Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Gar Pal boys
Gar Pal boys
They ran out of programs.
In the biggest game of the season Friday night in Palouse, Gar-Pal took on Pomeroy for a matchup between the top two teams in 1B Southeast District 9.
The second-place Vikings came into the game with recent wins over Touchet and Colton, avenging their two earlier league losses.
First-place Pomeroy had lost only once all season – on a half-court shot by Vikings’ guard Matt Holbrook in their gym.
In the rematch, it would take less than that, as Gar-Pal opened a small lead in the third quarter and built on it for a 46-28 victory.
“Gar-Pal is a hard place to win,” said Pomeroy coach Brian Koller. “Our shooting was a factor, they basically made more shots than us. Plus we only got to the foul line five times.”
Koller attributed that to his team not being aggressive enough on offense.
The Pirates shot 20 percent from the field.
Playing on senior night, Gar-Pal trailed early. With the score at 7-4 at the end of the first quarter, they started to press. After a myriad of fouls and free throws, they still trailed 16-13 at the half.
Early in the third quarter, Tyler Thurman got it started with a score and a steal, followed by a Zach Kuehner free throw to tie the game 16-16.
Pomeroy pushed back and two free throws by the Vikings’ Matt Dymkoski put the score at 21-21.
Holbrook then hit a three-pointer to put Gar-Pal up five points before Pomeroy’s Bryan McGreevy answered, cutting the lead back to two.
In the last tenths of a second of the third quarter, Gar-Pal’s Jesse Lopez got fouled on a three-point attempt and made two free throws.
Gar-Pal took a four-point lead into the fourth, 28-24.
Soon Lopez hit a three-pointer, answered by a drive from Pomeroy center Cody LaMunyan.
Where was Riley Bott? Pomeroy’s other big man had not been a factor.
On the next possession, he missed an eight-foot jump shot after which Thurman drove and scored for a nine-point Viking lead.
Mitch Jamison then hit two free throws to push it to 11.
Bott then scored inside but time was dwindling.
Gar-Pal’s Hunter Woltering got a steal and threw it to Thurman, who scored for 39-28.
A Lopez drive made it 41-28 with 2:31 left in the game.
After a travel by McGreevy, the reserves came in and Gar-Pal’s Cole Sanderson finished off the game with a three-pointer, 46-28.
“We need to execute better on offense and make some more shots,” said Koller. “Defensively, for the most part, we played pretty solid.”
Thurman led Gar-Pal scorers with 17 points on the night while Lopez added 12 points and nine rebounds. In addition, Woltering had eight rebounds as he and Jamison held Bott to just four points.
LaMunyan led Pomeroy scorers with 11 points in the game.
The win gave the Vikings the No. 1 seed in the district tournament, while Pomeroy has the second seed.
Colton is seeded three followed by Rosalia at No. 4, Touchet No. 5 and LaCrosse/ Washtucna six.
(See next page for playoff schedule).
All told, Pomeroy will again aim for the state tournament, where they finished fifth last year.
“There are six teams that are,” said Koller, referring to the Southeast 1B teams in the playoffs this week. “Any of the six could be the two to go.”
Rosalia 73,
LIBERTY
CHRISTIAN 49
In a makeup game due to earlier cancellation, the Spartans beat the Patriots handily Tuesday night in Rosalia.
COLTON 79, LACROSSE-
Washtucna 54
Dalton Patchen led the Wildcats with 26 points and 15 rebounds while Jake Straughan added 25 points, eight assists and eight rebounds in Colton’s win over the Tigercats Feb. 7. In addition, Jordan Druffel scored 10 points and Austin Meyer posted eight rebounds and five assists.
Darcy Stamper led L/W with 19 points while Riley Roberts added 18.
POMEROY 62, COLTON 50
Down by 11 points at halftime, Colton cut the Pirates lead to three in the third quarter before Pomeroy controlled the fourth quarter to win at home.
Cody LaMunyan scored 25 points to lead the Pirates (18-2, 14-2 league) while Jake Straughan led Colton with 17 points on the night.
Rosalia 75, TEKOA-OAKESDALE 56
Craig Nelson delivered 32 points for the Spartans (10-9, 8-7 league) as they picked up another win over the Nighthawks. In addition, Ryan Maley scored 14 points while Clay Shelton had 11 for Rosalia.
Tyler Hanson led Tekoa-Oakesdale (1-15, 1-13 league) with 22 points in the game.
LACROSSE-Washtucna 87, ST. JOHN-Endicott 42
Darcy Stamper stacked up 41 points for the Tigercats as Riley Roberts added 18 and Joe Guske 11 in a dominant win last Saturday in LaCrosse. Guske was in the lineup again after returning from a broken collarbone in January.
Robert Staples led the Eagles (1-18, 1-14 league) with 17 points in the game.
DISTRICT PLAYOFFS BEGIN TONIGHT
The Southeast District 9 1B boys basketball playoffs begin tonight with several games.
No. 3 Colton hosts No. 6 LaCrosse-Washtucna at 6 p.m. while No. 4 seed Rosalia hosts No. 5 Touchet, also at 6 p.m.
The winner of Colton vs. L/W advances to play at No. 2-seed Pomeroy at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Meanwhile, the winner of Rosalia vs. Touchet advances to play at Gar-Pal Saturday for another 6 p.m. tipoff.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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