Elma advanced while Hoquiam and Aberdeen suffered losses in Thursday’s boys prep basketball district-playoff action on the Harbor.
~~~
Elma 65, King’s Way Christian 62
After faltering in a most critical juncture of the season a week ago, Elma answered its critics in emphatic fashion.
Behind an inspired and consistent effort, Elma had one of its better performances of the season with a 65-62 victory over King’s Way Christian in a 1A District 4 Tournament game on Thursday in Vancouver.
After going from the league-title favorites to the No. 3 seed with two key league losses last week, the Eagles (14-8) hit the reset button with a victory over the Trico League’s No. 2 seeded Knights (16-8).
Tied at 16-16 after one quarter of play, the Eagles outscored KWC 17-9 in the second quarter, which turned out to be the difference as the Knights outscored Elma 37-32 in the second half.
“The hard week and heavy week we had last week was in the rear-view mirror and we looked like a completely different basketball team,” Elma head coach Matt Ferrier said. “We executed and made shots. We played extremely well versus their two guys that average over 20 points a game. … We were dialed in and had a great day.”
Senior forward Isaac McGaffey led Elma with another double-double, scoring 17 points while grabbing 10 rebounds.
McGaffey also had tw0 blocks, two assists and a steal in the win.
Senior point guard Tanner Moe added 12 points to go along with two rebounds and two assists while being credited by Ferrier for doing “senior things,” such as hitting two key 3-pointers and taking a charge in the game.
PHOTO BY CINDY MILES Elma head coach Matt Ferrier (fourth from left) gathers his team during a 65-62 1A District 4 Tournament win over King’s Way Christian on Thursday at King’s Way Christian High School.
Sophomores Gavin Muir (9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) and JanCarlos Moreno (9 pts., 4 reb., 2 ast.) scored nine points each for an Eagles team that shot 46% from the field (26-57 FG) – including 6 of 20 from 3-point range (30%) – and made 7-of-8 free throws (88%).
Seven different players scored for Elma and the Eagles grabbed 32 rebounds with 13 turnovers as a team.
Key for Elma’s victory, according to Ferrier, was in how it dealt with the long road trip south.
“We went down a couple hours early, got out of the van and did some fun things and some team bonding. We looked like a determined basketball team willing to put that hard team behind us and play to our potential,” he said. “We were pretty steady the whole entire game. … We didn’t waver off of what we were trying to accomplish and the kids didn’t panic. Every time we needed a basket tonight, we got one.”
With the win, Elma advances to face East County rival Montesano in a district-semifinal matchup on Tuesday at Montesano High School (time to be determined).
The two teams split the season series, with Elma winning the first meeting 60-44 on Jan. 21 and Monte taking the second matchup 54-32 on Feb. 6.
Elma 16 17 12 20 – 65
KWC 16 9 15 22 – 62
Scoring: Elma – McGaffey 17, Moe 12, Muir 9, Moreno 9, Yeager 8, Webb 6, Aguilar 4.
~~~
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam guard Lincoln Niemi (24) looks for space against Kalam’s Talan Thomas during a 48-39 loss in a 1A District 4 Tournament game on Thursday at Hoquiam High School.
Kalama 48, Hoquiam 39
Hoquiam went ice cold from the floor in the fourth quarter en route to a 48-39 loss to Kalama in a 1A District 4 Tournament game on Thursday at Hoquiam Square Garden.
The Grizzlies (12-10) and Chinooks (15-7) were locked in a tie game throughout most of the first half before a Kalama run put Hoquiam in a double-digit halftime hole.
With the score knotted up at 15 apiece with just over three minutes left in the third quarter, the Chinooks went on an 13-3 run to close out the first half to take a 28-18 lead over the Grizzlies.
Hoquiam trailed 38-25 with just under two minutes to go in the third before two threes from senior Joey Bozich and a triple from freshman K.J. McCoy would close out the frame on a 9-2 run, pulling the Grizzlies to within six at 40-34 heading into the final frame.
But over the final eight minutes of play, the Grizzlies would go ice cold from the field.
Hoquiam went 1-for-11 shooting from the floor over the final eight minutes of the game despite getting some open looks and shots from in close.
Hoquiam’s lone field goal of the period came on an Ethan Byron tap-in off a missed shot with under a minute to go.
Bozich led Hoquiam with 12 points to go along with six rebounds, three steals and an assist.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam’s Joey Bozich (4) is fouled during a 48-39 loss to Kalama in a 1A District 4 Tournament game on Thursday at Hoquiam High School.
McCoy finished with 11 points while standout junior guard Lincoln Niemi had six points and 11 rebounds, drawing most of the Chinooks’ defensive focus.
“It was just a weird night where we couldn’t get a rhythm going,” Hoquiam head coach Jeff Niemi said. “(Kalama) took away Lincoln well, but we know teams are going to do that. I wish I had a good answer for what happened. It wasn’t turnovers. I don’t think it was shot selection. We were waiting for that run that just never came.”
The Grizzlies shot 28% from the field (13-47 FG) and made 7-of-13 free throws (54%).
Kalama went 18 of 58 from the floor (31%) and went 6 of 11 from the charity stripe (55%).
One thing Coach Niemi was able to point out was an inconsistent energy from his team, which showed spells of it, as evidenced by the late-third quarter run, but didn’t sustain that level throughout the game.
“I didn’t think our energy was great early. I thought we came out fine and then there was a lull and it’s a little disappointing that there was a lull in a home-playoff game,” he said. “At the very least, win, lose or draw, we have to have energy. These (games) should be special and important. We really need to come with a little more consistent energy I think. We strung stops together all night, we just could not get our own little run. … It just never came tonight. We’ll have to move on and stay alive.”
Hoquiam will host Columbia (White Salmon) in a district-elimination game at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
Kalama 10 18 12 8 – 48
Hoquiam 9 9 16 5 – 39
Scoring: Kalama – Koski 17, Crawford 9, Hale 9, Sigfridson 5, Thomas 4, Scott 2, Ketzbeau 2. Hoquiam – Bozich 12, McCoy 11, Niemi 6, Byron 5, Maxfield 3, Abbott 2.
~~~
Ridgefield 95, Aberdeen 65
Aberdeen’s season came to an abrupt end with a 95-65 loss to Ridgefield in a 2A District 4 Tournament play-in game on Thursday at Ridgefield High School.
The Bobcats (8-13) had no answers for the Spudders (12-9) as Ridgefield’s offense had 20-plus points off breakaways and shot 65% from beyond the arc.
Aberdeen was led by standout senior guard Jhacob Quezada, who scored 29 points on 6-of-14 shooting (43%) and made 15-of-19 free throws (79%) to go along with three rebounds and three steals.
Senior guard Isaac Garcia added 19 points, five rebounds and two steals for Aberdeen, which shot 36% from the field on 18-of-50 shooting and had 22 rebounds and 15 turnovers as a team.
The loss ends a once-promising season for Aberdeen, but injuries in the latter part of the season led to the Bobcats ending the 2025-26 campaign on a nine-game losing streak.
Aberdeen 19 11 12 23 – 65
Ridgefield 26 23 23 23 – 95
Scoring: Aberdeen – Quezada 29, Garcia 19, Scott 4, Matthews 4, Raya 3, Howard 2, Hogan 2, Green 2.
