Aberdeen’s shooting touch arrived too late to rescue the Bobcat boys from a damaging late-season loss.
Capitalizing on Aberdeen’s frigid shooting to build a 13-point halftime lead, Chehalis countered a Bobcat comeback for a 61-48 victory in an Evergreen 2A Conference boys basketball game Thursday night at Sam Benn Gym.
Avenging a home loss to the Bobcats earlier this month, Chehalis (3-4, 8-9) moved a game ahead of AHS (2-5, 6-10) in the race for the Evergreen’s fourth and final district berth.
Six-foot-2 Bailey Cooper, part of Chehalis’ all-junior starting lineup, led all scorers with 21 points. When Cooper encountered foul trouble in the second half, Brandon White more than picked up the slack. The slender 6-7 White scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter.
Senior guard Brayden Roiko, normally more of a playmaker than a scoring threat, topped Aberdeen with a season-high 16 points. Braden Castleberry-Taylor had 12 and Victor Gomez 10 points for the Bobcats.
Although Chehalis pulled away by scoring 11 of the game’s final 17 points, this contest was decided in the first half.
Aberdeen’s offensive numbers in that half were downright ugly. Sporadically effective from long range but constantly thwarted by Chehalis’ man-to-man defense when they tried to go inside, the Bobcats hit only 3 of their first 24 field-goal attempts and finished the half at 5-of-27.
Incredibly, their second 2-point basket of the game didn’t come until the 5:54 mark of the third quarter. By that time, the Bobcats, down 28-15 at the half, were facing a 15-point deficit.
Aberdeen coach Mark Buckman attributed his team’s offensive struggles to playing at too deliberate of a tempo.
“We know we have to speed up the game to be successful,” Buckman said. “Speeding up the game and running the floor early gets us in a rhythm. In the next four games, hopefully we can play at our pace.”
The Bobcats did begin pushing the ball upcourt and shooting more successfully while ratcheting up their defensive pressure in the third quarter.
Roiko’s third 3-pointer of the contest reduced the margin to three, at 38-35, with 1:28 remaining in the quarter. Cooper’s layin and Dakota Hawkins’ three-ball enabled the Bearcats to restore an eight-point lead entering the final period.
The Bobcats twice closed to within six in the fourth quarter — the last time at 47-41 on Gomez’s foul shot with 5:31 on the clock. Forcing seven Chehalis turnovers in that quarter, they had the opportunity to do further damage. But their shooting again turned cold while White sandwiched several putbacks around a 3-pointer of his own. That triple, with 3:56 remaining, gave the visitors a 55-42 advantage.
Working the offensive glass relentlessly, Castleberry-Taylor was perhaps conservatively credited with six rebounds. Gomez handed out four assists.
The Bobcats will prepare for their final three league outings by hosting rival Hoquiam in a non-leaguer Monday.
Chehalis 11 17 15 18 — 61 Aberdeen 9 6 20 13 — 48
Chehalis (61) — Dobyns 2, Bull 5, Hawkins 9, B. White 17, Cooper 21, Yarter 3, C. White 2, Speck 2. FG — 24-54 (.444). FT — 9-15.
Aberdeen (48) — Roiko 16, Dublanko 4, Collett 6, Gomez 10, Castleberry-Taylor 12, Coburn, Bojorge, Troy, Metke. FG — 18-58 (.310). FT — 4-10.
JV — Chehalis 67, Aberdeen 56.
