Pirates competitive, optimistic after weekend split

POMEROY––The Buccaneers won another barn burner at SJEL, 55-54 last Friday, the win hinging on two made free throws by Trace Roberts, which preserved the win as an eagle-eyed Eagle shooter drained a three at the buzzer.

A big rally fell short in the third quarter when the Pirates fought their way back into the game after an 11-3 first quarter to trail the Oakesdale Nighthawks by two points in the third quarter, but the ball didn't bounce Pomeroy's way, ending with a 44-38 loss on the home maple Saturday.

The Pirates are 1-1 in league and take on Colton Friday at home (junior varsity faces Clarkston), then a long road trip to Sunnyside Christian Saturday for a non-league contest. December 20 and 21 the Pirates sail to Moses Lake for the Christmas Tournament.

Except for the first quarter, Head Coach Chris Wolf remarked, the game was close most of the time. "We got down 14-3 at the end of the first quarter," Wolf said, "and then we got going and had the game at 29-27 with several chances to tie the game or take the lead.

"We weren't able to and then had a few key turnovers that lead to three transition baskets that put Oakesdale back up eight points," he said.

The Pirate defense was good enough to put the offense in position to win, but the Pirates struggled with scoring, Wolf said. "Had we been able to knock down some open shots it could have drastically changed the game," he said.

Ollie Severs led Pirate scorers with 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, Wolf said. Trevin Kimble had a good all-around game with nine points, four rebounds, four assists, and five steals.

"Trevin did a great job defending their best player," Wolf said, "holding Jackson Perry to 13 points on 16 shot attempts."

At St. John, the Pirates got "punched" in the mouth in the first quarter, Wolf said.

"We put ourselves in a 22-11 hole and were down 34-18 halfway through the second before we found our footing," the coach commented.

The Eagles were unconscious shooting threes and the Pirates weren't contesting those shooters in the first half, Wolf said. But Pomeroy stepped up in the second half with more intensity and getting a hand in their faces.

"Offensively, we didn't panic and slowly scratched our way back into the game," Wolf said. "Trace Roberts hit two free throws with 4.6 seconds to go to give us a four-point lead before SJEL hit a three at the buzzer. We had a balanced scoring attack with Jett Slusser leading the way with 12. Great effort tonight and we showed a lot of heart fighting back to take the lead and finish the game off."

Oakesdale 44, Pomeroy 38 (12/10)

Pom 3 14 14 7-38

Oak 14 7 17 6-44

Pomeroy (38) Fruh 2 0-0 4, Severs 5 2-4 13, Bott 1 0-0 2, Jett Slusser 1 0-0 3, Kimble 4 1-2 9, Roberts 3 1-3 7. Total 16 4-9 38.

Oakesdale (44) Brown 2 0-0 4, McHargue 5 0-0 10, Perry 4 5-10 13, Bober 0 1-2 1, Lanius 5 0-1 14, Goyke 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 6-13 44.

Three-point goals: Oakesdale 4, Lanius 4. Pomeroy 2, Jett Slusser, Severs.

Pomeroy 55, SJEL 54 (12/9)

Pom 11 19 9 16-55

SJEL 22 16 7 9-54

Pomeroy (55) Fruh 4 0-0 9, Severs 5 1-6 11, Bott 0 0-9 9, Jett Slusser 4 1-2 12, Kimble 6 3-6 11, Magill 1 0-0 2, Schmidt 0 0-0 0, Jayden Slusser 0 1-2 1, Roberts 3 3-5 9, Totals 21 9-21 55

SJEL (54) Brewer 2 0-1 4, Gonzalez 3 0-0 8, Fleming 5 1-2 13, Molina 3 1-3 8, Maloney 1 2-2 4, DeFord3 0-0 7, Swannack 2 0-1 4, Miller 2 2-2 6, Totals 21 6-9 54.

Three-point goals-Pomeroy 4, Fruh, Slusser 3. SJEL 6, Gonzalez 2, Fleming 2, Molina, DeFord.