The Verndale Pirates found a way to beat Ashby's tall timber Friday night for a 55-52 victory on their home court.
"We were definitely out-sized in the post," Verndale Head Coach Greg Johnson said. "We tried pressuring them in the full court and we had some success with that. I thought our guys did a nice job of being patient in our half court offense and taking good shots."
Squaring off against 6-9 senior Kurtis Mickelson and his 6-7 freshman kid brother, Riley, the Pirates knew they were going into a game they were not going to win in the post. The Arrows out-rebounded the Pirates 30-25. Dan Weiher led the Pirates with six boards.
The Arrows shot 50 percent from the field but the Pirates shot 60 percent from the line. Jason Runyan tacked up 22 points for the Pirates while Zack Meidinger chipped in with 16. The Pirates hit five treys and went 12 of 20 at the line. The Arrows were just three of eight at the foul stripe.
Kurtis Mickelson led the Arrows with 24 points while Jordan Lillemon added 11.
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The win was Verndale's fifth in 22 games.
The Pirates are slated to host Eagle Valley Friday in their regular season finale.
ASHBY (52)
J. Lillemon 11, J. Quernemoen 9, R. Mickelson 8, K. Mickelson 24. Totals: 20/3 3-8 52
VERNDALE (55)
J. Runyan 22, D. Weiher 4, Z. Meidinger 16, B. Siedschlaw 5, C. Burczyk 4, S. Moyer 4. Totals: 14/5 12-20 55
Ashby 28 24 - 52
Verndale 28 27 - 55
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Fouls: Ashby 18, Verndale 12
Fouled Out: Witt, Lillemon (A)
Bertha-Hewitt 65, Verndale 43
State-ranked Bertha-Hewitt sprinted to a 38-18 halftime lead in a Park Region Conference victory over the Pirates.
Four Bears scored in double figures with Jeremy Frethem knocking down 12, Ryan Denny canning 11 and both Gavin Dettwiler and Patrick Dewey scoring 10. The Bears converted on 47 percent of their three-point attempts.
Jason Runyan and Zack Meidinger led the Pirates with 16 and 15 points respectively.
The Bears out-rebounded the Pirates 41-31.
"They jumped out to a big lead on us," Johnson said. "They shot extremely well from the perimeter in the beginning of the game."
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VERNDALE (43)
J. Runyan 16, D. Weiher 6, Z. Meidinger 15, K. Booth 2, C. Burczyk 4. Totals: 11/7 0-1 43
BERTHA-HEWITT (65)
J. Frethem 12, G. Dettwiler 10, P. Riewer 10, R. Denny 11, T. Lipinski 4, R. Roller 6, J. Farber 10, B. Peterson 2. Totals: 22/6 2-6 65
Verndale 18 25 - 43
Bertha-Hewitt 38 27 - 65
Fouls: Verndale 6, B-H 11
