Willapa Valley and Taholah won to set up a first-place showdown as we review girls prep basketball games on the Harbor.

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GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL

Willapa Valley 55, Ocosta 18

Willapa Valley locked up no worse than a tie for first place in the 1B Coastal League with a 55-18 victory over Ocosta on Thursday in Westport.

The Vikings (11-8, 8-2 1B Coastal) held the Wildcats (4-13, 2-8) to just two points over the first half and five points through three quarters en route to the win.

Freshman post Tylar Keeton had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds to go along with three blocked shots.

Junior Lauren Matlock scored four points, dished out five assists and had five steals while “hustling all over the court,” according to Valley head coach Dawn Keeton.

Valley went 25 of 71 from the field (35%), hit 3 of 6 free throws (50%) and grabbed 43 rebounds.

Ocosta was led by sophomore Elly Mirante with six points and hit 8-of-48 shots from the floor (17%).

The Wildcats had 31 rebounds and committed 21 turnovers to 17 for the Vikings.

“The extended time off because of the weather definitely showed in the first quarter. We were slow to get going,” Coach Keeton said. “We regrouped in the second quarter. … We shared the ball really well. It was a really good game to end our regular season play and being Senior Night, we had our seniors in most of the night.”

Valley will enter the playoffs as either the league’s No. 1 or 2 seed after ending the league season tied in first with Taholah.

The Vikings and Chitwhins will have a one-game playoff on Monday in Hoquiam to determine playoff seeding.

Willapa Valley 8 14 18 15 – 55

Ocosta 2 0 3 13 – 18

Valley – Fluke 7, Matlock 4, P. Hurley 4, Ashley 2, Neva 4, Keeton 17, Merkel 8, L. Andrews 3, K. Andrews 4, Verboomen 2. Ocosta – Mirante 6, Morris 5, Ness 4, Baldwin 2, Wolfley 1.

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Taholah 71, Mary M. Knight 46

The Taholah Chitwhins did their part, beating Mary M. Knight 74-46 on Friday at Taholah High School to send earn a tie atop the 1B Coastal League.

The Chitwhins (14-5, 8-2 1B Coastal) led 34-28 at halftime before opening up the lead with a 23-8 third quarter, led by nine points from standout junior center Noelani McCrory and two 3-pointers apiece from Maliah Pluff and Luvalia Smith.

McCrory added six of her game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter to help Taholah close out the 71-46 victory and secure a first-place tie with Willapa Valley in the 1B Coastal League.

Senior guard Keeliana McCrory scored 13 points with Smith also finishing in double figures with 11 for Taholah.

“This was a long week for a ton of teams on the coast with the weather we had causing a ton of cancellations. The girls were able to push through and play great team basketball today,” Chitwhins head coach Dramikha Jackson said. “The ball movement was huge, everyone getting their hands on the ball is something we always like to see. We had a ton of great looks inside and the quick passes out for our shooters to score. We were on fire tonight and it felt great to watch them just play some great team basketball.”

With the win, Taholah will take on Willapa Valley to determine the No. 1 and 2 league seeds on Monday at Hoquiam High School (time to be determined).

MMK 13 15 8 10 – 46

Taholah 15 19 23 16 – 71

Scoring: MMK – Fletcher 22, Morris 12, Reeves 5, Nygaard 4, Buck 3. Taholah – N. McCrory 26, K. McCrory 13, Smith 11, Pluff 7, Stafford 3, A. McCrory 2, Martin 2.

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Black Hills 65, Aberdeen 35

Aberdeen had its Senior Night festivities spoiled in a 65-35 loss to Black Hills on Thursday at Aberdeen High School.

Aberdeen (4-14, 2-8 2A Evergreen) featured an senior-heavy lineup of Abby Mainio, Delaney Shoemaker, Alyvia Lamont and Harnoor Jandu to start the game on Senior Night.

But the Bobcats failed to break 10 points until the second quarter and trailed the third-place Wolves (13-7, 6-4) 47-15 at halftime.

”We didn’t shoot well and unfortunately, we didn’t really block out. That was the difference. They had a lot of second and third opportunities to score. We just need to do a better job of blocking them out,” Aberdeen head coach Curtis Eccles said. “It was a great Senior Night and it was fun watching all four (seniors) play the first few minutes together.”

Sophomore guard Sophia Knutson led Aberdeen with 10 points with Shoemaker leading the Cats with eight rebounds.

Aberdeen plays at Washougal in the 2A District 4 pigtail play-in game on Wednesday (time to be determined).

Black Hills 25 22 17 1 – 65

Aberdeen 9 6 10 12 – 35

Scoring: BH – Venable 27, Buchanan 16, K. McMahon 9, Johnson 9, H. McMahon 2, O’Reilly 2. Aberdeen – Knutson 10, Lamont 7, Brown 6, Mainio 6, S. Shoemaker 4, Irvin 2, Kolodzie 2.

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Other games

Naselle 64, Ocosta 31 (Friday)