A last-second shot set off a holiday celebration in Hoquiam as we review Tuesday’s prep basketball games on the Harbor.
~~~
BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
Hoquiam 55, Overlake 54
Leave a good shooter open, even slightly, and they can make you pay.
Hoquiam junior guard Lincoln Niemi did just that when he splashed in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Grizzlies a rousing 55-54 victory against Overlake on Tuesday at Hoquiam High School.
“It was 100% the right line, I stepped into it and it felt perfect,” Niemi said of his clutch shot. “I knew (it was good) right away.”
Niemi’s game-winner avoided what was nearly a gut-punch of a defeat as the Grizzlies let slip what was at one point a 51-43 Hoquiam lead with just over five minutes left in the game.
Hoquiam (3-5 overall) trailed 30-28 at halftime and saw the Owls’ lead balloon to double digits on an 8-0 Overlake run to start the third quarter.
Niemi scored the Grizzlies’ first points of the second half on a converted layup and foul shot to make it a 38-31 game at 4:04 of the third quarter.
Hoquiam chipped away at the Overlake lead during the waning minutes of the third frame, clawing back to within a point at 41-40 on Grizzlies senior guard Joey Bozich’s buzzer-beating three.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam’s Joey Bozich (left) and Overlake’s Hank Davidson compete for a rebound during the Grizzlies’ 55-54 victory on Tuesday in Hoquiam.
The Grizzlies carried that momentum into the fourth quarter, on a three from junior point guard Ryker Maxfield followed by a cross-over, step-back three from Niemi to put Hoquiam up 46-41.
Later in the fourth, Maxfield buried an open three off an inside-out feed from sophomore forward Talan Abbott to go up 51-43 with five minutes to play.
“Our running game was outstanding to get that lead,” Hoquiam head coach Jeff Niemi said. “That’s what we’ve been preaching and preaching and it finally clicked and we went out and got buckets.”
But then, as if a switch was flipped off, the Grizzlies couldn’t buy a bucket.
Missed shots and turnovers piled up for Hoquiam against an Overlake defense that adjusted from a more aggressive press to a safer 2-2-1 press.
“It wasn’t as organized as I would’ve like to have been at the end of a game for sure,” Coach Niemi said.
The Grizzlies managed just one point on a K.J. McCoy free throw over the final five minutes of the game until Lincoln Niemi put in the game-winner.
Overlake tied and took the lead on two buckets in the paint by sophomore forward Xander Gregush, the latter staking the Owls (4-3) to a 54-52 lead with 13 seconds left to play.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam guard Ryker Maxfield (1) deflects the pass of Overlake’s Abem Berga during the Grizzlies’ 55-54 victory on Tuesday at Hoquiam Square Garden.
“Taking care of the ball was a big struggle in the fourth quarter,” said Lincoln Niemi, whose team had 18 turnovers in the game. “Battling adversity is what we talk about every time out and overcoming as a team. At the end of the day, that’s what we did.”
Hoquiam got the ball across the center line and called timeout to set up the final play, which turned out to be anything but a Niemi 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
“Originally, we were drawing something up for Joey (Bozich) there. But there is always a plan B,” Niemi said. “I’m not going to lie, (Coach Niemi) told me to drive and I was like, ‘No way. It’s all or nothing.’ I knew I was going to get the ball there and I knew I was going to make a shot.”
“That definitely sounds like Lincoln,” Coach Niemi said of his son. “He’s a great shooter and he has that confidence. “Past couple of years, we’ve been in a lot of tight games where our execution on last-second plays hasn’t always been great, where we might have forced a tough shot or went away from the play. It was really good to see us execute, get a clean shot and put it in to win the game.”
It worked out for the Grizzlies as Niemi got the ball to Maxfield on the elbow, who then made a short pass back to Niemi and set a pick. Niemi worked around Maxfield’s pick to free up some space.
Gregush, who was guarding Maxfield on the pick-and-pop, didn’t close out on Niemi, allowing the dangerous shooter to zero in on the target with a clear sight picture. Niemi’s shot was a bullseye and tickled the twine with mere tenths of a second left on the clock.
The buzzer sounded, setting off a raucous Grizzlies party on the court.
“Truly, you can’t recreate it,” Lincoln Niemi said. “It’s kid of a 1-of-1 thing, especially to do it with my guys. It’s really a surreal feeling and you’ll never get that back after that so it’s really feels good to do that with my team.”
Niemi led Hoquiam with 24 points and five assists to go along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Bozich had 13 points, three rebounds and three assists while Abbott led Hoquiam on the boards with nine rebounds.
The Grizzlies shot 21 of 41 from the floor (51%), including 9 of 19 from beyond the arc (47%).
Hoquiam hosts Steliacoom at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Overlake 17 13 11 13 – 54
Hoquiam 12 16 12 15 – 55
Scoring: Overlake – Gregush 26, Douvia 8, Li 8, Wichham 8, Davidson 4. Hoquiam – Niemi 24, Bozich 13, McCoy 8, Maxfield 6, Abbott 4.
~~~
GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL
Raymond-South Bend 50, Willapa Valley 30
Raymond-South Bend used used a second-half run to defeat Willapa Valley 50-30 on Tuesday at Willapa Valley High School.
The Ravens (4-3) led 24-17 over the Vikings (2-5) at halftime before expanding their lead to 16 points by the end of the third quarter thanks to their transition game off Valley missed shots.
RSB was led by senior standouts Kassie Koski (18 points, 8 steals, 4 rebounds) and Ava Baugher (15 pts., 13 reb., 3 blocks, assist) and got some good minutes from its bench after Ravens starters got into some foul troubles.
”I thought our bench kids – Ava Pine, Emma Glazier and Maddi San – did a nice job coming in and giving good minutes with three of our starters getting into foul trouble early,” Ravens head coach Jason Koski said. “Good game by Ava with a double-double and Kass shot well and got quite a few steals for us tonight.”
RSB went 16 for 70 from the field (23%) and made 13-of-22 free throws (59%) and committed 13 turnovers in the game.
Sophomore Tylar Keeton led Valley with eight points, 17 rebounds and four assists.
Senior Lauren Matlock had seven points and 11 rebounds for Vikings.
“We rebounded well defensively,” Valley head coach Dawn Keeton said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to convert many of those possessions into points on the board. … I am proud of how hard the girls played and they kept battling. These are great games for us as we prepare to play more league games after break.”
Valley shot 11 of 48 from the floor (23%) and made 6-of-17 free throws (35%).
RSB hosts Onalaska at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday in South Bend.
The Vikings face Morton-White Pass at 4 p.m. on Monday in Raymond.
RSB 9 15 17 9 – 50
Willapa Valley 7 10 8 5 – 30
Scoring: RSB – Koski 18, Baugher 15, Glazier 7, Lewis 4. Willapa Valley – Keeton 8, Matlock 7, Verboomen 6, Fluke 4, Ashley 3, Hurley 2.
~~~
Other games
Seaside Holiday Classic
Baker 70, Elma 31 (Thursday)
Crescent Valley 66, Elma 23 (Friday)
Elma 55, Corbett 20 (Saturday)
(Elma’s Olivia Moore named All-Tournament Second Team)
