North Beach beat Ocosta with a buzzer-beater as we review Saturday’s girls prep basketball games on the Harbor.

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GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL

North Beach 37, Ocosta 35

North Beach sophomore Mackenzie McCrory made just one shot in the game, but was it ever a big one.

The Hyaks forward buried a walk-off buzzer-beater from the short corner to give North Beach a 37-35 win over Ocosta on Saturday at Ocosta High School.

The Hyaks (5-12 overall) held a 15-3 lead over the Wildcats (6-10) after one quarter of play, thanks in large party to sophomore guard Paetyn Beck, who scored 11 of her team-high 15 points in the first frame.

Ocosta battled all the way back to tie the game at 35-all with 20 seconds left in the game.

But a missed three led to an offensive rebound and McCrory’s last-second heroics to give North Beach the win.

“It just didn’t fall our way,” Ocosta head coach Hunter Hatton said. “The heart that our girls showed tonight was incredible and that is what we are going to focus on moving forward.”

Bristol Towle and Elly Mirante led Ocosta with 18 and 15 points, respectively.

Ocosta takes on Crescent in a non-league matchup at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.

The Hyaks host Raymond-South Bend at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

North Beach 15 10 9 3 – 37

Ocosta 3 10 10 12 – 35

Scoring: North Beach – Beck 15, Goldman 13, Cox 4, A. McCrory 3, M. McCrory 2. Ocosta – Towle 18, Mirante 15, Wolfley 2.

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Hoquiam 53, Kalama 20

Hoquiam handled Kalama for a 53-20 non-league victory on Saturday at Hoquiam High School.

The Grizzlies (11-6 overall) held the Chinooks (5-11) to a single point in jumping out to a 14-point lead after the first quarter and held a comfortable 31-10 lead by halftime.

Hoquiam’s defense allowed 10 points in each half, including holding Kalama scoreless in the fourth quarter, to cruise to a 53-20 victory.

“Defense is what kept us afloat during the long pauses of offense today,” Hoquiam head coach Chad Allan said. “I always tell them defense travels, offense not so much.”

Hoquiam was led by senior post Sydney Gordon (18 points, 9 rebounds), senior guard Lexi LaBounty (16 pts., 12 steals, 7 assists, 6 reb.) and sophomore forward Aaliyah Kennedy (12 pts., 10 reb., 8 stl., 6 ast.) as just six players suited up for Hoquiam in the game.

“Super proud of these six girls that continue to play and give everything they have to represent our community so well,” Allan said. “We had six players suit up today and they banded together on defense and looked for one another on offense. Great growth.”

Allan added that in addition to the contributions made from standouts Gordon, Kennedy and LaBounty, his other players also made an impact.

“Great efforts by Avery Brodhead, who played sick to not let her team down, Makalah Haskey, and Madison Gordon,” he said. “All contributed special moments to today’s success. So proud of our team to rise up in the time of challenges, instead of doing the easy thing of falling apart and making excuses.”

Hoquiam went 17 of 42 from the field (40%) as a team and forced 33 turnovers while committing 22.

The Grizzlies host Montesano in a key 1A Evergreen League game at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

Kalama 1 9 10 0 – 20

Hoquiam 15 16 12 10 – 53

Scoring: Kalama – Storedah 9, Schlangen 6, Johnson 5. Hoquiam – S. Gordon 18, LaBounty 16, Kennedy 12, Brodhead 3, Haskey 2, M. Gordon 2.

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Bellevue Christian 61, Montesano 33

Poor shooting turned out to be the difference as Montesano lost to Bellevue Christian 61-33 on Saturday at Montesano High School.

The Bulldogs (10-7) shot 27% from the field on 12-of-45 shooting while the defending state-champion Vikings (12-4) made 24-of-47 shots (51%), including seven 3-pointers as a team.

“That was kind of the story. We didn’t shoot very well, they did,” said Montesano head coach Mark Mansfield, who stated his team had one of its better competitive efforts on the defensive end. “We felt we did a pretty good job defensively, but they shot well and took advantage of the mistakes we made. We didn’t play poorly defensively, they just hit shots today and we didn’t.”

Monte had 23 turnovers to 17 for Bellevue Christian in the game, with 10 Vikings giveaway being in the first half to nine for the Bulldogs.

Senior standout Jillie Dalan had 16 points, six rebounds and three assists to lead Monte.

Ashlyn Lytle had a team-best five assists while Regan Wintrip added three steals for the Bulldogs.

”We played with more energy and we competed against them today, which was one of the things we talked about before the game,” Mansfield said. “No matter what happens, just play hard for each possession and we did a really good job of that. We showed some fight, so that was good.”

Monte has a huge 1A Evergreen League game against Hoquiam on Tuesday at Hoquiam High School.

Bellevue Christian 18 18 16 9 – 61

Montesano 10 8 10 5 – 33

Scoring: BC – Skogstad 26. Montesano – Dalan 16, Wintrip 5, Blancas 3, Forster 2, Perry 2, Lytle 2, Busz 2, Kaivo-Houlton 1.

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Pe Ell 50, Willapa Valley 29

Willapa Valley came up short on offense in a 50-29 loss to Pe Ell on Saturday at Pe Ell High School.

The Vikings (7-9) got in early foul trouble and never scored more than nine points in any quarter of the loss to the Trojans (9-7).

“Early foul trouble forced us to adjust, but the girls continued to compete and give great effort. Defensively, we did a solid job limiting their outside shooting,” Valley head coach Dawn Keeton said. “In the second half, we took much better care of the basketball and showed improvement in our decision-making. We just couldn’t quite find an offensive rhythm, but the effort and willingness to keep working never dropped.”

Kylee Fluke and Tylar Keeton led the Vikings in scoring with 8 points apiece.

Keeton also pulled down a team-best 15 rebounds.

“(Pe Ell’s) inside presence gave us some challenges, but this game provided valuable experience and clear areas to grow,” Coach Keeton said. “I was proud of the team’s defensive effort and resilience. We’ll learn from this one and continue to get better moving forward.”

Valley faces Naselle in a 1B Coastal League game at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday in Menlo.

Willapa Valley 7 9 6 7 – 29

Pe Ell 14 12 16 8 – 50

Scoring: Willapa Valley – Keeton 8, Fluke 8, L. Andrews 6, Ashley 3, Hurley 2, K. Andrews 2. Pe Ell – Zock 21.

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Other games

Taholah 83, Lake Quinault 30 (Friday)