BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Willapa Valley 74, Ocosta 58

Willapa Valley’s Matt Pearson and Logan Walker each recorded 20-plus point games to lead the Vikings to an important 2B Pacific League victory, 74-58, over Ocosta on Friday at Willapa Valley High School.

Ocosta (3-4, 3-3 Pacific 2B) led 22-20 after a blistering-hot first half in which the Wildcats shot 48.9 percent from the field.

Playing what Willapa Valley head coach Jay Pearson said was a “much more physical” brand of basketball than the Vikings, Ocosta looked hand Willapa Valley its first loss of the season after outscoring the Vikings 15-9 in the third quarter.

But a fourth-quarter adjustment by Willapa Valley assistant coach John Pearson changed the complexion of the final eight minutes of the contest.

“(John) flashed Walker to the high post from the weak side in our zone offense in the fourth quarter,” said Jay Pearson, who joked about finding it tough to give his brother credit for the tactic. “(Ocosta) didn’t have an answer for it. I’ve got to give credit to my brother for that.”

The Vikings would win the fourth quarter 27-9 to pick up their seventh straight win to start the season.

Pearson ended the evening with 28 points followed by Walker, who had 23 points on the evening. Both were cited by Jay Pearson as making big shots late in the game.

“Pearson and Walker took over the game in the fourth quarter like they should,” said Jay Pearson, whose team also got significant contributions from junior Chad Flemetis, who scored a season-high 13 points and hit three 3-pointers. “(Chad) hit some big threes at crucial points of the game for us.”

“I think we played our best game so far last night in regards to playing physical and keeping Valley from getting what they wanted on offense most of the night,” Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby said. “In the end, they are one tough team to stop for four quarters and they hit some big shots that we didn’t answer in the last four minutes of the game. Overall, I was extremely pleased with my guys’ effort and hope to build on this.”

Ocosta, which hit 11 3-point shots in the game, saw its offensive output drop after the Vikings defense made some key second-half adjustments.

“We made them put the ball on the floor and drive and didn’t let them stand around and shoot,” Jay Pearson said. “We decided to stick with our defense and hope they started missing some shots and they did, thank God.”

The Wildcats were led by Richard Dueber, who scored 21 points and blocked four Vikings shots in what Quinby said was “his best game of the season.”

Cole Hatton added 15 points and four assists and Alex Bailey (10 pts.) also scored in double digits for Ocosta.

Willapa Valley has another big test on its schedule when they play at Ilwaco (5-1) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Ocosta hosts Chief Leschi (2-3) at 7 p.m. on Monday.

Ocosta 22 12 15 9 — 58

Willapa Valley — 74

Top Players: WV — Pearson (28 pts., 7 reb., 5 asst.), Walker (23 pts., 6 reb., 3 asst.), Flemetis (13 pts., 6 reb.); Ocosta — Dueber (21 pts., 4 blk., Hatton (15 pts., 4 asst.), Bailey (10 pts.).

Cascade Christian 72, Hoquiam 51

The Hoquiam Grizzlies were held in check by a stout Cascade Christian defense in a 72-51 loss to the Cougars on Friday at Hoquiam Square Garden.

“They are a very good defensive team which prevented us from getting a lot of good looks,” said Hoquiam head coach Curtis Eccles, whose team scored just 10 points combined in the the second and third quarters. “Unfortunately, we forced a lot of shots, but they are a good defensive team and that showed in the second and third quarters for sure.

Hoquiam was led by forward Matt Brown, who returned from an illness to score a team-best 21 points and grab eight rebounds for the Grizzlies (2-3).

Cameron Bumstead added 11 points for Hoquiam, which plays at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Castle Rock High School.

Cascade Chr. 22 13 17 20 — 72

Hoquiam 16 8 2 24 — 51

Top Players: Hoquiam — Brown (21 pts., 8 reb.), Bumstead (11 pts.).

Life Christian Academy 81, Raymond 31

The Raymond Seagulls fell behind early and never recovered in a 50-point loss to Life Christian Academy on Friday in Raymond.

“We ran into a very good basketball team this evening,” Raymond head coach Derek Rask said. “They have some very good athletes in Omari Maulana and Noah Robinson. Both players were very good on both ends of the floor and we couldn’t stop them.”

Maulana scored a game-high 20 points with Robinson adding 17 points for the Eagles (5-2).

Raymond (2-5, 2-4 Pacific 2B) was led by McCartney Maden and Tre Seydel with eight points apiece.

The Seagulls face another tough league test when they travel to take on Ilwaco at 7 p.m. on Monday.

Life Christian Academy 21 23 27 10 — 81

Raymond 10 11 6 4 — 31

Top Players: Raymond — Maden (8 pts.), Seydel (8 pts.); LCA — Maulana (20 pts.), Robinson (17 pts.), Marquis Trimble (8 pts.).

GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL

Tumwater 64, Montesano 45

A third-quarter run and too many turnovers spelled defeat for the Montesano Bulldogs as they lost to Tumwater 64-45 on Friday at Tumwater High School.

Montesano (4-3 overall) hung tough with the Thunderbirds (6-1) after Tumwater took an early 15-13 at the end of one period.

Monte came back to tie the game at 26 and were within four points at 34-34 when the wheels came off in the third quarter. Tumwater outscored Monte 15-4 in the frame to take a commanding 47-30 lead heading to the fourth quarter.

“Tumwater shot really well,” Montesano head coach Julie Graves said before turning her attention to her team’s 34 turnovers in the game. “We’re not going to win too many games with that many turnovers. That and the the third quarter kind of doomed us tonight.”

Tumwater was led by Aubrey Amandala’s 23 points, which included five 3-pointers.

Olivia Bailon added 17 points and hit three shots from beyond the arc for a Thunderbirds team that hit nine 3-point shots in the game.

Monte was led by forward Zoe Hutchings, who scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Lexi Lovell added eight points for Monte, which shot 16-for-36 from the field and 11-for-19 from the free-throw line.

Tumwater took twice the amount of shots that Monte hoisted up. The Thunderbirds finished the evening hitting on 27-of-72 field-goal attempts, a state Graves attributes to the Bulldogs’ turnover woes.

“Those were possessions where we didn’t get a shot and that really hurt us in our ability to put points on the board,” she said.

Monte hosts King’s Way Christian at 7 p.m. on Monday.

Monte 13 13 4 15 — 45

Tumwater 15 17 15 17 — 64

Top Players: Montesano — Hutchings (23 pts., 10 reb.); Lovell (8 pts.), Paige Lisherness (6 pts., 7 reb.); Katie Granstrom (5 asst.). Tumwater — Amendala (23 pts.), Bailon (17 pts.).

South Bend games at Chief Leschi postponed

South Bend’s boys and girls varsity basketball games, originally scheduled for Friday at Chief Leschi High School, were postponed.

No rescheduled date is available at the time of this writing.

PREP BOWLING

Shelton 10, Aberdeen 9

Just two days after edging Montesano in a close contest, the Aberdeen girls bowling team found itself locked in another tight match against Shelton on Friday.

Unfortunately for the Bobcats, Shelton emerged victorious, capturing a 10-9 win on Friday at Rainier Lanes.

Aberdeen (7-3, 4-2 Evergreen 2A) led 7-5 at the conclusion of two rounds of match play but were technically behind on the scoreboard as the overall pin total, where Shelton held a lead, accounts for three points in the 2A Evergreen League’s new modified scoring system.

Aberdeen needed a victory in one of the two Baker games and needed to outscore the Highclimbers by eight pins total to win the match.

The Bobcats lost the first Baker match 149-119 and, in a nearly identical situation to what they faced on Wednesday against Monte, needed to win the second Baker game by 38 points to secure the victory.

Aberdeen bowlers won the second Baker game by 33 pins, coming up five pins short to take a 10-9 loss.

“We bowled well,” Aberdeen head coach Dave Bruncke said. “Shelton just bowled five pins better.”

Earlier in the match, Aberdeen set a new for pins in a game with 731 in Game 1 on Friday, beating the old record by one pin.

Bobcats top scorer Illiana Mercado-George set a new school record by bowling a 359 series, shooting a 182 in Game 1 followed by a 177 in the second game.

Aberdeen’s next match is against Timberline at 3 p.m. on Thursday at Aztec Lanes in Olympia.

Shelton (1,637) — Kaylee Slone (150, 153, 303), Alyssia Pax (142, 147, 289), Court Chamberlin (139, 139, 278), Dreann Merriman (107, 147, 254), Abby Slone (95, 155, 250).

Aberdeen (1,632) — Mercado-George (182, 177, 359), Meghan Howell (126, 160, 286), Annabelle Micheau (145, 105, 250), Bryerlee Perry (113, 123, 236), Bracie Silvan (165, 71, 236).

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Grays Harbor College 84, Shoreline 60

Grays Harbor had to shake off some rust after not playing a game for two weeks en route to handling Shoreline 84-60 in Vancouver on Friday.

Grays Harbor (4-2 overall) opened up a big 29-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and never fell behind in the contest.

The Chokers had three players in double figures, including Charleea Armstrong who had a team-best 20 points in addition to her seven rebounds and four steals.

Teconna Dryer also provided a lift off the bench with 11 rebounds and seven points.

Shoreline’s record dropped to 1-5 with the loss.

Despite the margin of victory Chokers head coach Chad Allan said the time away from the court was apparent as the game went on.

“We have been off for two weeks and it showed in the last three quarters,” he said. “Every player got an opportunity to get better, but it’s still a work in progress with a lot of freshmen.”

Grays Harbor will play Walla Walla at the Clark Crossover Tournament at 2 p.m. on Saturday as part of a stretch of three games in three straight days for the Chokers.

Shoreline 8 15 20 17 — 60

Grays Harbor 29 18 22 15 — 84

Top Players: Grays Harbor – Armstrong (20 pts., 7 reb.), Sandin Kidder (18 pts., 4 asst.), Keeley Teel (15 pts.); Shoreline – Aynika Nuckles (27 pts., 5 reb.), Valerie Bell (18 pts., 4 stl.).

— Hasani Grayson, Grays Harbor News Group