Prep Basketball Roundup: Elma cruises past Eatonville to close out regular season

Also: Aberdeen, Elma girls hoops teams lose league finales; Willapa Valley undone by Mossyrock

Elma’s boys basketball team got back to its winning ways as we review the last day of the regular season for local Twin Harbors teams.

BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Elma 70, Eatonville 52

Elma closed out its regular season with a 70-52 victory over Eatonville on Senior Night at Elma High School.

The Eagles (13-7 overall, 5-3 1A Evergreen) rebounded from two key league losses to blitz past the Cruisers (6-13, 0-8).

Elma scored 18 points in the first quarter and got a big game from senior guard Cason Seaberg, who scored 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting (63%).

“Incredible atmosphere for our Senior Night festivities. Thought we played a great very unselfish game,” Elma head coach Matt Ferrier said. “My boys did a great job dealing with the change in routine tonight. We talk about consistent habits and usually Senior Night means it all goes out the door. We had a fun time getting an opportunity playing a few seniors that aren’t usually in the game. We had other guys who are usually our leaders change their roles for tonight.”

Senior forward AJ Holmes scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds while fellow senior Carter Studer had a team-high seven rebounds for Elma.

Senior guard Grant Vessey had six points, three rebounds and two assists for an Eagles team that shot 55% on 31-of-56 shooting in the game.

“Extremely excited we finished league with a win where we made some shots. We have been struggling from the field and it’s nice to see some go through the net,” Ferrier said. “We are back 0-0. Lots of work to do to prepare for our next opponent. But tonight my team, my coaches, and my seniors get to enjoy a great win.”

Elma had 17 assists and 33 rebounds as a team – 11 on the offensive glass – led by Studer with four.

In addition to Seaberg, Holmes, Studer and Vessey, Elma also honored seniors Wesley Murray, Jackson Schneider and Jacob Meadows on Senior Night.

Elma will enter the 1A District 4 Tournament as a No. 3 seed and will play at the Trico League No. 2 seed on Wednesday (time, location and opponent to be determined).

Eatonville 13 12 12 15 – 52

Elma 28 12 17 13 – 70

Scoring: Elma – Seaberg 28, Holmes 13, Vessey 6, Studer 6, McGaffey 4, Carter 4, Murray 4, Flores 3, Schneider 2.

Mossyrock 63, Willapa Valley 57

Willapa Valley’s closed out its regular season schedule with a 63-57 loss to Mossyrock on Friday at Mossyrock High School.

Valley (9-10, 8-5 1B Columbia Valley) was locked in a battle with Mossyrock (13-6, 11-2) for much of the game, but poor free-throw shooting was key to the loss, according to Valley head coach Derek Rask.

“I thought the difference in the game was our inability to make free throws when we needed them,” said Rask, whose team went 10 for 22 from the charity stripe (45%). “This has been a struggle for us and it continued tonight.”

Hank Swartz had a huge game with 31 points and 11 rebounds while Blane King added 17 points for Willapa Valley.

“Our guys played with great energy for the entire game,” Rask said.

Willapa Valley went 20 for 50 from the field (40%) while Mossyrock shot 24 for 57 (42%).

Valley will host Wishkah Valley in the first round of the 1B District 4 Tournament at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

Willapa Valley 12 10 18 17 – 57

Mossyrock 14 17 17 15 – 63

Scoring: Willapa Valley – Swartz 31, King 17, Fluke 5, Russell 2, Ritzman 2.

GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL

W.F. West 65, Aberdeen 27

Aberdeen’s five-game win streak was snapped with a 65-27 loss to W.F. West on Friday at Aberdeen High School.

The Bobcats (13-7, 6-6 2A Evergreen) trailed 21-5 after one period and struggled to keep up with league-champion W.F. West (17-3, 12-0) in the regular-season finale.

Aberdeen was led by guard Bentley Brown with 13 points.

Bobcats leading scorer Annie Troeh had four points while battling an illness.

Aberdeen freshman guard Sophia Knutson also scored four points.

Aberdeen’s defense had four steals in the game after averaging 15 per game this season.

Bearcats standout Julia Dalan led all scorers with 24 points.

Aberdeen will enter the playoffs as the league’s No. 4 seed and will face the Greater St. Helen’s League No. 5 seed on Wednesday (time, location and opponent yet to be determined at the time of this writing).

W.F. West 21 17 14 13 — 65

Aberdeen 5 9 6 7 — 27

Scoring: W.F. West — Dalan 24, Cushman 14, Fragner 10, Boeck 6, Deskins 5, Chloupek 2, Simpson 2, Bennett 2. Aberdeen – Brown 13, A. Troeh 4, Knutson 4, Mainio 3, Phimmasone 2, D. Shoemaker 1.

Eatonville 54, Elma 44

Elma couldn’t recover from a low-scoring second quarter en route to a 54-44 loss to Eatonville on Friday at Elma High School.

The Eagles (7-10, 4-4 1A Evergreen) were outscored 13-5 in the second period to trail 28-18 at halftime.

The Eagles and Cruisers (12-4, 6-2) played even in the second half 26-26.

Elma was led by Olivia Moore and Aaleigha Weld with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

The Eagles were 17 of 53 from the field (32%) and went 4 for 16 from the free-throw line (25%).

With the loss, Elma finishes in third place in the 1A Evergreen League and will travel to face the Trico League’s No. 2 seed on Thursday (time, location to be determined).

Eatonville 15 13 11 15 – 54

Elma 13 5 10 16 – 44

Scoring: Eatonville – Anderson 20, Hall 14, Bickford 6, Meyer 5, Stammens 5, Smith 4. Elma – Moore 13, Aal. Weld 12, E. Sibbett 9, Bol 4, Monroe 3, Spencer 2.