The Myrtle Street Rivalry lived up to the hype and then some on Thursday evening, Dec. 16.

In a energetic environment in front of a nearly-packed Sam Benn Gym, Hoquiam rallied from a first-quarter deficit to defeat Aberdeen 60-46 in Aberdeen, snapping a six-game losing streak to the Bobcats in the process.

“It’s huge,” said junior Hoquiam forward Justice Stankavich, who scored a game high 19 points that included a dagger 3-pointer to put the game away late in the fourth quarter. “We haven’t beat Aberdeen in a while. This is a huge game and a huge win for everybody. Everybody is super excited about it.”

But the road to Hoquiam’s Myrtle Street victory was paved with pitfalls as Aberdeen (1-6 overall) — sparked by a large home-court crowd — controlled play through the first quarter.

Led by seven points apiece from senior guard Jacobi Kozak and senior forward Andrew Troeh, the Bobcats grabbed multiple offensive rebounds and scored points in the paint en route to a 20-13 lead by the end of the first eight minutes of play.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen senior Andrew Troeh, right, looks to drive against Hoquiam’s Owen McNeill (5) during Hoquiam’s 60-46 victory on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, in Aberdeen.

“I’m sure their crowd did have an effect on us. It had an effect on me in the beginning,” Stankavich said. “Everybody is nervous before a game, especially a big moment like this. I was nervous. Their crowd made me nervous. That’s how it’s supposed to work though.”

Fortunes began to turn for Hoquiam (2-3) in the second quarter, as the Grizzlies shored up its rebounding and defense to limit Aberdeen’s offensive opportunities and force the Bobcats to shoot from outside the paint.

Aberdeen made just two field goals and a free throw in a low-scoring, physical quarter that saw Hoquiam cut the Bobcats lead to 25-22 at the half.

Hoquiam, which lost its first three games after entering the season as one of the contenders for a league playoff spot, was a different team in the second half.

“We sat down and asked, ‘Do you want it? Do you want this?,’” Hoquiam head coach Kyle Blumberg said of his halftime discussion with his team. “There is nothing I’m going to be able to do sitting on the court. You have to play.’ And they just kind of looked at me and said, ‘Alright.’”

The Grizzlies took a 26-25 lead on a three from junior forward Owen McNeill with 6:10 left in the third quarter and went up 35-27 when an offensive rebound led to a Michael Lorton Watkins three with 2:49 on the clock, forcing an Aberdeen timeout.

Hoquiam increased its lead to double digits when multiple offensive rebounds on the same possession led to a Lorton Watkins three for a 39-29 lead with 59 seconds left.

After Aberdeen senior forward Isiah Watson scored a bucket in the paint to make it a 39-31 game on the ensuing possession, Stankavich scored on the break off a long outlet pass by senior forward Gio Foster to put Hoquiam back up by 10 heading to the fourth quarter.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam’s Gio Foster, right, looks to pass while being defended by Aberdeen’s Ashdon Swope (21) and Andrew Troeh (5) during Hoquiam’s 60-46 win in Aberdeen on Thursday.

Aberdeen would get as close as seven points when Troeh, who had been kept off the scoreboard since the first quarter, hit a three to make it a 45-38 game with 5:45 remaining.

But Hoquiam’s offense continued to have the answers, going up by 12 after an offensive rebound and putback by sophomore guard Zander Jump and another three by Lorton Watkins with 4:52 to go.

In the final two minutes, Stankavich scored on a bank shot to put Hoquiam up 54-40 and followed that up with a dagger 3-pointer on the Grizzlies next possession for a 17 point lead, quieting the Aberdeen faithful in the process.

“Rivalry games are always fun and (the Aberdeen crowd) was talking the whole time, which I’m cool with, that’s fun. It makes the game more fun,” said Stankavich, who put his finger to his lips to “shush” the crowd after hitting the back-breaking shot. “Their crowd was talking, our crowd was talking. It makes the game more fun.”

Stankavich put another exclamation point on the victory when he grabbed a rebound and dribbled the length of the floor for a layup that put Hoquiam up 60-42 — the Grizzlies biggest lead of the game — with 24 seconds left to play.

Blumberg said he feels as though his team “turned a corner” with the second-half response.

“The past two weeks we focused on two things: That’s keeping our composure and playing four quarters,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter how it starts, it matters how it finishes. We’ve preached that over and over for the past two weeks and we struggled in the third and fourth quarters. Now, you see it turning. It’s OK to get beat in the first quarter. Stay with it, work hard and then you’ll see the results.”

Stankavich led all scorers with 19 points with Lorton Watkins not far behind with 18.

Jump also finished in double figures for Hoquiam with 10 points.

Troeh led Aberdeen with 16 points with Kozack also finishing in double figures with 11.

The victory was the first for Hoquiam in the rivalry since a 68-62 victory back on Dec. 15, 2017.

Next up for the Grizzlies is a 5 p.m. meeting on Monday at King’s Way Christian, while Aberdeen hosts Elma at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Isiah Watson scores on a drive to the basket in the second half of the Bobcats 60-46 loss to Hoquiam on Thursday in Aberdeen.