Since playing its first full season in the 1A Evergreen League a year ago, the Eatonville Cruisers had racked up 14 straight league victories without a loss.
The Hoquiam Grizzlies put an end to that streak on Tuesday evening.
Led by league MVP front-runner Michael Lorton Watkins and an inspired defense, the Grizzlies handed the Cruisers their first league loss in two seasons with a 65-52 victory at Hoquiam Square Garden.
After a low-scoring first quarter that saw Hoquiam (15-4 overall, 4-3 1A Evergreen) trail 9-8, the Grizzlies erupted for 22 points in the second quarter led by Lorton Watkins, who scored 13 of his game-high 34 points in the period.
By halftime, Hoquiam opened up a 30-21 lead on the two-time reigning league champs.
Eatonville (11-7, 6-1) outscored Hoquiam 19-16 in the third quarter, but the Grizzlies would not be outdone on Senior Night, winning the fourth quarter 19-12 led by Lorton Watkins and fellow senior Justice Stankavich, with 11 and six points in the fourth quarter, respectively.
“We talked about the fact that it is hard to keep winnning all the time and keeping a streak like that going. Eventually you have to think someone is due,” Hoquiam head coach Jeff Niemi said. “We talked about doing the right things that it takes to win and we just did it tonight. Pretty much every phase of the game we wanted to handle, we handled.”
Indeed the Grizzlies did what they had to do to upset Eatonville.
Hoquiam shot at a 37.8% clip from the field on 25-of-66 shooting and went 12 for 16 from the free-throw line (75%).
The Grizzlies won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the Cruisers 48-35 – 16-9 on the offensive glass – and committed 10 turnovers to 14 for Eatonville.
Lorton Watkins may have cemented his bid for league MVP, scoring 34 points on 14-of-28 shooting (50%) and grabbing a team-best 11 rebounds.
Stankavich added 14 points, five rebounds and went 6 of 8 from the free-throw line in the second half for Hoquiam.
Zander Jump added 10 points with Owen McNeill coming off the bench to grab nine rebounds for the Grizzlies.
Eatonville had four players score in double figures as Walker Bruun (12 points), Shay Brannon (12 points), Griffin Clevenger (11 points) and Kyle Cox (11 points) all broke double digits for the Cruisers.
Eatonville went 20 for 57 from the field (35%) and 7 for 16 from the line (43.7%).
Niemi said his team was able to “flip” the game around compared to an 84-75 loss on Jan. 13.
“The kids just played extremely hard and executed the game plan extremely well,” Niemi said, pointing out Eatonville went 23 of 26 from the charity stripe in his team’s loss in Eatonville. “We’ve had some guys step up and we had some guys figure things out and we’re just playing really good defense and our offensive is coming along too. It’s been a combination of things, but things are kind of clicking and guys are understanding their roles at the right time.”
Hoquiam closes out the regular season at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Montesano and will need a win to remain in contention for the league’s No. 2 seed.
Eatonville 9 12 19 12 – 52
Hoquiam 8 22 16 19 – 65
Scoring: Eatonville – Bruun 12, Brannon 12, Clevenger 11, Cox 11, Klumpar 6. Hoquiam – Lorton Watkins 34, Stankavich 14, Jump 10, Gordon 3, Butcher 2, Templer 2.
Shelton 87, Aberdeen 55
Aberdeen slipped out of fourth place in the 2A Evergreen League with an 87-55 loss to Shelton on Tuesday at Shelton High School.
The Bobcats (4-13, 4-7 2A Evergreen) trailed 21-13 after one quarter, 45-29 at the half and 69-42 at the end of the third quarter.
Aberdeen went 20 for 53 from the floor (38%), including 12 of 32 from beyond the arc (38%) with 20 rebounds and 12 turnovers as a team.
Baylor Ainsworth led Aberdeen with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting (50%), including 5 of 9 from 3-point range (56%).
Manny Garcia scored 13 points while Jabron Brooks led the Bobcats with five rebounds.
With the loss Aberdeen drops to fifth place in the 2A Evergreen League, a half-game behind Shelton (9-8, 4-6).
The Bobcats host WF West at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Aberdeen 13 16 13 13 – 55
Shelton 21 24 24 18 – 87
Scoring: Aberdeen – Ainsworth 17, M. Garcia 13, Brooks 7, Ambrogiani 5, Miller 3, Thurman 3, Schroeder 2. Shelton – n/a.
Montesano 49, Rochester 45
Montesano snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 49-45 non-league victory over Rochester on Tuesday at Rochester High School.
The Bulldogs (4-14) trailed 16-11 after one quarter but rallied to outscore Rochester (2-13) 17-6 in the second quarter.
The Warriors held Monte to just nine points in the third quarter as the two teams entered the fourth tied at 37-all.
Leading by two points late in the game, Bulldogs guard Trent Adams was fouled with four seconds left and buried two free throws to secure the victory.
“Really awesome to see us come out with a win tonight after Rochester went up two late in the game,” Monte head coach Mack Bertram said. “We rallied back and executed down the stretch.”
Soren Cobb recorded a double-double for Montesano, scoring 12 points while grabbing 14 rebounds.
Standout forward Tyce Peterson scored 18 points to lead the Bulldogs with Cam Taylor breaking double digits with 14 points.
Montesano closes out its season with a game against Hoquiam at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Montesano 11 17 9 12 — 49
Rochester 16 6 15 8 — 45
Scoring: Montesano – Adams 2, Wilson 3, Peterson 18, Cobb 12, Taylor 14. Rochester – Rotter 9, A. Rodriguez 3, Clouse 6, McAferty 1, Payne 12, Rodela 6, E. Rogriguez 2, J. O’Connor 6.
Ocosta 54, Forks 44
Ocosta was able to get some breathing room in the fourth quarter in a 54-44 victory over Forks on Tuesday in Forks.
The Wildcats (11-9, 7-5 2B Pacific) and Spartans (7-10, 5-6) battled back and forth through three quarters, with Ocosta holding a 29-26 lead at the half and a 42-38 lead entering the final period.
In the fourth, the Wildcats defense held Forks to just one field goal and outscored the Spartans 12-6 in the frame, led by Kevin Agramon’s eight points and 5 of 8 shooting from the free-throw line.
“Tonight was an extremely physical defensive battle. Both teams were allowed to be very physical with one another and it made it very tough to find much offensive flow for both teams,” Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby said. “Very proud of the guys for battling through everything we faced tonight.”
Agramon led Ocosta with 23 points to go along with five rebounds.
Josh Figueroa had a big game with 13 points, 15 rebounds and five steals while Noah and Xander Prigmore scored 12 points apiece for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats remain in third place in the 2B Pacific League – one game ahead of Raymond – and have completed their regular-season schedule.
Ocosta 13 16 13 12 — 54
Forks 12 14 12 6 — 44
Scoring: Ocosta — Figueroa 13, K. Agramon 23, Barnum 1, X. Prigmore 12, N. Prigmore 12, Turner 3. Forks – Salazar 19, Davis 2, Micheau 4, Helvey 2, Earls 6, Lausche 11.
GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL
Willapa Valley 60, WA School for Deaf 16
Willapa Valley did what it needed to do on Tuesday, defeating the Washington School for the Deaf 60-16 on Tuesday in Vancouver.
The Vikings (14-5, 10-1 1B Columbia Valley League) got off to a sluggish start against the Terriers (11-10, 1-10) scoring 15 points in the first quarter.
But Willapa Valley found its footing in the second quarter to take a 36-10 lead by halftime and its five starters went a perfect 8 for 8 from the floor in the third quarter to claim a 52-14 lead heading to the fourth.
“We played like we forgot to get off the bus in the first quarter,” quipped Willapa Valley head coach John Peterson. “But from then on we played pretty good, particularly in the third quarter.”
Senior standout Grace Huber led the Vikings with 22 points, six rebounds, five assists and seven steals.
Fellow senior Brooklyn Patrick had 11 points, two rebounds, five assists and three steals for Willapa Valley, which shot 50.9% from the floor on 28-of-55 shooting.
The Vikings forced 27 turnovers and held the Terriers to 7 of 36 from the floor (19.4%).
With the win, Willapa Valley is set up for a first-place showdown against Mossyrock, the No. 3 team in the state’s AP poll, at 5:45 p.m. on Thursday in Menlo.
Willapa Valley 15 21 16 8 – 60
WSD 6 4 4 2 – 16
Scoring: Willapa Valley – Huber 22, Patrick 11, Matlock 9, Wilson 6, Emery 4, Quezada 4, Russell 2, Merkel 2. WSD – n/a.
South Bend 37, North Beach 34
South Bend secured a playoff spot in the 2B Pacific League with a 37-34 victory over North Beach on Monday in Westport.
South Bend (3-13, 3-8 2B Pacific) led 8-4 after one quarter and 16-7 at halftime.
North Beach (2-16, 1-10) rallied to outscore South Bend 17-9 in the third period to trail 25-24 heading to the fourth.
But South Bend held on to pick up the win and leapfrog Ocosta for the fifth spot in the 2B Pacific League.
South Bend was led by Avalynn Stigall and Raydynn Morley with 10 points apiece.
They Hyaks were led by Anna Eastman, who led all scorers with 19 points.
“We were able to hold on to get a key win tonight. It wasn’t pretty, but this did secure a spot for us in the district tournament,” South Bend head coach Jon Schray said. “This was a goal for our team this year and I am very pleased we did it on our own accord without having to rely on anyone losing a key game or on a coin toss.”
South Bend hosts Raymond while North Beach travels to Ilwaco in the regular-season finales at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
South Bend 8 8 9 12 – 37
North Beach 4 3 17 10 – 34
Scoring: South Bend – Elli Capps 7, Berkley Morley 1, Dakota Bale 1, Avalyn Stigall 10, Raydynn Morley 10, Ava Pine 8. North Beach – E. Cox 2, J. Goldman 2, A. Eastman 19, M. Cox 4, Osborne-Houison 7.
Other scores
Boys Prep Basketball
South Bend 41, North Beach 35
Oakville 62, Taholah 54
Girls Prep Basketball
Forks 80, Ocosta 28 (Monday)
Taholah 78, Oakville 21
Wishkah Valley 37, North River 19
