Wildcats sweat out league victory

COLTON — What would a highly anticipated girls’ basketball matchup between two Southeast 1B heavyweights be without a little controversy?

With less than five seconds to play in a tied contest, Maddy Dixon of Pomeroy was tagged with an over-the-back foul while attempting to snag an offensive rebound against Abby Kelly of Colton. The play sent Kelly to the charity stripe for two shots, and the junior swished her first attempt to boost the Wildcats to a 49-48 victory in their home gym Friday night.

The Pomeroy boys prevented the sweep with a dominant 42-27 showing against Colton.

“We knew it was going to be a good ballgame and it didn’t disappoint,” Wildcats coach Clark Vining said. “It doesn’t matter what time it is, a foul is a foul, whether it’s the start of the game or at the end. It’s just one of those things. Abby did a great job of stepping up and knocking that free throw down.”

The hectic series of events began when Pomeroy inbounded the ball with about 20 seconds on the clock. Alyssa Wolf attempted to drive along the right side of the key for a short jumper, but her attempt clanked off the front of the rim and was recovered by Dixon.

The Pomeroy sophomore initially took a hard dribble to her left and put up another shot from the post, but was called for the personal foul when she tried to grab the ball after it deflected off the backboard.

“I love how aggressive Maddy was there, because she was playing to win,” Pomeroy coach Tai Bye said. “She was determined to get that ball, and no matter what she was going to score. I can’t ask anything more of her. It’s hard with those calls, because I didn’t see a displacement of the girl.”

Kelly’s decisive free throw capped a double-digit rally for the Wildcats (14-1 overall, 8-0 league) after the squad trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half. The turning point came when Colton exploded for a pivotal 10-0 run in the final minutes of the third period.

“I can’t remember who made the first one, it might’ve been Jordyn (Moehrle),” Vining said. “It seemed like after that it got contagious.”

Emily Schultheis poured in 10 of her 17 points in the final quarter to fuel the Wildcats offense down the stretch. Kelly added another 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field.

“It was one of those matchups deals, it might change game to game, but we thought she had a pretty good matchup where the percentages might be in our favor,” Vining said of the 6-foot-1 Schultheis. “We tried to go at it and it paid off for us.”

In contrast, Pomeroy spread around its offensive wealth, as three players finished the night in double figures. Sydney Watko led the way with 16 points while teammates Emma Severs and Sydney Smith added 13 and 12 respectively.

“Sydney struggled for the last few games, but she decided she was going to take control tonight,” Bye said. “The only reason they stopped her was that she missed some baskets. It was a great game for her.”

Both programs continue their league schedule with 5 p.m. contests tonight, as Colton travels to Touchet and Pomeroy plays host to St. John-Endicott.

“You’ve got to show up every night,” Vining said. “We’ve got a tough one tomorrow, so we’ve got to enjoy this one for a couple minutes and then it’s on to the next one. Our league is probably the toughest in the state, anybody can beat anybody.

POMEROY (12-4, 5-2)

Carmen Gingerich 0 0-0 0, Sydney Watko 6 2-2 16, Sydney Smith 3 5-11 12, Maddy Dixon 2 3-5 7, Emma Severs 4 3-5 13, Ashton Halverson 0 0-0 0, Heidi Heytvelt 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 13-23 48.

COLTON (14-1, 8-0)

Rylee Vining 2 0-0 5, Maggi Pluid 0 0-0 0, Jordyn Moehrle 1 1-2 4, Josie Schultheis 2 3-4 7, Emily Schultheis 7 1-4 17, Dakota Patchen 1 4-4 6, Georgia Meyer 0 0-0 0, Abby Kelly 4 2-3 10. Totals 17 11-16 49.

Pomeroy 17 9 6 16—48

Colton 7 9 15 18—49

Three-point goals — Watko 2, Severs 2, E. Schultheis 2, Smith, Vining, Moehrle. Total fouls — Pomeroy 14, Colton 18. Fouled out — Meyer.

BOYS

Pomeroy 42, Colton 27

The Pirates may not have seen their usual level of offensive success Friday night, but the squad relied on a staunch defensive effort to pull out a commanding road win against the Wildcats.

“I thought defensively we played pretty well, offensively we missed a lot of shots,” Pomeroy coach Brian Koller said. “We’ve got to put the ball in the hole, but rebounding we did really well.”

The Pomeroy defense held Colton to 21.9 percent shooting from the field in the win. The Wildcats (3-11 overall, 2-6 league) chucked up 24 treys in the contest, but only three of those attempts found the bottom of the net.

“Our guards aren’t the tallest, so we were trying to shoot it over 6-1 or 6-2 guys with their hands up,” Colton coach Nick Simons said. “It just made it tough for us. We’re not used to going up against some great help-side defense like that.”

The Pirates also struggled to find their shooting form in the contest, finishing the night with a 33.3 percent clip from the floor. Only two members of Pomeroy’s “Senior Six” reached double figures — a mark Simons attributes to the employment of a zone defense.

“Last time they saw straight man (defense) from us, so I don’t know if they were maybe expecting that,” Simons said. “That 2-3 might have thrown them off a little bit at first, I’m not sure if they’re used to seeing that. It worked semi-effectively to limit them.”

The win improves Pomeroy’s unblemished record to 15-0 overall and 8-0 against league opponents as the program braces for another Southeast 1B contest tonight at 6:30 against St. John-Endicott.

“They’re the No. 1 team (in the state) for a reason, but I thought our guys played hard,” Simons said. “... We knew going in that we would almost have to play a perfect game. It just wasn’t there tonight.”

Colton also returns to league action this evening with a 6:30 p.m. road contest at Touchet.

“We had them all game last time here, but within the last minute they got us,” Simons said. “Our guys want revenge, it’s a big one in the standings since they’re right above us. I told our guys it’s a must-win and I’m pretty confident they’re going to bounce back and be ready for it.”

POMEROY (15-0, 8-0)

Ryan Wolf 4 0-1 10, Devon Caruso 1 0-0 3, Oscar Morfin 4 0-0 8, Kyson Fruh 0 1-2 1, Jacob Tewalt 3 3-4 11, Hogan Heytvelt 3 0-0 6, Jack VanPelt 1 0-0 3, Aiden Berglund 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 4-7 42.

COLTON (3-11, 2-6)

Kian Ankerson 1 1-2 4, Matt Wolf 2 0-0 5, Jackson Meyer 0 0-0 0, Reece Chadwick 2 5-6 10, Jon Bean 1 0-0 2, Parker Druffel 3 0-0 6, Brady Stout 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 6-8 27.

Pomeroy 12 12 13 5—42

Colton 5 10 4 8—27

Three-point goals — R. Wolf 2, Van Pelt, Caruso, Tewalt, Ankerson, M. Wolf, Chadwick. Total fouls — Pomeroy 15, Colton 6. Fouled out — Caruso.

Joshua Grissom can be reached at jgrissom@dnews.com or on Twitter @JoshuaGNews.