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A tower of hands grasping for the rebound with Pirates Jett Slusser and Braxton battling with three other Oakesdale would-be rebounders. The Pirates blew to a 17-6 first-quarter lead to outpace the Nighthawks, but lost to Gar-Pal the night before in Palouse for a 2-2 league mark, 2-4 overall mark. Slusser scored a game-high 20 with McKeirnan hitting 15 to boost the Buccaneers.
POMEROY––The Pirates are 2-2 in league after splitting weekend contests with Whitman County rivals Gar-Pal and Oakesdale before breaking for the Christmas holidays.
Pomeroy sliced through the Nighthawks here last Saturday, 65-46, but took a beating at Gar-Pal the night before 59-43.
A post-Christmas visit to Dayton on December 27 and a non-league rubber match at Liberty Christian on December 30 are the remaining games of the year for the Pirates.
Everything was clicking for the Pirates against Oakesdale, said Head Coach Chris Wolf. "Jett Slusser had 20 points, nine rebounds, and three assists," he said. "He took really good shots tonight and made good decisions with the ball. Braxton McKeirnan added 15 points and 5 rebounds. Jacob Reisinger had a great all-around game tonight. He was strong with the ball and made the right play from the point most of the night. He had 10 points and 3 assists, but the stat sheet doesn't show all the little things he did for us."
Wolf praised the team for cool heads under pressure and making good decisions. Defensively, the Pirates worked hard and "were the ones on the floor for loose balls," he said.
The offense was patient, moved the ball and found the open man. "We slowed down tonight and that led to us being more efficient and shooting a higher percentage," Wolf said.
"This team has a chance to go on a run and win a lot of games," he added.
The night before was a different story, Wolf noted. "We turned the ball over 25 times and struggled with pressure for the second game in a row," he said. By halftime we had 14 turnovers that led to several easy baskets for Gar-Pal and did not allow us to set our defense.
The mistakes put the team in a hole with no way out. "We didn't defend well enough in the second half to make a serious comeback attempt," he said.
Cesar Morfin shot the ball well against G-P and took care of the ball. He led with 12 points on four three-pointers. Slusser added 9 points, 9 rebounds and five assists while Kyzer Herres also had 9 points.
Versus Liberty Christian Dec. 17, a 24-17 half-time lead was carved away by Patriot pressure. "Liberty Christian put a press on, and we didn't handle it well and we went from being the aggressors to playing tentatively," Wolf said. "We quit attacking and became passive and they took momentum back from us."
Herres scored 14 points and Braxton McKeirnan added 12 points. Slusser led with 10 rebounds. Boone Schmidt played a great defensive game and has taken on the role of guarding the other team's best player, Wolf said.
Pomeroy 65, Oakesdale 46 (12-21)
Pom 17 14 15 19 -65
Oak 6 10 15 15-46
Pomeroy (65) Reisinger 1 8-9 10, B. McKeirnan 4 7-9 15, Slusser 7 0-2 20, Herres 4 1-4 9, Morfin 2 0-2 5, R. McKeirnan 0 0-0 0, Schmidt 1 1-2 4, Slaybaugh 0 0-0 0, Van Vogt 0 2-2 2, Nelson 0 0-0 0, Totals 19 19-30 65
Oakesdale (46) DeMeerleer 1 0-0 2, Reed 2 6-10 11, Anderson 5 4-5 14, Melhus 2 1-2 5, Wagner 2 0-2 4, Roper 1 2-2 5, Dingman 0 0-2 0, Lobdell 2 1-4 5, Henning 0 0-0 0, Totals 15 14-27 46
3-point goals- Oakesdale 2, Reed, Roper, Pomeroy 8, Slusser 6, Morfin, Schmidt.
Gar-Pal 59, Pomeroy 43 (12-20)
Pom 2 9 18 14-43
GP 16 16 15 12-59
Pomeroy (43) Reisinger 0 2-2 2, B. McKeirnan 1 1-2 3, Slusser 3 0-0 9, Herres 4 0-0 9, Morfin 4 0-0 12, R. McKeirnan 0 0-0 0, Schmidt 1 0-0 2, Slaybaugh 2 2-2 6, Van Vogt 0 0-0 0, Vecchio 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 5-6 43.
Gar-Pal (59) B. Pfaff 4 2-4 10, Collier 7 3-4 20, Rardon 2 2-4 7, Bassler 0 0-0 0, B. Snekvik 2 2-2 6, K. Snekvik 3 0-0 9, R. Pfaff 0 1-2 1, Orr 1 2-2 4, Olson, 1 0-0 2, Sperber 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 12-18 59.
3-point goals - Pomeroy 8, Slusser 3, Herres, Morfin 4. Gar-Pal 7, Collier 3, Rardon, K. Snekvik 3.
Liberty Christian 46, Pomeroy 40 (12-17)
Pom 9 15 9 7-40
LC 7 10 13 16-46
Pomeroy (40) Reisinger 2 0-0 5, McKeirnan 6 0-6 12, Slusser 1 2-6 4, Herres 4 6-10 14, Morfin 1 0-0 2, Schmidt 1 0-0 3, Van Vogt 0 0-0 0, Totals 15 8-22 40
Liberty Christian (46) Kumsi 1 1-2 4, Idler 3 2-2 8, Hoey 0 0-0 0, Hawk 0 0-0 0, Williamson 0 0-0 0, Cowan 1 0-0 3, Hogaboam 5 0-2 11, Grover 0 2-2 2, Cole 9 0-4 18, Totals 19 5-12 46
3-point goals- Liberty Christian 3, Kumsi, Cowan, Hagaboam. Pomeroy 2, Reisinger, Schmidt
