MONTESANO — Montesano used a stifling defense to hand the Eagles their first loss of the season with the Bulldogs winning 45-30 at home on Tuesday night.
Montesano (9-7, 3-1 Evergreen 1A) kept the Eagles grounded with the help of a defense that grabbed 10 steals.
Elma also had trouble connecting on passes and committed 20 turnovers in the contest.
Montesano head coach Julie Graves was pleased with the number of turnovers her team forced and pointed out that rebounding was also a factor in Elma’s low point total.
“We really talked about getting back and not giving up any second-chance points,” she said. “They got one shot and they had to make sure that they got the block out and the rebound. Elma’s a high-scoring team and to hold them to 30 points is a credit to the defense.”
Montesano’s Zoe Hutchings scores on a put back attempt in the second quarter against Elma. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Elma (14-1, 3-1), who came into Tuesday’s game average over 55 points a contest, scored its lowest point total of the season.
Montesano has also given Elma the most trouble out of any other opponent on the schedule, with Monte handing Elma three of its four losses over the past three seasons.
Elma head coach Lisa Johnson was impressed by Monte’s defensive effort.
“I’ll give Montesano credit for their effort. They got us out of our defensive rhythm,” she said. “They had us throwing the ball all over the gym, so hats off to them for that.”
Monte took control of the game early and had a 15-7 lead by the end of the first quarter with the Bulldogs getting some inspired play from Zoee Lisherness. The sophomore scored eight of her 17 points in the first eight minutes.
Elma cut into Monte’s lead with some strong defense of its own in the second quarter. The Eagles outscored the Bulldogs 9-6 to bring the score to 22-18 by halftime.
The Bulldogs came out of halftime looking to expand their lead and started the third quarter on a 6-0 run over the first two minutes.
Elma struggled to keep pace and only hit three shots from the field in the third.
Johnson said her team played well on the defensive end of the court, for the most part, but was disappointed Elma couldn’t follow up stops with scores on the other end.
“I think our defensive stops were there, but they hit some clutch shots. We just have to value the ball better and make better passes,” she said. “We would work really hard to get a defensive stop and then we’d fumble it off our foot.”
On a night where the Eagles struggled to find scoring, Quin Mikel was the lone Eagle in double digits with 10 points to go along with five steals.
Elma went to a full-court press with about four minutes remaining in the game, but couldn’t close the gap as Monte only turned the ball over twice during that stretch.
Montesano’s win creates a three-way tie at the top of the 1A Evergreen with Monte, Elma and Tenino all at 3-1 in the league.
Graves said she hopes her team is peaking at the right time to pull out ahead in a competitive league.
“With all the adversity we faced in the first part of the season I feel like we’re just getting into our groove right now,” she said. “With the last few games I feel like every game has been a step in the right direction. We still have work to do, but I like the direction that we’re going.”
Montesano players celebrate at half court after the final buzzer in a 45-30 win over Elma on Tuesday. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Montesano 15 6 11 13— 45
Elma 7 9 6 9 — 30
Top Players: Montesano — Lisherness (17 pts., 7 reb., 3 stl), Zoe Hutchings (9 pts., 10 reb), Glory Grubb (11 pts.), Katie Granstrom (6 stl.); Elma — Kali Rambo ( 9 pts., 14 reb.), Mikel (10 pts., 7 reb., 5 stl.), Kayli Johnson (5 stl)
Taholah 85, Wishkah Valley 23
The Chitwhins had six players reach double figures in a dominant 85-23 win over Wishkah Valley on Tuesday night in Taholah.
Nettie Grover-Mail led the way for Taholah (7-4, 3-0 Coastal 1B) with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Denise Curleybear was also instrumental to Taholah’s offense with 11 points and eight assists.
Virginia BringsYellow took over head coaching duties for Fred Pope, who missed the game with an illness.
BringsYellow said the team is headed down the right path with wins like this.
“We have a long ways to go, but tonight we took a step in the right direction we want to go in,” she said. “I would like to give praise to all 12 girls for the contribution for the win tonight.”
Erica Bomhoff accounted for more than half of the Logerettes’ points, scoring 13.
The loss drops Wishkah 1-2 on the season.
The two teams will face off again in Wishkah Valley on Thursday at 5:45 p.m.
Top Players: Taholah – Grover-Mail (16 pts., 8 reb.), Curleybear (11 pts., 8 ast.), Molly De La Cruz (13 pts.); Bomhoff (13 pts.)
Lake Quinault 30, North River 18
Christin Saavedra recorded a double-double to lead the Elks to a 30-18 win over North River on Tuesday at North River High School.
It was the Elks’ first victory over a varsity opponent this season.
Saavedra scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the contest.
North River (1-3) got close in the third quarter, tying the game at 16-16 heading to the final eight minutes.
But Lake Quinault (2-6, 1-3 Coastal 1B) outscored North River 14-2 in the final quarter to pick up the victory.
Katlynn Neeland had six points and a game-high 21 rebounds for Lake Quinault.
Liz Guadarrama added five points and nine boards for the Elks.
North River was led by Ruby Gumaelius scored nine points to lead the Mustangs.
Lake Quinault 9 2 5 14 — 30
North River 1 7 8 2 — 18
Top Players: LQ — Saavedra (10 pts., 10 reb.); Neeland (6 pts., 21 reb.); Guadarrama (5 pts., 9 reb.); NR — Gumaelius (9 pts.).
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
