Boys Prep Basketball Roundup: Montesano handles Rainier in battle of unbeaten teams

Also: Aberdeen rallies to beat Mark Morris for first win; Elma, Hoquiam lose non-league games

Montesano continued its romp through the non-league schedule and Aberdeen won for the first time this season as we review Monday’s Twin Harbors boys prep basketball games.

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BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Montesano 57, Rainier 30

Montesano continues to roll through its non-league schedule with a 57-30 win over Rainier on Monday in Rainier.

The Bulldogs (4-0 overall) were held under 60 points for the first time this season by the Mountaineers (3-1), but it didn’t matter as Monte’s defense was superb.

Montesano held Rainier to 10 points or less in every quarter of the game and allowed 14 points total in the second half to pull away after leading 25-16 at halftime.

“We continue to execute well on defense. I can shout out everyone that played tonight for doing their job on that end of the floor,” Monte head coach Shaydon Farmer said. “Our kids continue to impact the game without scoring and that’s the mentality that we stress and need to have.”

Peyton Sheaffer led Rainier with 14 points but aside from that, no other Mountaineer scored more than three points in the game.

Montesano also controlled the glass with 36 rebounds as a team, including 15 in a first quarter where the Bulldogs defense held Rainier to six points, one of two such quarters in the game.

Monte had four players score nine point or more in the game, led by senior forward Mason Fry, who sparkled with 18 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Junior post Caden Grubb continued his solid start to the season with 14 points and seven rebounds while junior guard Ryan Weidman had an all-around floor game with 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Senior guard Terek Gunter scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds to round out another balanced offensive performance from the Bulldogs.

“We had to score and play basketball ball in a variety of ways tonight,” Farmer said. “Very proud of our boys of not being satisfied and continue to finish games well.”

Monte went 20 of 44 from the floor (45%), including 4 for 15 from beyond the arc (27%).

The Bulldogs compete in their fourth-consecutive road game when they take on Shelton at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Shelton High School.

Montesano 9 16 16 16 – 57

Rainier 6 10 8 6 – 30

Scoring: Montesano – Fry 18, Ca. Grubb 14, Weidman 10, Gunter 9, Williamsen 2. Rainier – Sheaffer 14, Beckman 3, Linson 2, Janson 2, McKitirick 2, Morrison 2.

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Aberdeen 50, Mark Morris 46

Aberdeen earned its first win of the season with a 50-46 victory over Mark Morris on Monday at Sam Benn Gym in Aberdeen.

The Bobcats (1-1) led by two at the half and trailed 33-30 heading into the fourth quarter, but rallied to clutch up over the final eight minutes to win the game.

Aberdeen was led by guard/forward Isaac Garcia, who had team-highs in points with 19 and rebounds (8). The talented senior made 9-of-15 free throws (60%) and had two steals in the win.

Fellow senior Jhacob Quezada also had a solid outing for the Bobcats, scoring in double digits with 10 points to to go along with six rebounds.

Senior guard Xanto Raya added eight points, three steals and two rebounds while senior Ryker Scott scored five points and led Aberdeen with four steals.

Aberdeen went 14 for 43 from the field (33%) and got to the free-throw line, hitting on 21-of-33 shots from the charity stripe (64%).

The Bobcats also took care of the ball with 15 turnovers while recording 13 steals as a team.

Aberdeen hosts Forks at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Mark Morris 12 6 15 13 – 46

Aberdeen 12 8 10 20 – 50

Scoring: Aberdeen – Garcia 19, Quezada 10, Raya 8, Scott 5, Howard 4, Martin 2, Matthews 2.

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Black Hills 73, Elma 58

Turnovers hurt Elma in a 73-58 loss to Black Hills on Monday at Black Hills High School.

The Eagles (2-1) lost for the first time this season thanks in large part to 23 turnovers against the Wolves (3-1).

“Obviously, I’m not happy with the turnovers,” Elma head coach Matt Ferrier said. “(Black Hills) just sped us up and our guards had to play a little too quick and had to make reads we weren’t used to having to make against an athletic team and it cost us.”

The Eagles rallied to outscore Black Hills 21-12 in the fourth quarter, but the outcome had already been decided by that point of the game.

“We held our composure and played pretty well in the second half, but at that point in time we were down already,” said Ferrier, who noted his roster features multiple players that are getting their first taste of varsity basketball this season.

“We also played six guys that have next to no varsity experience, so playing at that particular speed and level of intensity, it’s going to take some time for us to figure that out,” he said. “We really haven’t faced that yet in the early part of the season and you could see our immaturity out there a little bit.”

Senior standout Isaac McGaffey scored 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting (47%) and led Elma in rebounds (9), assists (5) and steals (2).

Senior Dylan Meyer had 10 points and seven rebounds while senior guard Tanner Moe had nine points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal for Elma.

Eagles sophomore Gavin Muir (7 points, rebound, assist) and junior Trey Yeager (6 pts., reb., ast.) also drew praise from Ferrier.

“Gavin Muir played really well off the bench and Trey Yeager played incredibly well,” Ferrier said. “Both of those guys probably had their best varsity experiences as two kids that never played up until last week.”

Elma went 23 of 51 from the field (45%), including 4 of 13 from 3-point range (31%).

The Eagles made 8-of-19 free throws (42%), had 37 rebounds (11 offensive) and 14 assists as a team.

Elma faces Forks at 7 p.m. Friday at Forks High School.

Elma 16 14 7 21 – 58

Black Hills 23 19 19 12 – 73

Scoring: Elma – McGaffey 16, Meyer 10, Moe 9, Muir 7, Yeager 6, Moreno 3, Landstrom 3, Aguilar 2, Webb 2.

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Forks 70, Hoquiam 59

Despite a huge scoring night from one of its stars, Hoquiam fell to Forks 70-59 on Monday at Forks High School.

The Grizzlies (1-3) got 45 points from junior guard Lincoln Niemi, 21 of those coming in the first half to help keep Hoquiam in the game.

But it wasn’t enough as undersized Hoquiam struggled to keep the Spartans (2-0) off the glass, which was a key stat that led to the Grizzlies loss according to head coach Jeff Niemi.

”The big story tonight was we could not keep Forks off the glass,” he said. “Whatever we tried, and we tried it all, we could not keep them off the glass.”

Forks’ Ty Rowley matched Lincoln Niemi’s huge game with an all-state caliber performance of his own. Rowley had team-highs in points with 36 and rebounds with 20 to lead the Spartans.

Spartans sophomore Radley Bennett had 16 points and 16 rebounds for a Spartans squad that had 22 offensive rebounds in the game.

Senior Joey Bozich scored 11 points while Ethan Byron grabbed nine rebounds for undermanned Hoquiam, which was without starting guard Ryker Maxfield and one of its key players off the bench in freshman K.J. McCoy.

The two teams combined for 61 free throws in the game.

Hoquiam went 20 of 26 from the line (78%), led by Niemi’s 14-of-18 performance from the charity stripe (78%).

Forks went converted 10-of-35 free throws (29%).

Hoquiam faces Kalama at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Kalama High School.

Hoquiam 12 14 20 13 – 59

Forks 17 20 17 16 – 70

Scoring: Hoquiam – Niemi 45, Bozich 11, Turpin 2, Bretz 1. Forks – T. Rowley 36, Bennett 16, M. Rowley 6, Barajas 6, Foster 5, Clark 2, Soto 1.