Montesano failed to get past Forks while Lake Quinault, Ocosta and Willapa Valley won in league play as we review a full weekend of boys prep basketball games on the Harbor.

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BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Forks 58, Montesano 51

Montesano’s comeback against Forks fell short in a 58-51 loss on Friday at Montesano High School.

The Bulldogs (1-4 overall) trailed 30-24 at the half and by nine entering the final quarter of play.

Montesano hit 5-of-13 shots in the fourth quarter – including 3-pointers from both Mason Fry and Caden Grubb – but it wasn’t enough as the Bulldogs dropped their third game in a row and fourth in five contests this season.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano guard Terek Gunter puts up a shot against Forks’ Brody Lausche (22) and Noah Foster (2) during the Bulldogs’ 58-51 loss on Friday at Montesano High School.

Twin brothers Colton and Caden Grubb led Monte with 17 and 14 points, respectively, while Fry added 12 points, a team-best eight rebounds to go along with three steals and three blocks for the Bulldogs.

Monte went 20 of 59 from the field (33.9%), including 4 of 23 from 3-point range (17.4%), and went a perfect 7 for 7 from the free-throw line.

The Bulldogs had 27 rebounds and eight steals as a team while committing 22 turnovers.

Forks 17 13 16 12 – 58

Montesano 15 9 13 14 – 51

Scoring: Forks – Rowley 21, Hernandez-Stansbury 13, Lausche 12, Foster 5, Lohrengel 4, Terrones 1. Montesano – Co. Grubb 1 7, Ca. Grubb 14, Fry 12, Gunter 4, Williamsen 2, Dowler 2.

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Castle Rock 65, Montesano 46

Montesano struggled to keep pace in a 65-46 loss to Castle Rock on Saturday at Castle Rock High School.

Playing for the second time in 24 hours, the Bulldogs (1-5) committed 11 turnovers in the first quarter alone en route to a 20-13 deficit.

Despite going a respectable 8-of-19 shooting (42.1%) in the first half, 18 turnovers over the first 16 minutes led to Monte trailing 35-19 by halftime.

The Bulldogs reduced the Rockets lead to 44-32 entering the fourth quarter, but Monte went 5 of 15 down the stretch (33.3%) to suffer its fifth loss of the season.

Terek Gunter led Monte with 15 points to go along with three rebounds and three assists.

Monte shot 40% from the floor on 18-of-45 shooting and had 27 rebounds while committing 29 turnovers as a team.

Montesano 13 6 13 14 – 46

Castle Rock 20 15 9 21 – 65

Scoring: Montesano – Gunter 15, Fry 7, Ames 5, Bruland 4, Painter 4, Co. Grubb 2, Wilson 1. Castle Rock – Langdon 17, LaFever 15, Rogen 9, Keatley 7, Burke 5, Mead 4, Warren 2, Chisolm 2.

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Madras 54, Elma 48

Elma dropped the second of its three-game weekend trip to Oregon with a 54-48 loss to Madras on Friday at the Seaside Tournament.

The Eagles (5-2) gave the sixth-ranked team in the Oregon School Activities Association’s 4A class all it could handle in the six-point loss, the smallest margin of victory this season for the White Buffaloes (7-0).

“Incredibly proud of our guys. That was an extremely talented team. They have size, they have guards that can penetrate and they definitely have some shooters,” Elma head coach Matt Ferrier said. “Three different times we were down double digits and three different times we came back. We showed some grit and some fight. Now our kids know what we are capable of. We come to Oregon to get tested and we played a great game.”

Senior guards Theo Flores and Traden Carter led Elma with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Carter led the Eagles with seven rebounds while junior Isaac McGaffey returned to the lineup after missing a game with an ankle injury to score 11 points, grab five rebounds, dish out three assists and record a pair of steals.

“Our three returners – Traden, Theo and Isaac – from last year are doing a great job showing our new members what this level of hoops takes,” Ferrier said.

Elma shot 19 of 39 from the field (49%), went 6 of 7 from the free-throw line (85.7%) and had 22 rebounds, 12 assists and 20 turnovers as a team.

Madras 13 13 16 12 – 54

Elma 7 13 16 12 – 48

Scoring: Elma – Flores 16, Carter 15, McGaffey 11, Myer 4, Schneider 2.

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Elma 55, Seaside 48

Elma wrapped up it’s Seaside Tournament experience with a 55-48 victory over host Seaside on Saturday in Seaside, Oregon.

Elma (6-2) had its best shooting performance of the season, hitting 49% of its shots on 19-of-39 shooting, including 7 of 11 from beyond the arc (64%).

”Who would have thought that the third day of a difficult tournament would bring our best shooting performance of the year,” Elma head coach Matt Ferrier said. “It sure was fun to see some outside shots hit late in the game.”

Elma led by a point at halftime and trailed throughout the second half before key threes by senior guards Traden Carter and Theo Flores and juniors Isaac McGaffey and Dylan Myer made the difference.

”Both teams play tremendous defense for much of the game but down the stretch, we closed them out,” said Ferrier, whose team placed third in the tournament with the victory. “Thought we had a rewarding experience coming to Oregon this year. It’s been a few many years since an Elma boys team has placed third at Seaside.”

Carter (19 points, 4 assists), Flores (13 pts., 4 rebounds, 2 ast.), McGaffey (12 pts., 18 reb., 5 ast., 2 steals) and Myer (11 pts.) did all the scoring for Elma.

Ferrier said the weekend road trip benefited his team greatly.

“If you compared last week’s team to this tourney team, you wouldn’t even recognize us,” he said. “Compliments really go to our group of boys. They really brought their A-game to Oregon and got to enjoy a huge level of success. The rewards always come on game days and we earned this one.”

Carter and Flores were named to the all-tournament team for their efforts.

Elma play at Kalama at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 28.

Elma 9 15 10 21 – 55

Seaside 9 14 9 16 – 48

Scoring: Elma – Carter 19, Flores 13, McGaffey 12, Myer 11.

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Lake Quinault 47, Mary M. Knight 29

Lake Quinault earned its first win of the season with a 47-29 victory over Mary M. Knight on Friday at Lake Quinault High School.

The Elks (1-3, 1-1 1B Coastal) leaped into third place in the 1B Coastal League led by a 19-point, six-steal performance from freshman Daniel Arreguin.

Ten players on the Elks’ 12-man roster scored at least one point in the game as Lake Quinault hit 17-of-48 shots (35.4%) from the floor – 13 of 28 from 2-point range (46.4%) – and had 15 steals as a team.

Colin Tiemeyer and Daki “Junior” Fisher had six points apiece, with Tiemeyer recording a team-high five rebounds in the win.

“We’re building some confidence,” said Lake Quinault head coach TJ Christensen, whose team started the game with three freshman, one sophomore and one senior due to several starters being unavailable to play. “We got everyone some playing time tonight and it was a good experience for everyone.”

Lake Quinault will play at the North Beach Junior Varsity Tournament on Friday, Dec. 27.

MMK 3 4 9 13 – 29

Lake Quinault 16 5 14 12 – 47

Scoring: LQ –Arreguin 19, Tiemeyer 6, Fisher 6, Butler 3, Kewis 3, Boatsman 2, Leavitt 2, Cortez 2, Mason 2, Ward 2.

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Ocosta 57, Taholah 51

Ocosta held on down the stretch to pick up a key 1B Coastal League victory with a 57-51 win over Taholah on Friday in Westport.

The Wildcats (4-3, 1-0 1B Coastal) led for most of the game but where never able to pull away from the Chitwhins (3-3, 1-2).

“Every time we stretched (the lead) out to seven or eight points, Jayden Lewis would hit a three or Jade Charley would finish a tough drive,” Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby said of Taholah’s senior standouts.

To counter, Ocosta got some top performances from some standouts of its own.

Wildcats 6-foot-5 freshman post player Sonny Beard had 18 points and a game-high 24 rebounds while senior guard Kayden Turner added 16 points, hitting shots late in the game to stretch the Ocosta lead to nine points.

Dalton Welch (8 points, 11 rebounds) and Noah Prigmore (13 pts., 9 reb., 4 assists) were also commended by Quinby for their performances.

Ocosta shot 22 of 62 from the field (35.5%) – including 5 of 16 from beyond the arc (31.3%) – as a team while committing 18 turnovers.

The Wildcats also had 57 rebounds in the game, 37 on the offensive glass.

Lewis and Charley led the Chitwhins with 22 and 19 points, respectively.

Taholah hit 20-of-61 shots in the game (32.8%), including 9-of-23 3-pointers (39.1%), five of those by Lewis.

“Man, tonight was a battle,” said Quinby, whose team was playing its fifth game in seven days. “We knew we had to leave it all on the court to get the job done against Taholah and we did just that. … We are definitely ready for the Christmas break as we have a couple weeks off to get rested and healthy.”

Ocosta resumes play against Pe Ell in a non-league game at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 6 in Westport.

Taholah 10 13 19 9 – 51

Ocosta 15 14 17 11 – 57

Scoring: Taholah – Lewis 22, Charley 19, Rhodes 7, Adams 3. Ocosta – Beard 18, Turner 16, Agramon 13, Welch 8, Solis 2.

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Willapa Valley 60, Naselle 58

Willapa Valley won its league opener with a 60-58 last-second win over Naselle on Friday at Naselle High School.

The Vikings (5-2, 1-0 1B Coastal) played “pretty disciplined basketball on both ends of the floor tonight,” according to Valley head coach Derek Rask.

Leading 33-27 at halftime, Valley’s lead was erased as the Comets (3-1, 1-1) outscored the Vikings in the third quarter to take a 49-47 lead heading into the final period of the game.

Valley kept it close throughout the final eight minutes of play and had the ball tied at 58 with just seconds remaining.

Vikings sophomore Brody Aust, who was out the past few weeks due to an injury, drove to the to hoop and converted a game-winning layup at the buzzer to give Valley the rousing victory.

“I’m so happy for Brody Aust,” Rask said. “This was a fun moment for our team and all the fans who were there to support us. … This was a fantastic league win for us on the road at Naselle.”

Four Vikings finished in double figures as Blane King (14 points), Lucas Lusk (12 pts.), Brody Ritzman (12 pts.) and Nathan Fluke (11 pts.) all scored at least 10 points in the game.

Willapa Valley hosts Taholah at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 7.

Willapa Valley 20 13 14 12 – 60

Naselle 11 16 22 9 – 58

Scoring: WV – King 14, Lusk 12, Ritzman 12, Fluke 11, Aust 6, Russell 3, Swartz 2.