Hoquiam had quite the ending to its regular season as we review recent results for Twin Harbors prep basketball teams.

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BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Hoquiam 52, Rochester 40

Hoquiam capped off one of its more memorable weeks in recent program history in grand fashion.

The Grizzlies avenged an earlier league loss with a 52-40 victory over Rochester on Friday at Rochester High School.

Combined with Elma’s loss to Montesano, the Grizzlies leapfrogged the Eagles and finished the regular season as the No. 2 seed out of the 1A Evergreen League.

Two days after a thrillling Lincoln Niemi buzzer-beater in overtime beat Elma, the Grizzlies (12-9 overall, 5-3 1A Evergreen) used balanced scoring and steady defense to beat the Warriors (3-17, 3-5).

Hoquiam held a 28-20 lead at the half, but the Warriors cut into Hoquiam’s lead with three 3-pointers in the third quarter – two by guard Tyson Canales – and tied the game at 36-all on a three Canales with approximately six minutes left in the game.

Rochester’s offense chilled the rest of the way while the Grizzlies converted 8-of-11 free throws (73%) in the fourth quarter to close out the victory.

”I think our defense all night was much stronger and more in control, and we limited their threes,” said Hoquiam head coach Jeff Niemi, whose team allowed 12 3-pointers to Rochester in a 67-64 loss on Jan. 21 compared to eight on Friday. “We did a much better job tonight of limiting penetration, staying in front and giving them one shot pretty consistently.”

DYLAN WILHELM | THE CHRONICLE Hoquiam’s Ryker Maxfield (right) guards Rochester’s Clayton Knutson during the Grizzlies’ 52-40 win on Friday at Rochester High School.

Was led by senior Joey Bozich with 16 points, to go along with five rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Freshman K.J. McCoy (14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, steal) and junior Lincoln Niemi (10 pts., 8 reb., 4 ast., stl.) also scored in double digits for Hoquiam, which shot 37% from the field on 15-of-41 shooting and made 15-of-17 free throws in the game (88%).

Hoquiam outrebounded Rochester 37-28 and committed 10 turnovers to nine for the Warriors.

”We had balance tonight and a balanced rebounding night too,” Coach Niemi said. “With how much we struggle from the line, we shot 15-17 from the free-throw line, that’s pretty cool to see because we’ve lost a couple of games because of that and that definitely helped us win tonight.”

Hoquiam will host Kalama at 6 p.m. on Thursday in the first round of the 1A District 4 Tournament.

Hoquiam 17 11 6 18 – 52

Rochester 8 12 11 9 – 40

Scoring: Hoquiam – Bozich 16, McCoy 14, Niemi 10, Abbott 8, Byron 4. Rochester – Canales 19, Hines 9, Mancuso 4, Turnquist 3, Knutson 3, Hayden 2.

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Willapa Valley 51, Ocosta 43

Willapa Valley closed out a perfect league record with a 51-43 win over Ocosta on Friday at Ocosta High School.

The Vikings (15-5, 8-0 1B Coastal) led throughout the game but never quite put the Wildcats (8-12, 3-6) away.

“I thought we defended well despite giving up too many offensive rebounds which resulted in points,” Valley head coach Derek Rask said. “Ocosta played really hard defensively and disrupted several of our actions and sets on offense. I thought we played pretty disciplined basketball down the stretch and we were able to close out a solid road win.”

Valley was led by J.B. Russell (14 points), Lucas Lusk (13 pts.) and Brody Aust (11 pts., 5 assists), each of whom scored in double digits while Blane King added nine points for a balanced Vikings offense.

Ocosta was led by sophomore center Sonny Beard with 19 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks.

Bryce Bottleson added 13 points while guard Luis Solis scored seven points and dished out a team-best three assists for the Wildcats.

“Well, the game with Valley kind of followed the script of many of our other meetings. We hung with them for the entire game, but just couldn’t convert enough buckets to pull it out,” Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby said. “Valley hurt us a bit with the pick-and-roll in the first half, but I thought my guys made good adjustments after halftime to slow that part down. The difference in the game really came down to we struggled to score consistently against Valley’s tough man defense. Proud of my guys effort, just need to execute better to pull out these tight games. Sonny had a big game back from being sick which was good to see him on the court again.”

Both team open 1B District 4 Tournament play at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Vikings host Oakville while Ocosta plays at Wahkiakum

Willapa Valley 16 11 11 13 – 51

Ocosta 10 10 8 15 – 43

Scoring: Willapa Valley – Russell 14, Lusk 13, Aust 11, King 9, Jarvis 2, Mican 2. Ocosta – Beard 19, Bottleson 13, Solis 7, Priest 4.

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Other games

2B District 4 Tournament

First Round

Mossyrock 69, Raymond-South Bend 50

Rainier 60, North Beach 37

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GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL

Taholah 54, Mary M. Knight 44

Taholah rode a good start to a 54-44 win over Mary M. Knight in the season finale on Friday at Mary M. Knight High School.

The Chitwhins (13-5, 8-2 1B Coastal) jumped on the Owls (10-9, 5-6) in the first quarter, scoring 19 points – a season-high by the MMK defense – and held a 13-point lead after the first eight minutes of play.

Trailing 27-18 at the half, the Owls attempted to make a comeback with better play over the final 16 minutes of the game, but fell short in the Chitwhins’ 10-point win.

“We came out flat,” Owls head coach Jake Goldy said. “I’ll give Taholah credit, they outplayed us in every facet in the first half. They outrebounded us by a mile and we’re not hitting any shots. … We played a lot better in the second half, but the first quarter did us in.”

Taholah was led by standout senior Noelani McCrory with 22 points as eight different Chitwhins scored in the game.

Taholah made 24-of-90 from the field (27%), made 10-of-20 free throws (50%) and committed 13 turnovers in the game.

The Owls were led by star senior guard Cloey Fletcher, who had 26 points, six steals, five rebounds, three assists and a block in the final home game of her brilliant prep career.

Bella Buck added eight points, five rebounds and two steals for the Owls, which went 14-of-60 from the field (23%), converted 12-of-17 free throws (71%), and commited 21 turnovers in the loss.

Both teams are set to play in the 1B District 4 Tournament at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

The Chitwhins are the 1B Coastal League’s No. 2 seed and will host Oakville.

The Owls are the No. 4 seed and take on Pe Ell at Pe Ell High School.

Taholah 19 8 11 16 – 54

MMK 6 12 8 18 – 44

Scoring: Taholah – Fletcher 26, Buck 8, Reeves 6, Gonzalez 4. Taholah – N. McCrory 22, Mail 9, Stafford 7, Smith 7, Markishtum 3, E. Martin 2, A. Martin 2, H. Martin 2.