Pirates continue winning ways

POMEROY––The Buccanneers are pillaging all ports-slashing through Garfield-Palouse 45-39 and romping over Oakesdale 65-39 last weekend and boasting a 4-0 league record and a 5-1 season mark.

The Pirates hosted St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse earlier this week, and visited Liberty Christian on Wednesday before taking a break from games until a December 30 away game at Waitsburg.

The Vikings didn't hand the Pirates the win: it had to be taken.

Trace Roberts led the way for Pomeroy with 14 points and eight rebounds, and Ollie Severs counted 11 points and 10 rebounds. "Jett Slusser hasn't shot it as well as he would like to this point," commented Head Coach Chris Wolf, "but continues to play excellent with seven points, seven rebounds, and four assists."

Wolf characterized the game as a "slugfest." "Both teams play very good half-court defense and play very physical," Wolf said. "We were able to get out to a nine-point half time lead thanks to our defense. We kept the lead between five and nine most of the second half."

The Pirate offense took excellent care of the ball, Wolf said, it just struggled to make buckets. "We got the looks we wanted but were unable to finish around the rim," Wolf said. "Part of that was the Gar-Pal defense and part of it was we need to toughen up around the basket."

Against Oakesdale, Pomeroy ripped to a resounding 24-13 lead in the first quarter.

"We got off to a really fast start," Wolf said. "Our press created turnovers and easy baskets. We did a good job at sharing the ball and creating easy opportunities for teammates."

In the second half, Wolf's game plan unbalanced the Nighthawks. "We switched to a straight man-to-man defense and were able to hold Oakesdale to 12 points," Wolf said. "This led to a lot of breakouts and a chance to get into transition offense with a lot of offensive opportunities."

Kyzer Herres led the Pirate with 17, and Severs scored 13 points, nine rebounds, and six steals. Roberts had 13 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Slusser popped in nine points, snagged seven rebounds, and dished six assists. 

Pomeroy 45, Gar-Pal 39 (12-16)

Pom 14 10 11 10-45

GP 10 5 12 12-39

Pomeroy (45) Reisinger 2 0-0 5, McKeirnan 1 0-0 2, Slusser 2 3-4 7, Herres 1 0-0 2, Morfin 0 0-0 0, Ledgerwood 0 0-0 0, Schmidt 1 1-2 4, Severs 5 1-3 11, Roberts 5 2-3 14. Totals 17 7-12 45.

Gar-Pal (39) B. Pfaff 3 1-2 9, Collier 4 0-2 9, Cook 0 0-0 0, B. Snekvik 2 2-4 6, K. Snekvik 2 0-0 5, Orr 4 2-3 10, C. Pfaff 0 0-2 0. Totals 15 5-13 39.

Three–point goals: Pomeroy-Reisinger, Schmidt, Roberts 2. Gar-Pal-B. Pfaff 2, Collier, K. Snekvik

Pomeroy 65, Oakesdale 39 (12-15)

Pom 24 11 13 17-65

Oak 13 14 8 4-39

Pomeroy (65) Reisinger 0 0-0 0, McKeirnan 3 0-2 6, Slusser 3 1-2 9, Herres 7 3-6 17, Morfin 0 0-0 0, Ledgerwood 1 0-0 2, Schmidt 2 0-0 5, Severs 5 0-0 13, Roberts 4 5-6 13. Totals 25 9-16 65. 

Oakesdale (39) Brown 2 1-4 6, Reed 4 5-5 14, Roper 0 0-0 0, Anderson 4 1-2 9, Melhus 1 0-0 3, Lobdell 0 0-0 0, Wagner 0 0-0 0, Lanius 1 0-0 3, Chapell 1 0-0 2, Dingman 0 0-0 0, Henning 0 0-0 0, Eads 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 7-11 39. 

Three-point goals: Oakesdale-Brown, Reed, Melhus, Lanius. Pomeroy-Slusser 2, Schmidt, Severs 3.