Every time Hoquiam rallied, Aberdeen had answers.

The Aberdeen Bobcats shuttered several Hoquiam comeback attempts and pulled away at the end in a 55-43 basketball victory Thursday at Hoquiam Square Garden in Hoquiam.

The Bobcats (1-2 overall) held double-digit leads in each half only to see the Grizzlies (1-3) rally to get within striking distance.

After a back-and-forth first quarter that ended in a 12-12 tie, Aberdeen owned the first six minutes of the second quarter. Led by driving and slashing play of guard Angel Baltazar, who consistently got to the basket and free-throw line to score six points in the quarter, the Bobcats opened up a 13-point lead at 28-15 with just under two minutes to go until halftime.

Hoquiam rallied over the final two minutes of the half and cut the deficit to 28-22 on a short baseline jumper by Michael Lorton-Watkins with five seconds left before halftime.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam’s Michael Lorton-Watkins (3) blocks the shot of Aberdeen’s Andrew Troeh during the Bobcats’ 55-43 win on Thursday at Hoquiam Square Garden in Hoquiam.

The Grizzlies cut the Aberdeen lead to 28-24 when Trey Brydon opened the second half with a running jump shot on Hoquiam’s first possession of the third quarter.

But Aberdeen responded with its defense, limiting Hoquiam to difficult, contested shots from the outside. The Bobcats went on a 9-0 run, taking a 37-24 lead when Andrew Troeh scored of a tap-pass rebound from Jabron Brooks with 4:39 left in the third.

Again, Hoquiam used the next several minutes to whittle away at the Aberdeen lead.

The Grizzlies got a spark from Lorton-Watkins, who scored eight straight points in rapid succession. The sophomore point guard hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 10 and followed with back-to-back steals and scores — the latter a 3-point and-1 play — to trim Aberdeen’s lead to five at 37-32 with 3:25 left in the quarter.

But as they did in the first half, Aberdeen responded to push out to an 18-point lead, culminating with an 8-0 run capped by a Kale Goins’ bucket to give the Bobcats a 53-35 lead with 3:46 left in the game.

This time, Aberdeen squashed any hopes of a Hoquiam comeback, completing the 55-39 victory on a Goins’ baseline drive and layup with two minutes left.

“Ultimately, they really understood a team defensive stop,” Aberdeen head coach Mark Buckman said of his team’s improved defensive effort. “So the communication was better, the close-outs, the breaking down to not allow middle drives was just all around better. … Going and (Jeremy) Sawyer, their impact defensively really energized everyone else. It was very positive and crucial for us getting this first win.”

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Kale Goins, middle, grabs a loose ball ahead of Hoquiam’s Michael Lorton-Watkins, left, and Abe Morales during the Bobcats’ 55-43 win on Thursday at Hoquiam Square Garden in Hoquiam.

“Our defensive slides were a lot more accurate,” said Aberdeen’s Kayden Seibert, who had a team-best 15 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks in the contest. “The previous game, we didn’t have good defensive slides. … Today was just spectacular compared to the last game.”

Baltazar scored 13 points and Brooks had nine for an Aberdeen team that got points from eight different players in a balanced performance.

Hoquiam, who was without experienced senior leader Dane McMillan on Thursday, was led by Lorton-Watkins’ 21 points.

Justice Stankavich had eight points on the night on two field goals and three free throws.

“We’ve been talking about staying composed,” Buckman said. “Basketball is a game of runs and just believing in each other no matter what happens on the court … if we look at each other and believe (all the negative stuff) will have minimal impact on us. They basically stood together and managed to work through those runs (Hoquiam) had and stuck to just playing together. That’s something we know we’re going to need the rest of the season.”

Oakville 61, Lake Quinault 40

Lake Quinault lost to Oakville 61-40 in a 1B Coastal League matchup at Lake Quinault High School.

Keoka Shale scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Elks (0-4 overall) in the losing effort.

Jesus Mendoza scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds and had two steals for Lake Quinault, which trailed 30-16 at the half.

GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL

Montesano 55, Shelton 20

Montesano bounced back from a slow start to rout host Shelton.

Facing a gritty Shelton squad, Monte’s offense didn’t get rolling until Maia Young provided a spark off the bench with four points in the first quarter.

“We started a little bit slow,” Monte head coach Mark Mansfield said. “Shelton is a more physical group than we were ready to play.”

Young added nine points in the second quarter as Monte (2-1 overall) pulled away 32-9 at halftime.

Young scored 18 points to lead Montesano with Paige Lisherness (14 points, eight steals, eight deflections) also having a stellar floor game.

Eleven of Monte’s 12 players scored in the contest.

Olivia Young and Addi Winter each had six rebounds to lead the Bulldogs.

“It was a real good team effort again,” Mansfield said. “We had some adversity early on but regrouped and got to business.”