ARVADA - Two Jeffco teams that finished at the bottom of their respective leagues attempted to climb over each other on Friday night.
Pomona was able to outlast Wheat Ridge for a 59-50 win Friday at Pomona High School.
The Panthers had three double-digit scorers which included junior Alexa Zarlengo’s game-high 24 points.
The victory for Pomona improves their record to 3-2 on the season.
“We made some mistakes out there but our girls played really hard and I think that was the difference tonight,” Pomona coach John Weikel said.
Wheat Ridge, despite only being outscored in one quarter, lost the game and is still in search of their first win of the season.
The Farmers actually led at halftime 20-16 and midway through the third quarter. But too many turnovers caught up with them down the stretch.
“We have some things that we will continue to work on but we definitely continue to improve,” Wheat Ridge coach Meg Schwiesow said.
While their record sits at 0-5 the Farmers are an improved unit from last season.
Tasha Taylor scored 11 points for Wheat Ridge against Pomona and she continues to get solid contribution from teammates like senior Erika Land and senior Rachel Vargas.
In addition, the team got a serious boost when sophomore Ann Marie Torres decided she wanted to join the team. Torres is one of the best hitters in the state in any classification and helped lead the Farmers to a 4A softball state championship in the fall.
Torres has already had an impact on the team.
And while Wheat Ridge is 0-5 on the season it might be partially by design. The Farmers have scheduled a very tough non-league schedule that has already included three 5A programs — including Pomona — and a very tough Holy Family team.
“We aren’t winning games yet but you can tell we have gotten a lot better since last season,” Taylor said.
Their plan is to get tested and toughened up against strong non-league opponents, so when league play roles around, they are prepared to compete with the elites in 4A Jeffco.
Wheat Ridge will host Frederick Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Pomona will play at Arvada West Friday at 7 p.m.
