The Elma girls basketball team overcame foul troubles and injuries to pick up its first win of the 2019-20 season, defeating Toledo 48-40 on Monday at Elma High School.
Elma (1-1 overall), which was without the services of injured starters Kayli Johnson and Quin Mikel, hit on seven field goals in the first quarter and held a substantial 18-9 lead at the end of the frame.
But the game slowed in the second quarter as foul trouble relegated Elma’s standout center Jalyn Sackrider to the bench as the game turned into a foul-shooting contest. Elma struggled from the line in the quarter, going 2-for-12 and scoring just six points in the frame, allowing Toledo to cut into what was once a double-digit deficit as the Indians hit four field goals and went 5-for-10 from the line in the quarter..
Toledo’s Kal Schaplow hit a jump shot from the top of the key to tie the game at 22-22 with 2:52 left in the first half.
Elma’s Ella Moore scored on a putback after grabbing an offensive rebound to give the Eagles a slim 24-22 heading into the halftime break.
Elma’s Janessa Sample (5) drives around a screen by teammate Ella Moore (12) during Elma’s 48-40 victory over Toledo on Monday in Elma. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)
“When we went into the locker room, (the coaches) told us ‘don’t foul, but if you are going to foul, don’t let it be an easy foul.’ said Sackrider, who played a bulk of the final quarter with four fouls. “We just needed to be more disciplined.”
Though the first half was anything but pretty, the Eagles cleaned things up in the third quarter to reclaim a sizable lead. Elma guard Jillian Bieker opened the half with a steal and layup followed by Kali Rambo —who scored a game-high 13 points in the contest —who scored on a Euro-step drive and layup to give Elma a 28-22 lead with less than two minutes elapsed in the quarter.
Later in the third, Rambo struck again, hitting a 3-pointer from the elbow to extend the Eagles’ lead to 33-25.
With less than a minute to go in the quarter, Rambo hit a baseline jumper followed by Moore scoring on a putback to give Elma a 40-31 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
The Eagles took a 42-31 early in the fourth quarter when Rambo scored in the low block off a quick pass from Sackrider, giving Elma a double-digit lead at 42-31.
The Eagles defense didn’t allow the Indians to get closer than six points the rest of the way as Elma took the 48-40 victory.
“With the injuries and people getting into foul trouble, kids have to step up and show what they can do,” Elma head coach Lisa Johnson said. “You just kind of go through each kid and see what they can provide.”
Elma limited its turnovers in the final 24 minutes of the game, commiting just four giveaways compared to 10 in the first half. The Eagles also cleaned up their first-half foul problems, commiting five fouls in the second half compared to 13 in the first half.
“We talked about how we needed to convert those layups we were missing and just take care of the ball and be more disciplined on defense,” Johnson said of her halftime locker room discussion. “
In addition to scoring a game-high 13 points, Rambo finished with five steals and three blocks.
Moore also finished in double digits, scoring 10 points to go along with five rebounds for the Eagles.
“Obviously a win is always good,” Sackrider said. “But I’m glad that we have younger players that can step up and fill those roles when we have starters on the bench. It feels good to know that we can rely on them.”
Elma plays at Centralia at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Toledo 9 13 9 9 — 40
Elma 18 6 16 8 — 48
Top Players: Elma — Rambo (13 pts., 5 stl., 3 blk.); Moore (10 pts., 5 reb.); Sackrider (8 pts., 13 reb., 4 asst., 6 blk.); Bieker (7 pts., 5 reb., 3 asst., 4 stl,); Kaelyn Burgher (7 pts.). Toledo — Schaplow (10 pts.); Stacie Spahr (10 pts.).
Rainier 61, Hoquiam 22
The Chad Allan era as the head coach of Hoquiam’s girls basketball team began unceremoniously as the Grizzlies lost 61-22 to the Rainier Mountaineers on Monday at Rainier High School.
Four Mountaineers players scored in double figures as Rainier (4-0) opened up a 43-12 lead by halftime and held Hoquiam scoreless in the third quarter.
“(Rainier) is a very talented and well-coached program that taught us a lot of lessons tonight,” Allan said. “We make no excuses as to our need to improve. The will to improve is there and we will learn from our experiences and move forward.”
Sadie Carlyle and Charli Sampson-Eastman led Hoquiam with five points apiece.
Hoquiam takes on Aberdeen at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Aberdeen High School.
Hoquiam 6 6 0 10 — 21
Rainier 20 23 8 10 — 61
Top Players: Hoquiam — Carlyle (5 pts.); Sampson-Eastman (5 pts.); Maddie German (4 pts.); Sharaya Brydon (4 pts.). Rainier — Kaeley Schultz (16 pts.); Selena Niemi (14 pts.); Faith Boesch (13 pts.); Hazel Basic (10 pts.).
Black Hills 52, Montesano 32
Black Hills held Montesano to less than 10 points in three of four quarters to hand the Bulldogs a 52-32 loss on Monday in Montesano.
Miakei’ Lea Flores scored 20 points and Megan River added 18 points to pace the Wolves (2-0).
Monte, which was held to 14 points in the first half, was paced by McKynnlie Dalan’s 10 points.
Zoe Hutchings had nine points and Jordan Carr added seven points for Montesano (0-2).
Monte plays at Rochester on Tuesday. Time to be determined.
Black Hills 18 14 10 10 — 52
Montesano 5 9 14 4 — 32
Top Players: Montesano — Dalan (10 pts.); Hutchings (9 pts.); Carr (7 pts.). BH — Flores (20 pts.); River (18 pts.).
BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
Hoquiam 48, Rainier 43
Hoquiam played a solid defensive game in earning a 48-43 victory over Rainier on Monday at Rainier High School.
The Grizzlies (1-1) played an excellent defensive game, according to Hoquiam head coach Curtis Eccles.
“Our entire defense, for the first three quarters, was phenomenal,” he said after the Grizzlies forced 31 turnovers and held scoreless in the second quarter. “They did a great job of communicating, calling out screens and staying in front of (Rainier players) and not letting them get any easy looks.”
Garrett Dick led Elma with 12 points off the bench and led the Grizzlies with six assists.
Cameron Bumstead scored 11 points and Troy McMinn had five points, five steals and sparked Hoquiam’s defensive effort.
“He got some key rebounds when we needed them and his defense was phenomenal,” Eccles said.
Hoquiam led by 18 points entering the fourth quarter and saw Rainier comeback to close the gap to within five points at the end of the game after the Grizzlies relaxed on defense.
Aside from the lax defense in the final frame, Eccles was pleased with his team’s performance.
“It was a great, well-rounded game,” he said.
The Grizzlies take on Castle Park, a team they lost to by 15 points in last week’s season-opener, at 7 p.m. on Castle Rock.
Hoquiam 12 10 18 8 — 48
Rainier 11 0 11 21 — 43
Top Players: Hoquiam — Dick (12 pts., 6 asst.); Bumstead (11 pts.); McMinn (5 pts., 5 stl.)
Elma 75, Firm Foundation 15
Elma led wire-t0-wire in a 75-15 rout over Firm Foundation on Monday in Battle Ground.
Three Eagles scored in double figures to lead Elma, which led 26-8 at the end of the first quarter and held Firm Foundation to 10 points through the first three quarters.
Cobey Moore led Elma with 18 points, nine rebounds and six steals. Brady Johnston scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Raiden Aho added 11 points and four steals for Elma.
The Eagles went 31-for-81 from the field and 8-for-17 from the free-throw line.
Elma outrebounded Firm Foundation 43-20, had 29 steals and benefited from Firm Foundation’s 42 turnovers.
Elma hosts Rochester at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Elma 26 19 20 10 — 75
Firm Foundation 8 2 0 5 — 15
Top Players: Elma — Moore (18 pts., 9 reb., 6 stl.); Johnston (14 pts., 9 reb.); Aho (11 pts., 4 stl.); Nich Church (8 pts., 9 reb., 6 stl.).
BOYS PREP SWIMMING
Capital 126, Aberdeen 39
Kickstarting the 2019-20 season at home, the Aberdeen Bobcats got a solid event win by sophomore Russell Bates and Great swims from the veterans and newcomers alike in a 126-39 loss to Class 3A Capital at the YMCA of Grays Harbor on Monday.
Bates registered the Class 2A Bobcats’ first even win by blowing past the field in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:07.24. The sophomore qualified for the District IV 2A meet via time standard, as well as in the 50 freestyle (24.87) earlier in the meet.
Senior Brice Kola also qualified for the district meet by time in the 50 free (26.75), while sophomore Colton Burns hit a district time standard in the 200 individual medley (2:34.54).
“We are fielding a very young, underclassman-dominant squad this year,” Aberdeen head coach Rob Burns said, “but this is still a strong group of veterans at the front. Russell, Colton and Brice have worked very hard throughout the off-season to prepare for this season and it showed today. The team score may be rough, but we had a great start overall with this meet.”
Kola, Bates and Colton Burns each registered personal bests in the meet, while newcomer Jakhongir Ayupov (an exchange student from Uzbekistan) and returning veterans Foster Patterson, Colin Kenoyer, Tommy Wallace and Noah Johnson all finished with strong performances.
On Saturday, Aberdeen hits the road to the Mark Morris Sprint Pentathlon in Longview.
— Grays Harbor News Group
GIRLS PREP BOWLING
WF West 2160, Aberdeen 1402
The Aberdeen Bobcats bowling team moved to 3-3 on the season (0-2 in the 2A Evergreen League) with a 2,160-1,402 loss to WF West on Monday at Fairway Lanes.
Aberdeen will take on Montesano at 3 p.m. on Thursday at Rainier Lanes in Aberdeen.
WF West (2,160) — Kelsey Strimatter (172, 126, 298); Jessica Loflin (178, 180, 358); Brianna Powe (150, 177, 327); Piper Chalmers (288, 169, 457); Ellie Bunker (187, 187, 374).
Aberdeen (1,402) — Sierra Hammond (150, 133, 283); Juli Villa (131, 145, 276); Victoria Judkins (103, 96, 199); Savannah Hendricks (137, 86, 223); Macy Cogburn (90, 99, 189).
