The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WALLA WALLA- The WP Cardinals kept their second place Blue Mountain League standing with a 49-45 victory over the DeSales Fighting Irish last Saturday night.

It was another heart-pounding, nail-biter of a game as the Irish jumped out to a sevenpoint lead right out of the gate.

Free throws from Dustin Wooderchak and Sterling Eastman got the Cards on the board, but it would be minutes later before the Cardinals' cold shooting finally produced a basket. This happened when Zach Bartlow found Wooderchak in the key with less than 3 minutes remaining in the first quarter.

WP's Eshom Estes followed that up on the next trip down the floor with a shot from the top of the key, but back-to-back turnovers by the Cards left them down, 6-10, after the first quarter.

The Irish were to first to sink a bucket to start off the second quarter, but WP's Justin's Zuger answered that with a threepointer and the Cardinals' light switch went on.

Wooderchak followed that up with a jump shot for two and freshman Chance Leroue came hot off the bench to hit a trey of his own and the Cardinals were back to life with the game tied up at 14.

The Irish put one in from down low, but Bartlow answered with one of his own from the baseline.

Leroue hit his second basket in just one minute and then fought the Irish with all his might to force a jump-ball call that gave possession back to the Cards.

The Cardinals' next scoring spree began with a Dalton Estes layup for two. Eastman then found Estes in the key for another two before he landed a three-pointer of his own.

Bartlow added two more while drawing the foul on a put back. He swished his free throw with 9 seconds left. The Cardinals outscored the Irish, 22-8, in the second quarter to take a 28-18 halftime lead.

The Irish came out of the locker room and added two quick baskets, but Dalton Estes worked his magic to find Wooderchak in the key for two.

The Irish answered that with a basket of their own, but Estes grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in for two without even touching the ground.

WP's Billy Brown followed that up with a turnaround jumper to give back the Cardinals' 10-point lead.

Wooderchak and Bartlow played a game of hot potato before Wooderchak put the ball in from the key while drawing an Irish foul. He sank his free throw for a 37-24 Cardinal lead, but that would be the end of the scoring for the Cards in the third as the Irish put up eight unanswered points.

The Irish continued to narrow the gap with a three-pointer to begin the fourth-quarter scoring, but Dalton Estes answered that with a trey of his own.

Bartlow and the Irish then exchanged baskets, but the Irish landed back to back field goals to pull within two points of the Cardinals' lead with just more than 2 minutes left in the game.

The Irish sank a bank shot down low to tie the game up at 43 with 1:30 left.

Brown took back the Cardinal lead while drawing the foul on a put back and the Cardinals took a timeout with 46.8 seconds left.

WP's Justin Zuger was called for a shooting foul, but the Irish missed both free throws and Bartlow picked a great time for another defensive rebound.

The Irish picked the wrong man to foul as they grabbed Dalton Estes to stop the clock.

Estes hit nothing but net for two shots, but the Irish answered with a field goal and quickly called a timeout with 24.6 seconds left.

Up by two, it was do-or-die for the Cardinals. Bartlow was fouled on the inbounds play, but missed his free throw.

The Irish tried to take the game by throwing up a threepointer, but the ball sailed out of bounds with 12 seconds left.

Dalton Estes was once again fouled on the inbounds play and he put the game away for the Cards by nailing two more free throws.

The Irish threw up one last shot but the buzzer sounded ending the game with the Cards on top, 49-43.

Dalton Estes led the Cardinals with 13 points, while Wooderchak was right there with 10.

Bartlow added seven points while bringing down 15 rebounds and swiping the ball twice. As a whole the Cardinals shot 39 percent from the field and found some love from the line shooting 64 percent while the Irish went 36 percent from the line.

WP vs. DeSales

49-43

WP 6 22 9 12 - 49

DeSa 10 8 14 13 - 43

D. Estes 13 pts, 4 rebs

Wooderchak 10 pts

Bartlow 7 pts, 15 rebs, 2 stls

Leroue 5 pts, 3 rebs

Brown 4 pts

Eastman 4 pts

Zuger 3 pts

E. Estes 3 pts