The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

POMEROY - The WP boys basketball team took a hard-earned road win in overtime here Friday, 63-60. The victory gave the 2-1 Cardinals a split in their series with Pirates, after losing at home a week earlier.

In Friday's game, WP fell behind the Pirates early, trailing by four after the first quarter. They were up by one at the half.

"I don't think either team led by more than six the whole game," WP Coach Tavis Crittenden said.

With the score tied at 54 after regulation play, the teams battled evenly through most of the overtime period. With ten seconds remaining, and the Cardinals trailing 60-58, sophomore Kyle Gradwohl hit a three-point shot to give his team the lead for good.

"Kyle is one of our best three-point shooters, and we set him up for that play," Crittenden said. "That was clutch shooting."

For the game, senior Kaimen Suffia, who was playing his first game for the Cardinals, led the scoring with 20 points. Owen Lanning had 13 points and Devin Acevedo 12. Sophomore post Jordan Garrity led the team with seven rebounds.

Far left: WP junior Jason Carter pushed the ball forward on a fast break during a home game against Pomeroy earlier this month. Left: Senior Devin Acevedo maneuvers with the ball in the key.

"We played better team D this time," Crittenden said. "But we're still committing too many fouls. The guys are still transitioning from football."

Crittenden said that the Cardinals' run in the football playoffs this year meant that most of his players missed the first week of practice. "The Christmas break will be a great chance for us to work on fundamentals and get caught up," he said.

WP 54, Touchet 39

On December 9, the Cardinals traveled to Touchet and easily beat the Indians, 54-39. For the game, sophomore guard Travis Crockett led WP scoring with 13. Gradwohl and senior Devin Acevedo each had nine points. The Cardinals downed four three-point shots, and Garrity again led the team in rebounds, with eight.

The Cardinals were to travel to Milton-Freewater Tuesday to take on the Pioneers. They play three more games this week in three days, hosting WWVA Thursday and Weston-McEwan Friday, before traveling to Asotin Saturday. Both home games start at 7:30.