Montesano pulled away in the fourth quarter to earn an important win over Elma as we review Friday’s boys prep hoops games on the Harbor.

~~~

BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Montesano 47, Elma 33

In a game with much at stake, Montesano pulled away from Elma with a big fourth quarter to win a key 1A Evergreen League matchup 47-33 on Friday at Montesano High School.

The Bulldogs (8-7 overall, 1-0 1A Evergreen) trailed the Eagles (10-3, 2-2) early after Elma opened the game with a high-energy 6-0 run.

Senior guard Theo Flores stole the ball then dished it to senior guard Traden Carter who scored on a layup for a 6-0 lead 2:15 seconds into the game, forcing a Montesano timeout.

Elma then cooled off as the two teams played through a defensive-heavy first quarter. Monte tied the game at 6-6 on an offensive rebound and putback by sophomore post Caden Grubb late in the quarter.

With 45 seconds left in the frame, Flores broke a long dry spell for the Eagles with a 3-pointer off a Tanner Moe assist for a 9-6 lead after the first eight minutes of play.

PHOTO BY MIKE ROBERTS Elma’s Theo Flores (5) glides to the hoop against Montesano’s Nathan Dowler (32) during the Bulldogs’ 47-33 victory on Friday at Montesano High School.

“Good teams are going to have runs,” Monte head coach Doug Galloway told his team after Elma’s 6-0 run. “We just needed to stay the course and the kids did a great job.”

Monte would eventually take a 10-9 lead on a bucket off an inbound play by junior forward Mason Fry less than two minutes into the quarter.

With both teams continuing to struggle shooting against the frenetic pace of the opposing defense, Elma didn’t score a point in the quarter until Flores made a free throw to make it an 11-10 game with 3:21 to go in the first half.

Flores then hit another three to put the Eagles up 13-11 with 2:08 left, but Montesano would cclose out the quarter on a 6-0 run, taking a 17-13 lead at the break on a pair of Fry free throws with 37 to play in the second quarter.

The East County rivals would trade leads four times in the third quarter, with the Bulldogs closing out the quarter with a Fry free throw to lead 23-21 heading to the final period.

Early in the fourth quarter, Monte made its move.

The Bulldogs opened the quarter by continuing to pound the offensive glass, leading to an 8-0 run over the first 2:15 seconds of the period, highlighted by a Terek Gunter steal and pass to post Nathan Dowler, who found sophomore guard Colton Grubb – in his first game back from injury – for a layup to take the first double-digit lead of the game at 31-21.

Monte rolled on, extending the lead to 36-21 on a Dowler bucket off a Fry assist to go up 36-21.

Elma got its first points of the quarter when Carter hit a jump shot with three minutes left to play, but the Eagles wouldn’t get any closer than 11 points down the stretch as Monte made 11-of-16 free throws (69%) in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

PHOTO BY MIKE ROBERTS Montesano’s Mason Fry (left) grabs a rebound over Elma’s Armani Phan during the Bulldogs’ 47-33 victory on Friday at Montesano High School.

“We really won this game down low and at the free-throw line tonight,”said Fry, who hit 5-of-8 free throws in the final quarter.

Galloway said it wasn’t any sage wisdom or inspirational words of encouragement provided to his team to turn things around into the final period of play. He gave all the credit to his players.

“It wasn’t me, that was all the kids,” he said. “They did a great job. They started executing and getting big down low. … Elma is a very good basketball team. They’ve got great schemes and a great coaching staff and I didn’t have any magic for the kids. The kids had their own magic.”

Fry led Montesano with 18 points and 14 rebounds while Caden Grubb also had a double-double with 11 points and 12 boards.

The Bulldogs shot 35.6% from the field on 14-of-39 shooting, including 6 of 7 in the fourth quarter.

After its run to open the game, Elma’s offense failed to get back on track.

The Bulldogs outrebounded Elma 38-23, which was a point of emphasis for the Bulldogs heading into the game.

“Elma is such a good, hard-working team, we knew we had to try to win the rebounding battle,” Galloway said. “On the defensive end, we had to limit their opportunities because they work their tails off and get tons of 50-50 balls and we had to match that and I thought we did a pretty good job tonight.”

“Coach said he wanted 10 board from me, Caden (Grubb) and Nathan (Dowler),” Fry said. “I knew we’d have to get in there to pull this one out. … (Elma) is tough down there and they are strong. … We knew they were going to take long shots and couldn’t get pushed under the hoop tonight.”

The Eagles went 11 of 49 from the floor (22%), including 6 of 28 from beyond the arc (21%).

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Elma’s Traden Carter (0) attempts a layup during the Eagles’ 47-33 loss to Montesano on Friday at Montesano High School.

“While we struggled to score versus their size, we made up for defensively. We are so good matching up man and it kept us in the game for most of the night. We work and work and work,” Elma head coach Matt Ferrier said. “You aren’t going to win many games shooting as bad as we did. (Montesano) did exactly what we expected them to do; exactly what everyone plans to do to us and zone. Their size and athleticism forced us to shoot from three and we got great looks. They didn’t go in. I guess that’s hoops.”

Elma committed 16 turnovers in the game to 12 for Monte.

With the win, Monte sits a half-game ahead of Tenino for the top spot in the 1A Evergreen League, with Elma dropping to third place with a 2-2 league record.

The Bulldogs have a meeting with the Beavers at 6:15 p.m. on Monday at Tenino High School.

The Eagles face Rochester in a league matchup at 6:45 p.m. on Saturday.

Elma 9 4 8 12 – 33

Montesano 6 11 6 24 – 47

Scoring: Elma – Carter 13, Flores 10, Moe 4, McGaffey 4, Myer 2. Montesano – Fry 18, Ca. Grubb 11, Co. Grubb 7, Gunter 6, Williamsen 2, Dowler 1.

~~~

Hoquiam 51, Rochester 50

Hoquiam needed every second to pick up a key 51-50 league victory over Rochester on Friday at Rochester High School.

The Grizzlies (5-9, 1-3 1A Evergreen) took the lead with seven seconds to play on a free throw by sophomore guard Lincoln Niemi.

After Rochester quickly moved the ball to mid-court and called timeout, Niemi dashed Warriors hopes of a buzzer-beating victory when he stole the ensuing inbound pass with two ticks left on the clock, securing the win.

The Grizzlies trailed 46-41 to Rochester (1-14, 0-4) entering the fourth quarter, but held the Warriors to just four points over the final eight minutes of the game.

“It was one of those game where they came out with a little extra motivation. They played hard and took it to us,” Hoquiam head coach Jeff Niemi said. “We finally had a decent little quarter and won (fourth quarter). All the credit to Rochester. … I think they played we and we were just fortunate enough to win that game.”

Lincoln Niemi had 22 points and seven steals to lead Hoquiam with forward Tage Dayton reaching double digits for the first time in his prep career with 10 points.

The Grizzlies shot 28% from the field on 15-of-54 shooting – including 1 of 25 from 3-point range (4%) – and were outrebounded 42-24.

But Hoquiam took care of the basketball with just 11 turnovers to 23 for Rochester.

Hoquiam has a Myrtle Street Rivalry matchup against Aberdeen at 7 p.m. on Monday.

Hoquiam 14 14 13 10 – 51

Rochester 19 14 13 4 – 50

Scoring: Hoquiam – Niemi 22, Dayton 10, Bozich 7, Maxfield 6, Abbott 4, Byron 2. Rochester – Morgan 14, O’Conner 11, Nelson 8, Weiss 8, Hines 3, Gravett 3, K. Smith 3.

~~~

Ocosta 63, Lake Quinault 16

Ocosta cruised to a 63-16 victory over Lake Quinault on Friday at Ocosta High School in Westport.

The Wildcats (10-4, 3-1 1B Coastal) handled the Elks (1-10, 1-4) early with a 25-6 first quarter, led by guard Jesus Agramon with nine points on three 3-pointers.

Freshman post Sonny Beard scored 10 of Ocosta’s 19 points in the second quarter as the Wildcats took a commanding 44-14 lead by halftime.

Beard led Ocosta with 14 points and eight rebounds with Dalton Welch (11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals) and Agramon (10 pts., 2 reb., assist) also scoring in double figures.

Ocosta celebrated seniors Agramon, Welch, Noah Prigmore, Bryan Ceja, Kayden Turner and Matthew Wyland on Senior Night.

“We got off to a hot start and moved the ball around very well, which has been a point of emphasis. When shots weren’t falling, we rebounded well,” Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby said. “Overall, it was a fun Senior Night and we were able to get a lot of guys in the game and gave some of our younger guys some good experience.”

Freshman Daniel Arreguin led the Elks with 10 points.

With the victory, Ocosta remained a half-game behind Willapa Valley for the top spot in the 1B Coastal League.

The two teams will face each other again in a league matchup scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Amanda Park.

Lake Quinault 6 8 0 2 – 16

Ocosta 25 19 13 6 – 63

Scoring: LQ – Arreguin 10, C. Leavitt 3, Fisher 2, Butler 1. Ocosta – Beard 14, Welch 11, Agramon 10, Wyland 6, White 6, Ceja 5, Priest 4, Solis 3, Ka. Turner 2, Ko. Turner 2.