POMEROY––The outcome was never sure until the final buzzer, and when it finally blared, the Pomeroy Pirates had wrested a 59-56 non-league win away from Yakama Nation Tribal School here Saturday.
The Pirates played two games prior to the Christmas Break, a Monday non-league contest at Liberty Christian and visiting Colton for the third league game of the 2021-22 season Wednesday night.
As of the Yakama Nation game, the Pirates are 3-1 overall, 2-0 in league.
Yakama Nation played with pressure and turned to their top scorer Justice Hart, who was the game-high scorer with 29, to hold a thin 33-31 lead at halftime. The Pirates outscored the Eagles 16-12 in the third quarter for a 47-45 lead going into the fourth quarter, and then won the fourth quarter 12-11 for the narrow, three-point margin of victory.
Trent Gwinn, Pomeroy's 6-0 senior forward, was Pomeroy's high scorer with 27, including three treys and two of four at the charity stripe before he left the game with an injury with about five minutes remaining. Trevin Kimble scored 17, including a pair of three pointers, three of six from the free-throw line, and coming down with a number of crucial rebounds.
"It was a great win tonight over a really good team," observed Head Coach Chris Wolf.
"Tonight's game was a fast-paced, back-and-forth game all night long," Wolf said. "The boys stayed composed the whole game with Yakama Nation pressuring the ball the whole game. We gave up 56 points tonight, but played our best defensive game. YNT hit some really tough three-pointers tonight with a hand in their face.
"Justice Hart made several contested shots, but Trent Gwinn and Trevin Kimble did a great job of making him work for every shot he took," Wolf said.
Ollie Severs and Brady Bott made big plays off the bench and defended well, said Wolf. "This was the most complete game we have played in a long time."
Pomeroy's three-pointer count was seven, the highest number of treys to date this season.
Pomeroy 59, Yakama Nation Tribal 56 (12-18)
Pom 18 13 16 12-59
Yak 15 18 12 11-56
Pomeroy (59) Gwinn 11 2-4 27, Bott 0 0-1 0, Kimble 6 3-6 17, Magill 1 0-0 3, Severs 3 0-0 7, Roberts 2 1-4 5. Totals 23 6-15 59.
Yakama Nation Tribal (56) Lewis, 2 0-0 5, Saloskin 2 0-0 6, Visaya 1 0-0 2, Hart 11 3-3 29, Arbuckle 6 2-6 14. Totals 22 5-9 56.
Three-point goals: Yakama-Lewis, Saloskin 2, Hart 4. Pomeroy-Gwinn 3, Kimble 2, Magill, Severs.