Hoquiam beat Raymond in the Seagulls’ New Year’s Classic as we take a look at Friday’s boys prep basketball games on the Harbor.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Hoquiam’s Lincoln Niemi (24) dribbles against Raymond’s Austin Snodgrass (20) and Ashton Kongbouakhay during the Grizzlies’ 68-41 win on Friday at the Raymond New Year’s Classic in Raymond.

BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Hoquiam 68, Raymond 41

Hoquiam’s balanced offense was too much for Raymond to deal with in the Grizzlies’ 68-41 victory at the Raymond New Year’s Classic on Friday at Raymond High School.

The Grizzlies (6-3 overall) trailed 19-14 after Raymond (5-5) got off to a hot start, hitting 8 of 13 shots in the first quarter (61.5%).

After that, the game belonged to Hoquiam and a Grizzlies defense that held the Seagulls to six points in each of the second and third quarters.

“Our defense in the second half was outstanding,” said Hoquiam head coach Jeff Niemi, whose defense did a better job of challenging Raymond shooters after the first quarter. “We just started to get out on them a little bit more and mixed it up here and there. I felt like we had them on their heels at times, but the kids just did a great job at getting to spots and if they were going to shoot, we were going to make them shoot over us.”

Five players scored eight or more points for Hoquiam’s balanced attack, led by freshman guard Lincoln Niemi’s 18 points and eight assists.

Joey Bozich (11 points, 4 steals) and Chris Bryson (11 pts., 9 rebounds, 4 stl.) also scored in double figures for the Grizzlies, which shot 45% from the field on 30-of-66 shooting.

“It was really encouraging to see our scoring,” Coach Niemi said. “It was a really good all-around effort. We shared the ball really well and it was good to see everybody chip in.”

Hoquiam held a 14-9 rebounding on the offensive glass and committed just five turnovers to 25 for Raymond.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Raymond’s Chris Quintana (14) scores while Hoquiam’s Aiden Butcher defends during the Grizzlies’ 68-41 win on Friday at the Raymond New Year’s Classic in Raymond.

“For how we’re trying to play up-tempo and to only turn the ball over five times, I’m thrilled with that,” Coach Niemi said.

Chris Quintana was the only Seagull to score in double digits with 10.

“We played one of our better first quarters of the year, but unfortunately, that was about our only positive tonight,” Raymond head coach Mike Tully said. “We struggled to execute some of the most basic parts of our game plan and committed way too many turnovers. You have to give Hoquiam credit, they played hard and caused us a lot of problems, especially defensively.”

Hoquiam hosts Elma in a 1A Evergreen League game at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Raymond hosts South Bend in a 2B Pacific League game at 7:15 p.m. on Friday.

Hoquiam 14 16 18 20 – 68

Raymond 19 6 6 10 – 41

Scoring: Hoquiam – Niemi 18, Bozich 11, Bryson 11, Butcher 8, Jump 8, Byron 4, LaBounty 4, Tobar 2. Raymond – Quintana 10, Snodgrass 7, Kongbouakhay 7, Yearout 6, Banker 5, Stephens 4, Schlueter 2.

Montesano 48, Chief Leschi 46

Montesano rallied to earn a hard-fought road win over Chief Leschi 48-46 on Friday in Puyallup.

The Bulldogs (9-1) led 30-22 at the half in a close back-and-forth game.

But Monte’s lead evaporated after being outscored 14-3 in the third quarter.

Trailing 36-33 to the Warriors (6-3) entering the final period, Monte regained the lead with four minutes left and held a slim lead until late in the final moments of the game.

With less than a minute left, the Bulldogs held a 47-46 lead and the Warriors were forced to foul.

With one second left on the clock, Montesano senior Jaxson Wilson hit 1-of-2 free throws.

A Warriors desperation heave at the buzzer hit the backboard but was off-target to end the game.

“It was like two heavyweight boxers going at it and it was literally a slug-fest of a game,” Monte head coach Leonard Barnes said. “It was a very intense game from the start to the end.”

The Bulldogs were led by junior guard Delon Chan, who had a game-high 25 points to go along with 14 rebounds.

As a team, Monte went 11 of 16 from the free-throw line (69%), grabbed 50 rebounds and committed 27 turnovers.

“It was a very physical, aggressive game,” Barnes said. “We were very mentally tough. We kept believing and just hung in there.”

Montesano opens 1A Evergreen League play at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Tenino High School.

Montesano 18 12 3 15 – 48

Chief Leschi 15 7 14 10 – 46

Scoring: Montesano – Chan 25, Peterson 6, Gunter 4, Wilson 3, Damasiewicz 3, Bodwell 2, Taylor 2.

Chief Leschi – Lara 22, Spino 11, Dillon 5, Oyos 4, George 2.

Shelton 45, Elma 41

Elma missed a chance late in the game as the Eagles fell to Shelton 45-41 on Friday at Shelton High School.

Playing without key starters Traden Carter and AJ Holmes, both of whom are out due to injuries, the Eagles (6-4) were tied at 35-all with the Highclimbers (4-6) entering the final quarter.

Trailing with under 15 seconds left, Elma’s Isaac McGaffey grabbed a rebound off a missed Eagles free throw and Elma promptly called timeout.

On the ensuing possession, Elma got a good look in the paint, but a Shelton block and recovery forced an Eagles foul.

Shelton hit its free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.

“We seem to be fighting a tremendous amount of adversity right now. Being down two starters – two leaders – most teams would crumble,” Elma head coach Matt Ferrier said. “We are doing a remarkable job having the next man step up. I am extremely proud of them for their resiliency. We play hard, we fought hard. Just frustrating that we didn’t finish it off.”

Elma was led by senior guard Cason Seaberg with 17 points, with junior guard Theo Flores (5 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists) and senior Jackson Schneider (2 pts., reb.) drawing praise from Ferrier for their performances.

Elma went 15 of 40 from the field (38%), grabbed 24 rebounds and committed 13 turnovers as a team.

The Eagles play at Hoquiam in a 1A Evergreen League game at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Elma 8 17 10 6 – 41

Shelton 18 5 12 10 – 45

Scoring: Elma – Seaberg 17, Vessey 8, McGaffey 5, Flores 5, Studer 4, Schneider 2.

Rainier 54, North Beach 30

North Beach saw the game get away from them in the second half in a 54-30 loss to Rainier on Friday in Ocean Shores.

The Hyaks (3-7) led by one after the first quarter and trailed by two at halftime, but saw Rainier (8-3) pull away with a big second half.

“We played a really good first half,” North Beach head coach Larry Moore said. “We couldn’t keep up the pace in the second half. Foul trouble and turnovers were our downfall.”

Jade Charley led North Beach with 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

“Proud of the kids, they played hard,” Moore said. “Jade Charley had one of his better games. … Kobe Charley led the way with his defense. Isaac Bighead came off the bench and gave us a nice lift since Tyrell Hovland was in foul trouble the whole game and did foul out.”

North Beach went 12 of 45 from the floor (27%).

The Hyaks will take on South Bend at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in a 2B Pacific League game in South Bend.

Rainier 11 8 14 21 – 54

North Beach 12 5 7 8 – 30

Scoring: Rainier – Boesch 16, Howell 9, Jake Meldrum 8, Jimmy Meldrum 7, Sproufske 7, Josh Meldrum 5, Pringle 2. North Beach – J. Charley 11, Eastman 9, K. Charley 6, Curry 3, Hovland 3.

King’s Way Christian 71, Willapa Valley 51

Willapa Valley’s inexperience showed in a 71-51 loss to King’s Way Christian on Friday at a holiday tournament in Ilwaco.

The Vikings (5-4) led 13-6 after a good first quarter, but the script was flipped in the second as KWC (4-5) outscored Valley 23-5 to take an 11-point lead at halftime.

”They had a fantastic second quarter and we didn’t. Offensively, that hurt us,” Valley head coach Derek Rask said. “(King’s Way Christian) didn’t do anything different, defensively. We started settling for jump shots. We kind of got away from what worked for us in the first quarter, attacking the hoop and getting easy shots.”

Rask added his team played a rushed brand of basketball in the second quarter, putting up long-range shots early in the shot clock.

“We were real early in our offense in the second quarter, that’s partly our inexperience and youth creeping in,” he said.

Blaine King and Nathan Fluke led Valley with 19 and 11 points, respectively.

Brody Ritzman had eight points and 13 rebounds for the Vikings.

Valley faces Stevenson at 4 p.m. Saturday in Ilwaco.

KWC 6 23 24 18 – 71

Willapa Valley 13 5 17 16 – 51

Scoring: Willapa Valley – King 19, Fluke 11, Keeton 8, Ritzman 4, Russell 4, Swartz 3, Metcalf 2.

Other scores

Crescent 52, South Bend 25