A second-half run and solid free-throw shooting propelled Elma to a 57-49 win over Aberdeen on Monday at Elma High School.
The Eagles (8-3 overall) took an 11-6 lead on an Isaac McGaffey three with just under 30 seconds to play in the first period, but saw that lead evaporate as Aberdeen (1-5) surged in the second frame.
Bobcats junior guard Jhacob Quezada drilled a three to tie the game at 18-all two minutes into the second quarter.
Aberdeen junior guard Ryker Scott hit a fadeaway jumper with 19.4 seconds left to put the Cats up 24-22 followed by Tarren Lewis hitting 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch to take a 27-22 halftime lead.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Tarren Lewis (4) puts up a shot against Elma’s Luke Schnieder during the Bobcats’ 57-49 loss on Monday in Elma.
Playing with more energy in the second half, Elma quickly regained the lead on a jumper by senior guard Traden Carter to make it a 28-27 game with 1:20 gone in the third quarter.
Elma would go up 41-33 by the end of the period when junior guard Tanner Moe hit a pull-up jumper.
“It was definitely a kick in the butt,” Elma head coach Matt Ferrier said of his halftime talk to get his team back on track. “We needed to quit turning over the basketball. We were going for the home run quite a bit in the first half and we decided not to do that. And then to have trust. I saw a lot of possessions in the first half where they weren’t trusting what they’ve been taught and what they know they are capable of doing.”
In the fourth quarter, junior guard Matthew Wood scored inside on a pump fake in the paint to put Elma up by double digits at 43-33 at the 7:30 mark.
Aberdeen responded with a bucket by junior guard Justin Howard, a free throw from junior Isaac Garcia, and a three by Quezada to cut Elma’s lead to 43-39 with 6:23 to play.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Elma’s Matthew Wood (11) dribbles against Aberdeen’s Jhacob Quezada during the Eagles’ 57-49 win on Monday at Elma High School.
The two teams would alternate free throws until Scott drove and scored on a finger-roll layup to trim Elma lead to 45-42 with 5:25 on the clock.
But the Eagles responded when Wood scored on a layup off a nifty behind-the-back pass from senior guard Theo Flores to put Elma back up by five at 47-42 with 3:22 remaining.
Garcia followed with a pull-up jumper to pull the Bobcats back to within one score at 47-44 with 2:22 to play.
Needing to convert from the line to stave off an Aberdeen comeback, Carter, McGaffey and junior post Dylan Myer combined to go 8 for 8 from the free-throw line down the stretch.
That turned out to be enough as, despite a layup by Lewis and a three from Quezada in the final minute of play, Elma held on for the victory, with McGaffey providing a two-handed breakaway dunk in the final seconds as an exclamation point.
It turned out Ferrier’s fiery halftime speech worked as Elma went on a 9-0 run to start the second half and never lost the lead.
“From there on out, we just gained some confidence and knew we could play with them and beat them,” Ferrier said. “That’s a vastly improved Aberdeen team. Their discipline tonight was much better than (on Saturday) against Montesano. They will win some games playing that way.”
PHOTO BY MIKE ROBERTS Elma’s Tanner Moe (2) is fouled on a drive to the basket during the second half of the Eagles’ 57-49 win over Aberdeen on Monday in Elma. Aberdeen’s Gabe Matthews and Floyd Jones (20) defend on the play.
Carter had 17 points to lead all scorers while McGaffey had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Elma went 16 for 30 from the field (53%), the bulk of that coming from inside the 3-point line, shooting 54% on 14-of-26 shots made from 2-point range.
The Bobcats were led by Quezada with 16 points – including 5 of 8 from 3-point range – and shot 27% from the floor on 15-of-55 shooting as a team.
Aberdeen had 13 turnovers in the game to 23 for Elma, but 19 personal fouls and one technical foul by the Bobcats led to Elma’s frequent trips to the line, and the Eagles took advantage.
Elma feasted at the free-throw line, shooting 79% on 23 of 29 from the charity stripe. The Eagles went 10 of 12 from the line in the fourth quarter, including eight straight to close out the game.
“We’ve been putting a lot of time into that because we’ve been hovering around 60%,” Ferrier said of his team’s free-throw shooting performance. “So to ice the game from the free-throw line down the stretch against a very improved Aberdeen team was amazing for us.”
Elma hosts Tenino in a 1A Evergreen League game at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Aberdeen hosts Centralia in a 2A Evergreen Conference matchup at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Aberdeen 6 21 6 16 – 49
Elma 11 11 19 16 – 57
Scoring: Aberdeen – Quezada 16, Lewis 9, Matthews 7, Garcia 6, Raya 5, Scott 4, Howard 2. Elma – Carter 17, McGaffey 15, Flores 6, Schneider 6, Wood 5, Moe 4, Myer 4.
