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POMEROY–The Lady Pirates, number four in the Wheat Division, traveled to Toppenish to play Yakama Tribal, the Grape No. 1 team, to kick off post-season play this week, playing after this newspaper went to press. With a win, Pomeroy will again hit the road to play the winner of the DeSales/Oakesdale contest on Friday, February 10; or with a loss, the Lady Bucs travel to the loser of that Lady Irish/Lady Nighthawk game. Either way, the tip off is at 6 p.m.
The regular season wrapped up with a split, a sound 52-22 win over Touchet last Saturday, and a disappointing 54-47 Senior Night loss to Gar-Pal.
With a day's rest after the Gar-Pal game, the Lady Pirates' full-court press against the Lady Redhawks gave Pomeroy control of the game by the end of the first quarter, said Head Coach Tai Bye.
"We didn't allow any transition lay-ins and forced enough turnovers for us to get in the lead and stay in the lead," she said. "We worked the ball inside well and finished from the outside well, too.
"My bench was able to get minutes, and they took full advantage of those minutes," Bye said. "It was a great team win tonight with strong contributions from the entire roster."
Chase Caruso had a strong game, scoring 11 points, rebounding six and making four steals. Jillian Herres finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists.
A sluggish start was unable to be overcome by the Lady Bucs against Gar-Pal. "Without our slow start tonight," Bye said, "we would have made our way to a win.
"We were down by 20 in the first half and just kept chipping away to make it a great game," she said.
Kiersten Bartels stepped up and hit three from beyond the arc. Taylor Gilbert and Caruso also zeroed in from three-point land, hitting two apiece.
"I was so proud of our effort, our grit, and our fight," Bye said. "These girls of mine never quit working hard. We are starting to click on a lot of things we struggled with at the start of the season, so I'm excited going into post-season next week."
Herres finished with 13 points seven boards, and six assists. Haliee Brewer contributed on defense and forced some turnovers to regain Pomeroy possession at the end. Brewer ended the night with eight points, eight rebounds and three steals.
Pomeroy 52, Touchet 22 (2/4)
Tou 6 7 6 3-22
Pom 11 18 12 11-52
Touchet (22) Diana Rincon 1-6 0-0 3, Marielle Mendoza 5-12 2-4 14, Emily Hilbert 2-7 0-0 5, Candence Carlisle 0-5 0-2 0, Lilly Solis 0-6 0-0 0.
Pomeroy (52) Jillian Herres 5-12 2-4 12, Chase Caruso 4-11 1-2 11, Kiersten Bartles 2-8 0-0 4, Haliee Brewer 3-8 0-0 6, Kendall Dixon 2-8 1-2 5, Taylor Gilbert 1-3 0-0 3, Caroline McKeirnan 0-2 0-0 0, Izzy Field 1-2 0-0 2, Grace Hart 0-0 0-0 0, Maria Altube 2-3 1-1 5, Jadence Gingerich 1-5 2-2 4, Hannah Bagby 0-1 0-0 0.
3 Point Goals –Touchet: Rincon, Mendoza 2, Hilbert Pomeroy: Caruso 2, Gilbert Fouls: Touchet(13), Pomeroy (9) Fouled Out: Rincon Technical Fouls: None Rebounds: Pomeroy Rebounds: Team (44) Turnovers: Pomeroy (13) Assists: Pomeroy (6).
Pomeroy 47, Gar-Pal 54 (2/2)
Pom 7 17 10 13-47
GP 17 10 19 8-54
Pomeroy (47) Jillian Herres 6-24 1-2 13, Chase Caruso 3-14 0-0 8, Kiersten Bartles 3-7 0-2 9, Haliee Brewer 4-13 0-3 8, Kendall Dixon 0-4 3-4 3, Taylor Gilbert 2-5 0-1 6, Caroline McKeirnan 0-3 0-0 0, Jadence Gingerich 0-1 0-0 0.
Gar-Pal (54) Kara Blomgren 2-6 0-0 5, Zoe Laughary 0-5 0-2 0, Kennedy Cook 6-11 4-4 18, Elena Flansburg 5-8 1-3 15, HettyLee Laughary 1-1 0-0 3, Kyra Branter 5-17 2-3 13 Kinsley Kelnhofer 0-1 0-0 0.
3 Point Goals –Gar-Pal: Blomgren, Cook 2, Flansburg 4, Laughary, Branter Pomeroy: Caruso 2, Bartels 3, Gilbert 2 Fouls: Gar-Pal(16), Pomeroy (15) Fouled Out: Dixon, Brewer Technical Fouls: None Rebounds: Pomeroy Rebounds: Team (33) Turnovers: Pomeroy (15) Assists: Pomeroy (10).