39

Pomeroy 55, DeSales 39

Pomeroy (55) Chase Caruso 2-4 1-2 5, Elizabeth Ruchert 1-1 0-0 2, Jadence Gingerich 0-0 0-0 0, Maya Kowatsch 4-13 1-4 10 (4 stls), Jillian Herres 3-9 0-2 6, Keely Maves 8-20 3-4 22 (8 rebs), Kendall Dixon 4-14 2-4 10 (10 rebs), Hallie Brewer 0-0 0-0 0, Hannah Bagby 0-0 0-0 0, Ashlee Pemberton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-61 7-14 55.

DeSales (39) Tori Kimble 0-1 0-0 0, Heidi Scott 3-10 0-0 0, Emmalyne Jimenez 2-10 1-2 5, Lucia Skaarup 5-12 0-0 13, Madi Wahl 0-2 2-2 2, Morgan Thomas 5-8 1-2. Totals 15-43 4-6 39.

Fouls: Pomeroy 15, DeSales 13.

Three-point: Pomeroy 2/10-20%. DeSales 7/17-41%.

Pomeroy 51, Liberty Christian 25 (5-26)

Pom 15 15 8 13-55

LC 5 8 3 9-25

Pomeroy (55) Caruso 2-7 2-2 7 (3 stl), Ruchert 1-1 0-0 2, Gingerich 0-1 0-0 0, Kowatsch 4-11 0-0 8, Herres 3-11 1-2 7 (6 reb), Maves 10-17 1-2 22 (7 reb), Dixon 2-10 1-2 5, Brewer 0-0 0-0 0 (4 stls). Totals 22-58 5-8 51.

Liberty Christian (25) Lauren Reed 3-6 0-2 8, Emma Reed 1-7 2-3 4, Kaylee Wilson 0-1 0-0 0, Ali Bush 2-12 3-4 7, Calista Davis 2-6 2-3 6. Totals 7-32 7-12 25.

Fouls Pomeroy 17, LC 10.

Three point: Pom 2/9-22%. LC 2/6-33%.

Yakama Tribal 61, Pomeroy 50 (5-25)

Pom 12 13 4 21-50

YT 12 22 7 20-61

Pomeroy (50) Caruso 1-3 0-0 0, Ruchert 0-0 0-0 0, Gingerich 1-1 0-0 2, Kowatsch 6-11 2-6 17, Herres 3-9 0-0 6, Maves 5-18 8-12 19 (11 rebs), Dixon 1-2 2-2 4, Brewer 0-0 0-0 0, Bagby 0-0 0-0 0, Pemberton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-44 12-20 50.

Yakama (61) G'mewinn Mills 4-8 2-5 10, Sydrah Eagleheart 2-6 0-0 4, Megan Lucei 0-0 0-0 0, Sakoyah Randall 2-6 0-0 5, Gwen Dawes 6-12 2-2 17 (6rebs), Aliyah Cardenas 0-0 0-0 0, Juda Livlamaga 9-16 4-4 17, Beth Scabbyrobe 1-4 0-0 2 (6 rebs), Summer Starr 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 24-52 8-11 61.

Fouls: Pomeroy 15, YT 14. Fouled out: none

Three pointers: Pomeroy 4/9-44%. YT-42%.

Oakesdale 42, Pomeroy 24 (5-24)

Pom 6 9 6 3-24

Oak 7 10 12 13-42

Pomeroy (24) Caruso 0-6 3-4 3, Kowatsch 2-12 0-0 5, Herres 2-7 2-2 6, Maves 2-7 5-6 9 (5 Rebs), Dixon 0-5 1-4 1 (7 Rebs). Totals 6-37 11-16 24.

Oakesdale (42) Jessie Reed 10-15 2-4 23, Marilla Hocket 0-4 0-0 0, Bree Rawls 1-8 1-3 3, Payton Davis 1-2 0-0 0, LouEleen Reed 0-4 4-7 4 9 (7 Rebs), Kaylee Hinnenkamp 3-11 3-4 10 (12 Rebs). Totals 15-44 10-18 42.

3's: Pom 1/13-7%. Oak-2/6-33%.

Fouls: Pom 21, Oak 12. Fouled out: Caruso, Herres.

Turnovers: Pom 16, Oak 10.