Panthers edge Pirates by six

POMEROY––It was nip and tuck the entire game and the Asotin Panthers nudged ahead by outscoring the Pirates 13-9 in the final stanza for the 41-35 league decision. The Buccaneers are 1-2 overall, 1-0 in league.

They faced Liberty Christian last Tuesday then hit the road to Gar-Pal this Friday and are home Saturday against Oakesdale.

"This was a close hard-fought game the whole night,' said Head Coach Chris Wolf. "The boys did everything I asked them to do offensively but we just weren't able to finish around the basket, and we missed several open three-pointers."

The Pirates finished the first eight minutes trailing by a bucket, 6-4, and battled through the second period to a 13-13 standoff, indicative of the tenacity of both teams' defenses.

"Defensively we played well and considering how much size we gave up," Wolf said, "we rebounded pretty well. The first half both teams defended extremely well, but both teams also missed some shots that they should have made."

Asotin's team includes an imposing 6-7 player who stuffed a couple Pirate shots. "He blocked a couple early and we became a little tentative because of it, but as the game went on, we started to become more patient and did a better job attacking around the basket," Wolf said.

"In the second half we had great ball movement and great looks but were unable to capitalize," he said

Braxton McKeirnan led us in scoring with 11 points and Jett Slusser had nine rebounds.

Pomeroy 35, Asotin 41 (12-16)

Aso 6 7 15 13-41

Pom 4 9 13 9-35

Asotin (41) B. Anderson 0 0-0 0, Ells 5 3-4 15, Biery 1 0-2 3, Ausman 0 0-0 0, Eggleston 1 1-4 3, Hall 1 0-2 2, Conklin 2 0-0 5, Walling 0 0-0 0, Olerich 6 1-4 13, Totals 16 5-16 41.

Pomeroy (35) Reisinger 3 1-2 8, B. McKeirnan 5 1-1 11, Slusser 2 0-2 4, Herres 1 2-4 4, Morfin 0 0-0 0, R. McKeirnan 0 0-0 0, Schmidt 2 0-0 6, Slaybaugh 0 0-0 0, Van Vogt 1 0-0 2, Totals 14 4-9 35

3-point goals- Asotin 4, Ells 2, Biery, Conklin. Pomeroy 3, Reisinger, Schmidt 2. Total Fouls: Asotin 15, Pomeroy 20. Fouled Out- Herres, Schmidt.