A multitude of Twin Harbors prep hoops teams opened league play as we review Tuesday’s local games.
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BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
Montesano 74, Tenino 21
Montesano opened 1A Evergreen League play with a dominant 74-21 victory over Tenino on Tuesday at Montesano High School.
The Bulldogs (8-4 overall, 1-0 1A Evergreen) controlled the game throughout, opening up a 22-8 lead after one quarter led by eight points from star junior post Caden Grubb.
Monte had the game well in hand by halftime after a 24-point second quarter paced by nine points from senior forward Mason Fry, seven points from senior Jayvin Painter and two threes from junior guard Andrew Bruland.
At the midway point of the game, Monte held a commanding 46-14 lead over the Beavers (2-11, 0-1).
Eight different players scored for the Bulldogs in a 21-5 third quarter, leading to the rout.
“Kids made goals for tonight and they crushed them,” Monte head coach Shaydon Farmer said. “One of them was to play with great energy for all 32 minutes and they absolutely accomplished that.”
PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano’s Mason Fry attempts a dunk against Tenino’s Robert Nelson during the Bulldogs’ 74-21 league-opening victory on Tuesday at Montesano High School.
Ten different Bulldogs scored in the game, led by Fry (15 points), Painter (13 pts.) and Caden Grubb (10 pts.), each of whom scored in double-digits.
Monte shot 27 of 61 from the field (44%), including 7 of 25 from 3-point range (28%), and hit 12-of-25 free throws (48%).
Montesano had 38 rebounds, 18 steals and 16 assists as a team while committing 11 turnovers in the win.
Fry had 12 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs and complete a double-double performance while Painter had four steals to lead Monte.
Guards Terek Gunter and Ryan Weidman led the Bulldogs with four assists apiece.
PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM The Montesano bench celebrates a play during a 74-21 win over Tenino in a 1A Evergreen League game on Tuesday in Montesano.
“I was very proud of the way they moved the ball around on offense to get a great shot instead of a good shot. I thought we had a great week of practice leading up to this game and it showed with our energy,” Farmer said. “Jayvin Painter gave us great minutes off the bench. Terek and Ryan continue to play great defense on the perimeter and Caden continues to dominate the boards.”
Montesano faces Hoquiam in a 1A Evergreen League game at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday at Hoquiam Square Garden.
Tenino 8 6 5 2 – 21
Montesano 22 24 21 7 – 74
Scoring: Tenino – Bennett 6, Johnson 5, 5 Czuleger 4, Matheson 4, McKague 2. Montesano – Fry 15, Painter 13, Ca. Grubb 10, Weidman 9, Gunter 7, A. Bruland 6, P. Bruland 5, Williamsen 4, Co. Grubb 3, Barnes 2.
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Hoquiam 66, Ocosta 52
Hoquiam used a big fourth quarter to overtake Ocosta 66-52 in a non-league matchup on Tuesday at Ocosta High School.
After being tied at 27-27 at halftime, the Grizzlies (5-6) trailed the Wildcats (4-5) by one point heading into the fourth quarter.
But behind nine points from freshman guard K.J. McCoy, the Grizzlies outscored Ocosta 26-11 over the final eight minutes of play to leave Westport with the win.
“We forced a lot of turnover and started hitting our shots too,” Hoquiam head coach Jeff Niemi said. “I thought we took good shots all night and we finally started hitting them late in the game. … Our defense got us a lot of easy ones too, and that always helps.”
The loss was a tough one for the Wildcats to swallow, especially considering they held a 3-5 point lead throughout much of the first three quarters of the game.
”Well, we hung with Hoquiam for about three and a half quarters tonight before we ran out of steam,” said Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby, whose team committed eight of its 19 turnovers in the period. “ I thought we did a fairly decent job of limiting Hoquiam’s fast break opportunities and made them run a half-court offense for most of the game. … The last four minutes, the wheels fell off for us. … I attribute that to Hoquiam continuing to force the issue until we blinked and the fact that our guys have to work harder in practice in order to finish things properly.”
For the second consecutive game, the Grizzlies had four players in double figures, led by McCoy, who had a career-high 20 points in the victory.
Junior point guard Ryker Maxfield (14 points, 4 assists, 4 steals), junior shooting guard Lincoln Niemi (14 pts., 6 ast., 5 rebounds) and senior forward Joey Bozich (13 pts., 4 ast., 3 reb.) also scored at least 10 points for Hoquiam.
The Grizzlies shot 27 of 61 from the floor (44%), most of that coming from the inside as Hoquiam hit 22 of 35 from inside the arc (63%).
“This was the best we’ve shot from the two since I’ve been back at Hoquiam,” Coach Niemi said. “So we were taking the shots we need to take. I can’t even believe that number.”
Ocosta was led by standout sophomore post Sonny Beard with 17 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.
Luis Solis (12 pts., 7 reb., 5 ast., 2 stl.) and Bryce Bottelson (10 pts., 3 ast., 3 stl.) also scored in double figures for the Wildcats.
“I thought Bryce Bottelson played well tonight as did Luis Solis, who did a pretty good job of limiting Niemi for most of the night, offensively,” Quinby said. “Overall, there were some good things, but hopefully we’ll learn the lessons needed to move forward and put a whole game together.”
Hoquiam held a 32-29 rebounding advantage – 15-11 on the offensive glass – and had 12 turnovers in the game.
“Our big goals were to win the rebounding battle and turn them over and we did both those things,” Coach Niemi said. “I’m pretty encouraged by that.”
Hoquiam opens 1A Evergreen League play with a matchup against Montesano at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday at Hoquiam High School.
Ocosta faces Naselle in a 1B Coastal League game at 7 p.m. on Friday in Westport.
Hoquiam 13 14 13 26 – 66
Ocosta 16 11 14 11 – 52
Scoring: Hoquiam – McCoy 20, Maxfield 14, Niemi 14, Bozich 13, Abbott 3, Byron 2. Ocosta – Beard 17, Solis 12, Bottelson 10, Ashby 5, Dungay 4, Priest 4.
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Aberdeen 56, Centralia 55
Aberdeen held off a Centralia rally for a 56-55 2A Evergreen Conference win on Tuesday in Centralia.
The Bobcats (5-3, 1-0 2A Evergreen) held a 29-26 lead at the half and entered the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead after an 18-11 third quarter.
The Tigers (2-8, 0-1) clawed their way back into the game in the fourth quarter and were tied at 55-55 with the Bobcats in the game’s final minute.
Dynamic Aberdeen guard Isaac Garcia drew a foul and stepped to the free-throw line with the game still tied and two seconds on the clock. Garcia made the first free throw to give Aberdeen the lead.
The senior standout missed his second attempt, but the Bobcats got the rebound to run out the clock and end the game.
Aberdeen was led by Garcia, who scored 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting (53%) to go along with five rebounds and two steals.
Point guard Xanto Raya also scored in double digits with 11 points and had a team-high four steals for a Bobcats team that shot 21 of 54 from the field (39%) and hit 13-of-24 free throws (54%).
The Bobcats had 37 rebounds as a team, led by guard Ryker Scott with 10, and turned the ball over 14 times.
Aberdeen’s JV team won 60-53 on Tuesday. The Bobcats were led by Brody Sherman (18 pts.), Ti Howe (17 pts.), Ben Birch (12 pts.) and DeeJay Green (10 reb.).
The Bobcats take on Shelton in a league game at 7 p.m. on Friday in Shelton.
Aberdeen 19 10 18 9 – 56
Centralia 13 13 11 18 – 55
Scoring: Aberdeen – Garcia 23, Raya 11, Quezada 9, Matthews 4, Scott 3, Howe 2, Howard 2, Carroll 2.
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Elma 76, Rochester 41
Elma dominated from start to finish to earn a 76-41 1A Evergreen League victory over Rochester on Tuesday at Rochester High School.
The Eagles (7-5, 1-0 1A Evergreen) had little troubles handling the winless Warriors (0-11, 0-1), opening up a commanding 22-4 lead after one quarter of play and held the Warriors to just two points in a decisive third quarter.
“When 0ur starters were in there, they dominated,” said Elma head coach Matt Ferrier, whose team held a 30-point lead at one point of the first half. “They moved the basketball real well against their zone defense, waited for the good shot and did a pretty good job of putting the ball in the hole.”
The Eagles shot a blistering 67% from the field on 32-of-48 shooting, including 8 for 13 from 3-point range (62%).
Senior standout forward Isaac McGaffey had 20 points – including two rim-rocking dunks – to go along with seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Junior Trey Yeager had “his best high-school basketball game,” according to Ferrier with 13 points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal while senior guard Tanner Moe dished out eight assists to lead the Eagles, which had 26 assists as a team.
Dylan Myer joined the dunk party with a slam of his own as the senior post scored six points, grabbed four rebounds and had a block in the victory.
”We showed our maturity over their very young basketball team,” Ferrier said of the win. “We got the opportunity to play a lot of different lineups and saw some great things out of specific kids.”
Elma takes on Tenino in a league game set for 6:45 p.m. on Thursday in Tenino.
Elma 22 20 18 16 – 76
Rochester 4 18 2 17 – 41
Scoring: Elma – McGaffey 20, Yeager 13, Webb 8, Aguilar 8, Niemi 6, Myer 6, Moreno 6, Moe 4, Muir 3, Keith 2. Rochester – Canales 12, Mancuso 9, Derrick 6, Hines 5, Knutson 5, Turnquist 2, Hayden 2.
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Willapa Valley 74, Taholah 52
Propelled by a solid first-half performance, Willapa Valley defeated Taholah 74-52 in a 1B Coastal League game on Tuesday at Taholah High School.
The Vikings (7-5, 2-0 1B Coastal) opened up an 11-point lead after one quarter and held the Chitwhins (5-3, 2-1) to just six points in the second quarter to take a 35-15 lead by halftime.
Taholah responded with a third-quarter run to cut the Vikings lead down to 12, but Valley responded with a second-half run of its own to push the lead back out to 20-plus points.
“I thought we had a solid first half on both ends of the floor. We controlled the paint well and we forced Taholah into tough shots,” Valley head coach Derek Rask said. “I was disappointed in our defensive effort in the third quarter. I thought we let up and Taholah went on a run. … We answered their run though, so I was pleased with that.”
Junior forward Brody Aust led Valley with 21 points.
Senior center J.B. Russell had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds while senior guard Blane King also finished in double digits with 18 points.
Junior points guard Lucas Lusk added nine points and eight rebounds for Willapa Valley.
The Vikings face Lake Quinault in a league game at 5:30 p.m. on Friday in Amanda Park.
Taholah hosts Clallam Bay at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Willapa Valley 20 15 19 20 – 74
Taholah 9 6 19 18 – 52
Scoring: Willapa Valley – Aust 21, Russell 19, King 18, Lusk 9, Mican 4, Jarvis 3.
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Other games
Naselle 91, Lake Quinault 41
