Montesano advanced to state and reached the district-title game as we review Twin Harbors prep basketball district games from Tuesday.
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BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
Montesano 57, Elma 45
The last time a Montesano Bulldogs boys basketball team reached a district final, bell-bottoms, disco and the eight-track were all the rage.
Montesano advanced to a boys basketball district final for the first time since the Carter administration with a 57-45 victory over Elma in a 1A District 4 semifinal on Tuesday at Montesano High School.
Much like in their regular-season finale 11 days prior, the Bulldogs (17-5 overall) rode the energy of a capacity crowd to jump out to a 10-0 lead over the Eagles (13-8) in the first quarter.
Monte got a bucket from senior Mason Fry, an offensive rebound putback from junior Caden Grubb, a three from guard Carter Ames and a drive and score from junior Colton Grubb to take a 9-0 lead, forcing an Elma timeout.
A Colton Grubb free throw would put Monte up 10-0 at the 4:12 mark as Elma went 0 for 7 from the field to start the game.
“The kids were locked in and ready to go,” Bulldogs head coach Shaydon Farmer said. “They came out ready to kill from the start.”
“We were focused and knew what we needed to do,” Ames said. “Off the tip, you could tell we were more locked in and physical than they were.”
But dissimilar to their previous meeting, the Eagles had a response.
Trailing Monte 14-6 after one period of play, the Eagles got back in the game with an 8-2 run – capped by a basket of an offensive rebounds from senior Isaac McGaffey – to pull to within a bucket at 16-14.
PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Elma’s Isaac McGaffey (3) puts up a shot during a 57-45 loss to Montesano in a 1A District 4 semifinal game on Tuesday at Montesano High School.
After a Montesano timeout and turnover, the Eagles would take a 17-16 lead on a three from guard JanCarlos Moreno with just over five minutes left in the first half.
Moreno and guard Gavin Muir would hit two free throws apiece in the second frame, but it was Monte that got the last laugh of the first half when Colton Grubb scored a layup after an Elma turnover to tie the game at 20-20 heading into halftime.
“(Elma) was moving the ball around a lot faster than we were expecting,” Ames said. “We were getting stuck (defending) the same guy and that’s on us. We were not communicating as well as we should’ve been.”
“Last time, they didn’t hit shots. Today, they hit shots,” Farmer said. “They shot a whole lot better than they did last time.”
The two teams wouldn’t be separated by more than three points through the first five minutes of the third quarter.
That would change over the final 3:30 as Monte would regain the lead on a Colton Grubb three that sparked a quick 9-0 run, culminating with a Fry bucket and-1 free throw to stake the Bulldogs to a 38-28 lead with approximately three minutes left in the period.
Elma had the deficit to within double digits three additional times in the third, but Monte answered each time, taking a 45-35 on a Fry offensive board and score just before the end of the frame.
“(Coach Farmer) was telling us that we were too slow and he doesn’t want us to be slow,” Ames said of his coach’s halftime speech. “We were too slow on our communication getting out and helping each other. … We just came out wanting to fight like we did at the start of the game.”
The Bulldogs opened up a 15-point lead at 53-38 on a Caden Grubb bucket in the paint at 6:37 of the fourth quarter.
The Eagles responded with back-to-back buckets from McGaffey to cut Monte’s lead to 11 with 4:30 to play.
But after an Elma turnover, Caden Grubb hit a shot in the paint and was fouled. The standout junior post’s conversion at the charity stripe turned out to be the dagger, putting Monte ahead 56-42 with 3:46 left in the game.
PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano’s Caden Grubb (23) shoots inside the paint during a 57-45 victory over Elma in a 1A District 4 semifinal game on Tuesday at Montesano High School.
The two teams would trade free throws and McGaffey would have one of his signature steals and breakaway dunks in the final minute of the game to close out the scoring.
“It really just came down to being tough,” Coach Farmer said. “We have to be the strongest team, mentally, emotionally and physically, and we were not in that first half. We came out (in the second half) and were the hammer and not the nail. … It was the difference between controlling our pace and being lazy. We were lazy in that first half. We changed that in the second half and it helped us a lot.”
Monte was led by Colton Grubb with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting (60%), four rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Bulldogs guard Ryan Weidman (14 points, 7-8 FT, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, steal) and Caden Grubb (12 pts., 15 reb., 2 stl.) also finished in double digits for Monte, which shot 18 of 52 from the field (35%) and made 13-of-15 free throws (87%).
Muir led the Eagles with 12 points, including 4-of-7 3-pointers (57%), to go along with two rebounds, two assists and a block.
Moreno (10 pts., 6 reb., ast., stl.) also finished in double figures for Elma, which went 16 for 55 from the field (29%) – 11 of 34 from 3-point range (32%) – and 2 of 6 from the free-throw line (33%).
“We did exactly what I asked my kids to do: Play free and get shots up. We hit our goal of double-digit threes, but we couldn’t do a damn thing inside the 3-point line,” Eagles head coach Matt Ferrier said. “Third quarter was plagued by dropped passes, missed lay-ins and fouls. When the game was on the line, Monte made it to the free-throw line and we didn’t.”
Elma had 19 turnovers to 17 for Montesano while the Bulldogs held a 37-27 rebounding advantage.
With the victory, Montesano advances to the district-title game for the first time since 1977, where it will face Fort Vancouver, the WIAA RPI No. 8 team, at 8 p.m. on Saturday at Centralia High School.
“You have to take some pride in that,” Coach Farmer said. “It’s really cool and a testament to this program. They way that they’ve worked and got their basketball skills honed in. … We’re not just football players playing basketball. We’ve got some guys who are really good at basketball and that’s what we’ve shown.”
Elma will face Hoquiam in a winner to state, loser out game on Saturday at Centralia High School (time to be determined).
“Win or go home now,” Ferrier said. “My kids will be ready to go Saturday. There is no quit in these Elma kids. Love them and love their character.”
Elma 6 14 15 10 – 45
Montesano 14 6 25 12 – 57
Scoring: Elma – Muir 12, Moreno 10, McGaffey 9, Moe 6, Yeager 3, Webb 3, Aguilar 2. Montesano – Co. Grubb 16, Weidman 14, Ca. Grubb 12, Fry 7, Ames 3.
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Hoquiam 54, Columbia (White Salmon) 42
Hoquiam kept its season alive with a 54-42 win over Columbia (White Salmon) in a 1A District 4 elimination game on Tuesday at Hoquiam High School.
The Grizzlies (13-10) held a 17-11 lead after one period of play, thanks in large part to senior Joey Bozich’s eight points in the first quarter, and had five different scorers in the second quarter to take a 15-point lead into halftime against the Bruins (8-15).
Hoquiam held the Bruins to 22 points in the second half to earn the victory and keep its season alive.
“Our defense was outstanding. We knew this team was dangerous and could shoot,” said Hoquiam head coach Jeff Niemi, whose team held the Bruins to 1 of 25 from 3-point range. “The message tonight was, ‘Don’t let these guys get going because they their game is up-tempo and threes.’ Holding them to one is key. … They never could find a rhythm tonight.”
Hoquiam was led by junior Lincoln Niemi with 18 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals.
Bozich added 11 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals while Nite Turpin “gave us outstanding minutes off the bench,” according to Coach Niemi, with eight rebounds, five of those on the offensive glass in the first half.
As a team, Hoquiam hit 20-of-53 shots (38%), including 6 of 22 from beyond the arc (27%), and made 8-of-12 free throws (75%).
The Grizzlies head a 42-37 rebounding advantage and committed 25 turnovers to 20 for the Bruins, which went 17 of 59 from the field (29%).
Hoquiam will face Elma in a winner to state, loser out game on Saturday at Centralia High School (time to be determined).
CWS 11 9 9 13 – 42
Hoquiam 17 18 8 11 – 54
Scoring: CWS – Wang 20, Connell 7, Reynolds 6, MacCormick 6, Hainline 2, Melton 1. Hoquiam – Niemi 18, Bozich 11, Maxfield 7, Abbott 6, McCoy 6, Byron 4, Turpin 2.
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GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL
Raymond-South Bend 37, Mossyrock 32
Raymond-South Bend lived to fight another day with a 37-32 elimination-game victory over Mossyrock in the 2B District 4 Tournament on Tuesday at Castle Rock High School.
The Ravens (17-6) dominated the board over the first 16 minutes of the game, holding the Vikings (11-11) without an offensive rebound in the first half.
Despite having team-wide foul problems throughout the game, the Ravens held a 22-9 halftime lead and held off a fourth-quarter charge from the Vikings to pick up the win and advance in the tournament’s consolation bracket.
“Good team energy tonight,” RSB head coach Jason Koski said. “Loved how supportive our whole team was tonight.”
The Ravens were led by guard Avalyn Stigall with 17 points and six rebounds while senior Ava Baugher had a team-high nine rebounds in the victory.
RSB senior Kassie Koski had 13 points, three steals, two assists and reached a milestone with her six rebounds. Koski passed 500 rebounds for her standout prep career.
“Nice job shooting by Avalyn and rebounding by Ava (Baugher), Kassie and Stigall,” Coach Koski said. “Kudos to Kassie for getting her 500th rebound to join the 500-rebound club for her career.”
The Ravens outrebounded Mossyrock 34-20 (10-4 offensive) and had 15 turnovers despite having Koski and guard Megan Kongbouakhay and Emma Glazier end the game with four fouls apiece.
Not allowing a first-half offensive rebound and only four total for the game sent a good message that our kids were dialed in,” Coach Koski said. “We weathered the awful foul problem that spread through our whole team.”
The Ravens will face the loser of the Forks-Napavine semifinal in a winner to state, loser out game at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Rochester High School.
Mossyrock 4 5 9 14 – 32
Raymond-South Bend 11 11 8 7 – 37
Scoring: Mossyrock – Barrows 11, Rashoff 9, Schwartz 9, Cournyer 3. RSB – Stigall 17, Koski 13, Baugher 5, Glazier 2.
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Other games
1B District 4 Semifinal
Pe Ell 49, Taholah 39
