For the third straight game to open the season, a Hoquiam girls basketball game came down to the final possession.

And for the third straight time, the Grizzlies came out on top.

Charli Sampson-Eastman’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave the Grizzlies a 50-47 victory over the Taholah Chitwhins on Tuesday in Taholah.

The Grizzlies (3-0) trailed 12-8 at the end of the first quarter as perennial 1B district power Taholah (0-2) had four different players hit shots in the first eight minutes of the game.

Tied 20-20 at halftime, the Grizzlies took a seven-point lead heading into the fourth quarter as Hoquiam — led by Sampson-Eastman’s seven points and a three by Graci Bonney-Spradlin — scored 17 points in the frame.

But the Chitwhins stormed back when senior captain Nakeah McCrory made a shot and was fouled with 50 seconds left in the game. The 5-foot-10 post player buried the free throw to tie the game at 47-all.

Sampson-Eastman, who led Hoquiam with 19 points, then hit a three as time wound down to give the Grizzlies the victory.

“I truly love the atmosphere and competitive nature of Taholah’s players and community. Always special to me to play them out there,” Hoquiam head coach Chad Allan said. “I love my team and its ability to handle the storm. We have won all three of our games by a possession and opponents taking leads in the fourth. This team does not fold when the going gets tough. They find a way.”

Sampson-Eastman (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Ella Folkers (13 points, 10 rebounds) each recorded double-doubles for Hoquiam while Kamryn Krohn led the Grizzlies defense with six steals.

McCrory led all scorers, having what Allan called “a monster game” with 23 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and five blocks to lead the Chitwhins.

Hoquiam shot 17-for-75 (23%) from the field and 11-22 (50%) from the free-throw line.

Taholah shot 21-for-56 (38%) from the field and hit 4-of-5 (80%) from the charity stripe.

Hoquiam 8 12 17 13 — 50

Taholah 12 8 10 17 — 47

Scoring

Hoquiam (50) — Sampson-Eastman 19, Folkers 13, Bonney-Spradlin 12, Krohn 4, Katie Burnett 2

Taholah (47) — N. McCrory 23, Natayla Russell 8, Ashley Hidalgo 6, Keeliana McCrory 4, Angel Ancheta 4, Precious Crossguns 2

Montesano 54, King’s 32

For the first time this season, Montesano got off to a good start en route to a 54-32 victory over Kings on Tuesday in Montesano.

Three Montesano players scored in double figures and Montesano’s defense held Kings to just six points in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs built a 34-14 lead at halftime with a 21 point second quarter as six different Monte players scored in the frame.

Senior post player Paige Lisherness led Monte with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five steals while McKynnlie Dalan added 12 points, 20 rebounds and five steals in the victory.

Guard Jaiden King scored 12 points, grabbed six rebounds and had four steals and sophomore Mikayla Stanfield had five points, 10 rebounds and four steals.

Montesano outrebounded Kings 50-22 and hit 24-of-77 (31%) shots from the field.

“We finally came out and came ready to play,” Montesano head coach Mark Mansfield said. “We really got going in the second quarter. … Paige was really tough tonight. She did a really nice job. It was a good, overall team effort.”

King’s 6 8 11 7 — 32

Montesano 13 21 9 11 — 54

Scoring

King’s (32) — Hart 12, Durbin 7, Francisco 7

Montesano (54) — Lisherness 16, Dalan 12, King 12, Stanfield 5, Vanna Prom 5, Maia Young 4

Ilwaco 65, South Bend 30

South Bend struggled to make shots in a 65-30 loss to Ilwaco on Tuesday in South Bend.

South Bend (0-2, 0-1 2B Pacific) kept it close in the first quarter by breaking Ilwaco’s relentless press defense, leading to open lay-ups from Raydynn Morley and Reece Williams.

But aside from easy breakaway baskets South Bend struggled to hit shots, falling behind by 15 at the half and shooting 12-for-62 (19%) in the game.

Turnovers and foul troubles also plagued South Bend as Ilwaco converted 14-of-32 (44%) free throws.

“I thought in the first half we played well defensively, but converting open shots still is a problem,” South Bend head coach Randy Carlson said. “We committed 19 first half turnovers and they got way to many free throws for my liking.”

Carlson added he saw his team make some positive strides compared to Thursday’s blowout loss to Onalaska.

“From our first game until now we made good strides,” he said. “I’m extremely happy that we are looking to shoot the ball, now we need to convert them. Our effort was 100 percent better.”

Williams led South Bend with nine points.

Ilwaco 15 19 17 14 — 65

South Bend 9 10 2 9 — 30

Scoring

Ilwaco (65) — Bittner 16, Sheldon 14, McKinstry 11, Zuern 10

South Bend (30) — Williams 9, Johnson 5, Morley 4, Hannah Jewell 4, Fatima Delgado 3, Blakeli Jerles 3, Dayna Estle 1, Elli Capps 1

Adna 55, Elma 24

Elma struggled to score for the second-straight game in a 55-24 loss to Adna on Tuesday in Elma.

Elma (1-2) shot 2-for-11 (18%) from the field in scoring eight points in the first half. The Eagles were held without a field goal in the second quarter to trail 22-8 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Elma’s shooting woes continued, scoring six points in the frame on 3-for-11 shooting.

The Eagles shot 9-for-37 (24%) for the game and failed to break 25 points for the second consecutive contest.

Janessa Sample and Aaleigha Weld scored six points apiece to lead Elma.

Adna 13 9 13 20 — 55

Elma 5 3 6 10 — 24

Scoring

Adna (55) — Karlee VonMoos 12, Brooklyn Loose 10, Faith Wellander 10, Natalie Loose 8, Kendall Humphrey 7, Summer White 6, Kaylin Todd 2

Elma (24) — Sample 6, Weld 6, Emmie Spencer 5, Jackie DeMoss 3, Aubrey Moore 2, Hannah Warren 2

Willapa Valley 38, Columbia Adventist 37

Willapa Valley picked up its first win of the season with a 38-37 victory over Columbia Adventist on Tuesday in Menlo.

The Vikings (1-2) trailed 32-26 with 1:20 left in the third before a late run cut the deficit to 32-30 entering the fourth quarter.

Lanissa Amacher put Willapa Valley in front when she hit a shot with 2:58 in the fourth quarter and the Vikings would go up by five points before holding on for the 38-37 victory.

“We’ve got to be more patient,” said Willapa Valley head coach John Peterson, lamenting his team shooting 3-pointers early in the shot clock with a lead late in the game. “But I’m proud of them. They found a way to win. … We play hard and if we do that, that’ll be good.”

Amacher led the Vikes with 12 points and three assists.

Ana Chavez had a season-high nine points and Hannah Hamilton grabbed 11 rebounds — her third straight game in double-digit rebounds — to lead Willapa Valley.

Columbia Adventist 11 7 14 5 — 37

Willapa Valley 14 8 8 8 — 38

BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Willapa Valley 62, Columbia Adventist 45

Willapa Valley snapped a two-game skid with a 62-45 victory over Columbia Adventist on Tuesday in Menlo.

Playing their third game in four days, the Vikings (2-2) played a better defensive game after giving up 83 and 66 points in their previous two losses.

Willapa Valley led 17-7 at the end of the first quarter, but the toll of three games in four days began to show as the Vikings had three points in the second quarter with 1:20 left until halftime.

“(The second quarter) seems to be our struggle,” Vikings head coach Jay Pearson said. “We missed shots and our legs were gone.”

Willapa Valley recovered in the second half, outscoring Columbia Adventist 20-7 in the third quarter to open up a big lead.

Riley Pearson led the Vikings with 16 points.

Kolten Fluke added 14 points and Grady Christen led Willapa Valley with 15 rebounds.

“I’m most pleased with our defense,” Coach Pearson said. “It was a much-needed win. We’ll take it after two straight losses.”

Columbia Adventist 7 12 7 19 — 45

Willapa Valley 17 8 20 17 — 62

Adna 77, Montesano 29

Montesano is still searching for a victory after the Bulldogs fell to Adna 77-29 on Tuesday at Adna High School.

Monte (0-3) suffered its third straight road loss to open the season as the Pirates hit six threes in the first quarter to put Monte in a 32-7 whole it would never climb out of.

Caydon Lovell scored 10 points to lead Montesano.

PREP GIRLS BOWLING

WF West 1879, Aberdeen 1439

Aberdeen fell to WF West 1,879-1,439 on Tuesday at Fairway Lanes in Centralia.

Cameryn Micheau had the highest series score (291) and highest game (154, Game 1) as Aberdeen recorded its highest score of the season.

WF West won Game 1 724-611, Game 2 851-564 and both Baker games by scores of 148-135 and 156-129.

WF West (1879) — Savannah Hawkins (145, 158, 303); Audrey Toynbe (134, N/A, 134); TJ Hughes (134, N/A, 134); Clara Bunker (139, 224, 363); Piper Chalmers (172, 175, 347)

Aberdeen (1439) — Cha’Tara Green (139, 98, 237); Sarah Harder (107, 108, 215); Cameryn Micheau (154, 137, 291); Alice Earley (85, 94, 179); Aliyah Burkett (126, 127, 253)