MONTESANO — Unfortunately for Montesano’s boys, Eatonville showed no visible signs of bus lag.
Starting fast despite a late arrival, Eatonville’s well-balanced Cruisers cruised past the Bulldogs, 54-43, in the boys half of a non-league co-ed basketball doubleheader Friday night at Bo Griffith Memorial Gym.
Due to multiple traffic accidents along its route, Eatonville’s bus arrived only about 15 minutes prior to the scheduled 5:45 p.m. tipoff. The contest eventually commenced about 20 minutes behind schedule.
Once play began, the Bulldogs (1-1) faced a two-fold problem. They were guilty of 26 turnovers, many of them unforced, in a fast-paced but raggedly played game. While comparative rebounding totals were unavailable, it is likely the much taller Cruisers snared as many offensive rebounds as Monte did on both ends of the court in the first half.
“We didn’t do a good job of blocking out,” Montesano coach Doug Galloway said. “We were too far under the basket. We’ve got to be tougher.”
Eatonville also hit four of its first six shots to quickly erase Monte’s last lead of the contest, at 4-3. Ray Springer and Hershal Vuksich nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to open the second quarter and increase the Cruiser advantage to 22-9.
From then on, the Bulldogs scrambled to keep the margin in single digits.
L.J. Valley’s three-ball (his only field goal of the game) to begin the second half trimmed the deficit to 30-22. The spread remained at eight when Nick Chapman answered a basket by Eatonville’s Carson Hutchings moments later.
The Cruisers, however, tallied 10 of the next 14 points and were never seriously challenged in the fourth quarter.
Smooth-working junior Trevor Ridgway did most of the damage for Montesano, leading all scorers with 19 points. Chapman added eight points and Seth Dierkop five rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Four Cruisers scored at least nine points, led by senior guard Justin Brandt’s 14. The exceptionally quick Springer chipped in with 13 points.
An Evergreen 1A League rival of Montesano’s last season (the clubs split their series last season), Eatonville has moved up to the 2A classification this year.
The Bulldogs host Rochester in another non-leaguer Tuesday.
Eatonville 16 14 9 15 — 54 Montesano 11 8 9 15 — 43
Eatonville (54) — Springer 13, Schoepf 3, Brandt 14, Hutchings 10, Moeller 9, Graf 2, Scruggs, Vuksich 3, Wolfe. FG — 18-55 (.327). FG — 12-15.
Montesano (43) — Ridgway 19, Chapman 8, Quinn 5, Valley 3, Dierkop 2, Nicholson 2, Peterson, Burbidge, Bates 4, Winter, Farmer, Nicklas. FG — 16-41 (.390). FT — 7-7.
(Brendan Carl | The Daily World) Montesano’s Evan Bates elevates over the Eatonville defense to take a shot on Friday.
(Brendan Carl | The Daily World) Montesano’s Trevor Ridgway rolls in two of his 19 points against Eatonville on Friday.
(Brendan Carl | The Daily World) Montesano’s Noah Quinn twists to take a shot against Eatonville on Friday.
(Brendan Carl | The Daily World) Montesano’s L.J. Valley shoots a 3-pointer against Eatonville on Friday.
