Pollock, Pirates cruise to win over Vale
Senior guard scores 11 points to lead Payette to 46-33 victory
By Ray Rodriguez
Argus Observer
Friday, December 5, 2008 10:31 AM PST
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| Ray Rodriguez | Argus Observer
Payette’s Brad Pollock (right) glides in for the layup in front of Vale’s Adam Snook (11) and Seth Hicks during the second half of their non-conference boys basketball game Thursday in Payette. Pollock finished with a team-leading 11 points and the Pirates cruised to a 46-33 victory over Vale. |
PAYETTE—Payette’s Tyler Kuder battled foul troubles and was held to under double digits on the scoring column.
Not to worry, Brad Pollock and friends picked up the offensive and defensive slack.
Pollock scored a team-leading 11 points, Brad White added six points and Drake Serrano chipped in five points to lead Payette to a 46-33 victory over Vale Thursday in nonconference boys basketball action in Payette.
“I think it’s huge for our other guys to step up,” Payette head coach Shawn Scow said. “Even though we are without our leading scorer from last year, I feel we have five guys on any night that can lead us in scoring. That’s big, and it will take us a long way because other teams cannot key on just one guy.”
After a sluggish first quarter, where Vale squeezed out a 6-5 lead, Payette came out firing in the second quarter.
The Pirates surged ahead with a 15-8 second quarter run and led 20-14 at the break.
The six-point deficit was as close as the Vikings would get.
Payette added a 13-8 third quarter spurt and a 13-11 count in the fourth quarter to provide the final margin.
“In the third quarter, turnovers really killed us,” Vale head coach Tom Snook said. “It took us out of whatever we wanted to do on offense, and it’s pretty tough to score when you turn it over that much. I am disappointed in that, but it is something we can cure.”
The key to Payette’s win was the balanced scoring and tough defense, which held Vale’s Russell Seals to eight points, two of which came in the first half.
“That was our focus tonight was to double down on Seals every time he got a touch and force him to make some outside shots,” Scow said. “Overall, it was a real good team effort defensively. When your offense is struggling on some nights, your defense will keep you in a lot of games. Tonight was a good example of that.”
Scotty Browen led the Vikings with 10 points and Alex Miller chipped eight points for Vale, who could only muster 11 field goals and 9-of-13 from the charity stripe.
Even with the loss, Snook was pleased with where his team stood and is optimistic they will improve.
“I felt pretty good about our effort and I felt pretty good about what we did defensively,” he said. “We’re going to get better. That is one of the things we’re definitely going to make a priority is taking care of the ball. Other than that, I feel pretty good about my group.”
Payette (2-0 overall) hosts Nampa Christian Saturday, while Vale (0-1 overall) hosts Cole Valley Christian at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Payette 46, Vale 33
VALE (33)
Browen 2 1 3-3 10, Lemer 1 0-0 2, Miller 2 1 1-3 8, Hicks 0 1-2 1, Seals 3 2-3 8, McFetridge 1 2-2 4. Totals 9 2 9-13 33.
PAYETTE (46)
White 1 4-4 6, Pollock 2 2 1-4 11, Peterson 0 1 0-0 3, Novotny 2 0-2 4, Serrano 1 3-4 5, Blackwell 0 0-1 0, Schultz 1 2-2 4, Conner 1 2-2 4, Kuder 3 3-7 9. Totals 11 3 15-26 46.
Vale 6 8 8 11 — 33
Payette 5 15 13 13 — 46
3-Point Goals — Vale 2 (Browen 1, Miller 1), Payette 3 (Pollock 2, Peterson 1). Total fouls — Vale 19, Payette 16. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.
