Lady Pirates finding ways to win

POMEROY––Consecutive overtime wins show the Lady Pirates are finding ways to win as the season winds down. Pomeroy beat Asotin in a non-league overtime win last week, followed with a 43-41 OT win over Gar-Pal Friday. Pomeroy coasted to an easy win over SJEL Saturday.

This week and next will be the final four league games, plus a Feb. 5 tourney warm-up against Sunnyside Christian for the 11-2 overall, 4-2 Lady Bucs.

St. John-Endicott-LaCrosse struggled in single digits last weekend, Pomeroy taking the 54-28 win on the 21 points and seven rebounds by Kendall Dixon and Chase Caruso's 11, including two three pointers.

"St. John packed the key in tonight," observed Coach Tai Bye, "so we had to adjust our offense to open up some different options. We had some really good movement off the ball, and we boarded really well on the defensive end to avoid any second chances for St. John."

At home Friday versus Gar-Pal, the Lady Pirates won the overtime for the 43-41 win.

"Tonight's game was an absolute battle," Bye said. "We knew we needed to contain Pederson and Cloninger, and we did a good job of that tonight. We never let Gar-Pal's momentum phase us, especially Kendall Dixon, who hit two clutch shots in overtime.

"My girls followed through with our game plan almost to perfection," Bye said. "We just kept chipping away and never gave up."

Bye praised Keely Maves for her single-minded goal of winning the game and game-high 21 points and nine rebounds. Jillian Herres contributed with three points, seven rebounds and assists, and six steals, Bye said. Caruso's 10 points and four rebounds contributed to the win.

The Lady Pirates iced up in the fourth quarter while the Asotin Lady Panthers made up an 11-point deficit, the Pirates holding their breaths as a last-second Asotin shot missed the mark, setting up overtime, which Pomeroy handily won 11-2 for a non-league 55-46 victory in Asotin January 19.

Caruso swished five three pointers to finish with 17 points, seven boards and two assists. "Chase kept us alive tonight and kept our energy up," Bye said.

"I'm really proud of my girls for not giving up, especially when we went cold and had too many turnovers in the fourth quarter," Bye said. "They didn't want to lose tonight and they did everything expected of them to get on top."

Maves had game-high 19 points, and Herres scored nine, made 11 assists and rebounded five.

Pomeroy 54, SJEL 28 (1/22)

SJEL 7 4 7 9-28

Pom 12 14 15 13-54

Pomeroy (54) Jillian Herres 1-9 2-4 4, Chase Caruso 3-13 3-6 11, Keely Maves 4-7 1-2 9, Kiersten Bartles 1-2 0-0 2, Jadence Gingerich 0-2 0-0 0, Haliee Brewer 1-3 1-2 3, Elizabeth Ruchert 2-7 0-1 4, Taylor Gilbert, 0-3 0-0 0, Kendall Dixon 10-15 1-2 21.

St. John (28) Ryan Mills 1-1 0-0 2, Bailey 5-17 3-4 14, Brown 1-8 2-4 4, Stach 0-2 1-2 1, Holt 1-7 1-2 3, Hergert 2-5 0-0 4, Fleming 0-1 0-2 0, Wheeler 0-1 0-0 0.

3 Pt Goals-St. John: Bailey. Pomeroy: Caruso 2. Rebounds: Maves 8, Caruso

Pomeroy 43, Gar-Pal 41 OT (1/21)

Pom 6 10 7 13 7-43

GP 9 12 10 5 5-41

Pomeroy (43) Herres 0-10 3-5 3, Caruso 4-9 0-0 10, Maves 9-17 2-6 21, Brewer 1-2 0-0 2, Elizabeth Ruchert 0-4 0-0 0, Kendall Dixon 3-9 1-2 7.

Gar-Pal (41) Blomgren 0-0 0-2 0, Cook 0-3 0-0 0, Cloninger 4-14 1-2 13, Collier 0-3 2-2 2, Brantner 2-9 4-8 8, Pederson 5-11 7-10 18.

3 Pt Goals-Gar-Pal: Cloninger 4, Pederson. Pomeroy: Caruso 2, Maves. Fouls: Gar-Pal (14), Pomeroy (17). Fouled Out: Dixon. Rebounds: Maves 9.

Pomeroy 55, Asotin 46 OT (1/19)

Pom 15 11 14 4 11-55

Aso 12 6 11 15 2-46

Pomeroy (55) Herres 3-8 5-6 9, Caruso 6-14 0-0 17, Maves 7-15 3-4 19, Ruchert 2-3 0-1 4, Dixon 2-6 0-0 4.

Asotin (46) Barnea 1-5 2-3 4, Wilks 1-6 0-0 2, Denham 5-13 2-2 16, Payne 5-11 6-6 17, Ball 1-2 0-1 2, Appleford 1-6 3-5 5. 

3 Pt Goals-Asotin: Denham 4, Payne Pomeroy: Caruso 5, Maves 2. Fouls: Asotin 17, Pomeroy 17. Rebounds: Caruso 7. Pomeroy Rebounds: Team 25. Turnovers: Pomeroy 24. Assists: Pomeroy 16.

-Loyal Baker