Lady Pirates punish Lady Patriots after loss to Gar-Pal

POMEROY––After a disappointing league loss at Garfield-Palouse, the Lady Pirates rebounded and took their frustrations out on Liberty Christian here Saturday, Jan. 14, hitting baskets, reducing turnovers and playing with teamwork to win 45-24. The previous week, the Lady Buccaneers had no trouble in a 49-10 win over the Touchet Redhawks.

Pomeroy visited Dayton-Waitsburg last Tuesday for the non-league counter, then will host St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse on the home maple Friday. The team faces Oakesdale there Saturday night and has two more road games the next weekend to Colton and Tekoa-Rosalia.

"We had a massive turnaround from our game last night," said Head Coach Tai Bye. "We finished our shots, we limited our turnovers, and we ended with 10 assists. I was happy with our teamwork on the offensive end. We looked for a variety of passes and waited for the open shot.

"We had tough defense tonight," Bye continue, "holding their scorers to low points. We communicated well and moved well through traffic."

Pirate defender Chase Caruso, Bye said, held Liberty's Ali Bush to six points, in spite of a mismatch in height.

Jillian Herres was again a sparkplug for the Lady Bucs with 20 points, nine boards, three blocks, and two steals, Bye noted. Kendall Dixon played a strong game, finishing with 14 points, four boards, and two blocks, she said.

The night before at Garfield-Palouse was in stark contrast, Bye said. "It's always hard to play at Gar-Pal because they have a great home atmosphere," Bye said. "We weren't quite physically ready to play at the start of the game, and that hurt us down the line.

"Our shooting was cold tonight, even with open shot after open shot, they just wouldn't fall for us," Bye added. "We did some good things defensively and held Gar-Pal to only 35 points, but we didn't show up on the offensive end."

"Dixon played a positive role on the floor," Bye said, "kept her composure and was a strong leader." She scored 12 and rebounded 10.

Herres and Dixon were the Lady Pirates' one-two punch that helped the team to a 49-10 win against Touchet Jan. 10. Dixon had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Herres scored 11 with four boards.

"We had really even scoring because we moved the ball well," Bye said, "and we attacked the boards to keep giving us second chances. It also helped to limit our turnovers to 10 tonight. We had stronger passing and ball control tonight, which also led to 10 assists."

Pomeroy 45, Liberty Christian 24 (1/14)

Pom -45

LC -24

Pomeroy (45) Jillian Herres 7-17 5-5 20, Chase Caruso 0-12 2-2 2, Kiersten Bartles 2-3 0-0 6, Kendall Dixon 7-12 0-3 14, Taylor Gilbert 1-4 0-0 3, Jadence Gingerich 0-3 0-0 0, Hannah Bagby 0-0 0-2 0.

LC (24) Savannah Armijo 0-5 2-2 2, Lauren Reed 2-6 0-0 6, Camas Van Hollebeke1-3 0-0 3, Annalise Drinkard 1-1 0-0 2, Ali Bush 2-19 1-2 6, Catherine Lindsay 0-4 0-0 0, Jazlyn Patrick 1-1 0-0 2, Calista Davis 1-5 1-5 3.

3 Point Goals – LC: Reed 2, Van Hollebeke, Bush Pomeroy: Herres, Bartels 2, Gilbert Fouls: LC (12), Pomeroy (16) Fouled Out: None Technical Fouls: None Rebounds: Pomeroy Rebounds: Team (36) Turnovers: Pomeroy (10) Assists: Pomeroy (10).

Pomeroy 29, Gar-Pal 35 (1/13)

Pom 9 9 3 8-29

GP 17 7 8 3-35

Gar-Pal (35) K. Blumgren 0-2 1-2 1, Zoe Laughary 0-1 0-2 0, Kennedy Cook 3-7 1-2 9, Elena Flansburg 6-15 0-1 15, Hailey Beckner 2-4 1-2 5, Hettylee Laughery 0-2 0-0 0, Kyra Brantner 2-11 1-2 5.

Pomeroy (29) Jillian Herres 4-18 2-6 11, Chase Caruso 0-3 1-2 1, Kiersten Bartles 2-11 0-0 5, Haliee Brewer 0-4 0-0 0, Kendall Dixon 4-9 4-6 12, Taylor Gilbert 0-3 0-0 0, Hannah Bagby 0-1 0-2 0.

3 Point Goals – Gar-Pal: Cook 2, Flansburg 3. Pomeroy: Herres, Bartels. Fouls: Gar-Pal 16, Pomeroy 17. Fouled Out: None. Technical Fouls: None. Rebounds: Pomeroy Rebounds: Team 27. Turnovers: Pomeroy 12. Assists: Pomeroy 2.

Pomeroy 49, Touchet 10 (1/10)

Tou 2 1 5 2-10

Pom 9 14 11 15-49

Pomeroy (49) Jillian Herres 5-14 1-2 11, Chase Caruso 2-12 0-0 5, Kiersten Bartles 1-3 0-0 3, Haliee Brewer 2-3 0-0 4, Kendall Dixon 5-16 1-2 11, Taylor Gilbert 3-10 0-0 8, Caroline McKeirnan 0-2 1-2 1, Izzy Field 1-3 0-0 2, Jadence Gingerich 2-7 0-0 4.

Touchet (10) Marielle Mendoza 0-21 2-4 2, Diana Rincon 4-16 0-2 8, Emily Hilbert 0-3 0-0 0, Cadence Carlisle 0-1 0-0 0.

3 Point Goals–Touchet: None. Pomeroy: Caruso, Bartels, Gilbert 2. Fouls: Touchet 9, Pomeroy 10 Fouled Out: None Technical Fouls: Herres Rebounds: Pomeroy Rebounds: Team 48. Turnovers: Pomeroy 10. Assists: Pomeroy 10.