GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL
Willapa Valley 54, Raymond 39
Britney Patrick and Brooke Friese each scored 15 points as Willapa Valley opened the season with a 64-39 victory over Raymond on Thursday at Raymond High School.
The Seagulls jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter before Willapa Valley took control of the game with a 15-4 run.
Raymond’s fortunes fared no better in the second frame as talented freshman Kyra Gardner, who led Raymond with 21 points in a season-opening loss to Elma on Wednesday, got into early foul trouble and was relegated to the bench for the remained of the first half.
Led by Patrick, who scored 11 of her 15 points in the second quarter, Willapa Valley outscored Raymond 20-7 in the frame to build a comfortable 35-15 halftime lead.
Friese scored 12 of her 15 points in the second half to keep Raymond at bay despite Gardner scoring eight of her team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter, as the Seagulls made a comeback attempt.
While both coaches admitted it was a somewhat sloppy, turnover-filled game, Willapa Valley’s press defense and experience were major factors against a younger Raymond squad.
“We had trouble with Valley’s press as our guards had too many turnovers,” Raymond head coach Jason Koski said. “We weren’t able to sustain enough defensive discipline as Valley continued to get too many transition lay-ins.”
“It was a really wild game with too many turnovers,” said Vikings head coach John Peterson, whose team had 19 turnovers of its own on Thursday. “(Raymond) is a young ballclub. We’re experienced and they’re not. But credit to them. They never quit.”
Peterson added that Gardner’s early foul trouble helped Willapa Valley to extend its lead in the first half.
“She’s a fine player and that really hurt them,” he said. “We want to attack the rim and in the first four minutes, we didn’t score. … Once we made one, we got rolling.”
Cami Swartz led all rebounders with 19 in the game. Nine of the 5-foo-7 forward’s rebounds were of the offensive variety and she also had four blocks in the game.
Hannah Cook led Willapa Valley’s full-court, man-to-man press defense, totalling four steals to go along with four assists in the game.
Willapa Valley’s Hannah Cook, left, protects the ball from Raymond’s Izzy Silvernail during the Trojans’ win on Thursday. (Photo by Larry Bale)
Koski commended Hannah Miller (10 points) and Sadie Warnstadt, whom he said “gave great efforts in the post” against a taller Willapa Valley squad.
Willapa Valley hosts Northwest Christian at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Raymond hosts Chief Leschi at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Willapa Valley 15 20 12 7 — 54
Raymond 11 4 7 17 — 39
Top Players: WV — Patrick (15 pts.), Friese (15 pts.), Katie Adkins (7 pts.), Olivia Betrozoff (7 pts.); Raymond — Gardner (15 pts.), Miller (10 pts.)
Ocosta 64, Pe Ell 30
They say dynamite comes in small packages. In Ocosta’s 64-30 victory over Pe Ell on Thursday night, that dynamite was named Kjirstin Hopfer.
Ocosta’s 5-foot-5 guard scored a season-high 28 points to lead the Wildcats over the Trojans at Pe Ell High School.
“Huge game from Hopfer,” Ocosta head coach Jason Barnum said. “You have a girl score 28 points against you, you are going to have a hard time.”
Wildcats center Kristi Raffelson added 15 points as Ocosta (1-1, 1-0 Pacific 2B) was in control from start to finish.
“It was just an all-around better game. The girls showed up to play,” said Barnum, whose team had just 12 turnovers in the game compared to the 28 it had in Tuesday’s season-opening loss to Toledo. “It’s nice to get some 15-plus point quarters on the scoreboard.”
Senior power forward Katie Davis led the Trojans with 11 points. Trojans senior Carolann Baldwin added eight points for Pe Ell (0-1, 0-1).
In the junior varsity game, Ocosta got 23 points from sophomore Ronni Graham to earn a 47-29 victory.
Ocosta hosts Northwest Christian at 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday with the boys varsity game to follow at 7 p.m.
The Ocosta boys junior varsity game will take place a 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday at the community gym. There is no junior varsity girls game on Tuesday.
Ocosta 14 15 15 20 — 64
Pe Ell 8 5 15 2 — 30
Top Players: Ocosta — Hopfer (28 pts.), Raffelson (15 pts.); Pe Ell — Davis (11 pts.), Baldwin (8 pts.)
South Bend 52, Northwest Christian 23
Jessica Sanchez had a double-double and Karley Reidinger had a game-high 17 points as the South Bend Indians opened the 2018-19 season with a win over Northwest Christian on Thursday in Lacey.
“We definitely had to knock a little rust off,” said Indians head coach Gary Wilson, whose team went 21-for-68 from the field (31 percent). “The effort was good and we got smoother as the game went on.”
Sanchez filled up the stat sheet. South Bend’s senior guard/forward had 13 points and 10 rebounds to go along with eight assists and six steals.
Reidinger had eight boards to compliment her top scoring night.
Fellow South Bend senior Hannah Byington added six points and five steals as the Indians’ experience proved to be a key component of the season-opening win.
“Our experienced players did a good job of controlling the game,” Wilson said.
South Bend’s defense held the Navigators in-check the entire game. NWC (0-2, 0-1) scored a total of 10 points in the first half and failed to hit double digits in any quarter of the contest.
South Bend (1-0, 1-0) will face rival North Beach at 7 p.m. on Saturday at South Bend High School.
South Bend 17 15 14 6 — 52
NWC 3 7 4 9 — 23
Top Players: South Bend — Reidinger (17 pts., 8 reb.), Sanchez (13 pts., 10 reb., 8 asst., 6 stl.), Byington (6 pts., 5 stl.); NWC — Mikayla Lanham (8 pts.)
Elma 56, Napavine 11
Stingy defense combined with a 20-point performance from Jalyn Sackrider led the Eagles to a comfortable 56-11 win at Napavine on Thursday night.
In addition to Sackrider outscoring the opposition by herself, Elma (2-0) also go a strong game from Kayli Johnson who put up 11 points.
On the defensive end of the court, Elma pitched a shutout in the first quarter to come away with a 17-0 lead after eight minutes of play.
Napavine never found a rhythm on offense and was held to single-digit scoring in each of the next three quarters.
While Napavine struggled, Elma continued to roll on offense, shooting 24-for-59 from the field. The Tigers only made four field goals in the contest.
Elma head coach Lisa Johnson said she was pleased with the effort all around.
“We jumped out to a quick lead with Sackrider dominating in the paint and our defense was creating multiple scoring opportunities,” she said. “We played strong as a team.”
Elma will try to keep its spotless record intact when they travel to Toledo on Monday at 7 p.m.
Elma 17 19 12 8 – 56
Napavine 0 5 2 4 – 11
Top Players: Elma — Sackrider (20 pts.), Johnson (11 pts.), Kaelyn Burgher (7 pts.)
— Hasani Grayson, Grays Harbor News Group
