BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
Ilwaco 73, Raymond 52
Ilwaco opened the game shooting lights out while Raymond couldn’t find a bucket as the Fishermen defeated the Seagulls 73-52 on Saturday in Raymond.
Ilwaco (13-5 overall, 13-3 Pacific 2B) outscored Raymond (5-13, 5-11) 24-4 in the opening quarter as the Seagulls struggled to score while the Fishermen started out hot.
“It seemed as though they made everything they shot,” Raymond head coach Derek Rask said. “On the flip side, we struggled offensively. We turned the ball over and our rhythm as a team was simply off on both ends of the floor.”
Ilwaco’s solid shooting continued in the second quarter as the Fishermen outscored Raymond 23-14 in the frame to take a 29-point lead into halftime.
“I have to give Ilwaco a lot of credit. They were ready to go and they executed well,” Rask said.
Iwaco’s Joe Nisbett shoots high over a flock of Seagulls in Raymond’s Tre’ Seydel (12), McCartney Maden (10) and Joseph Villalpando (20). (Photo by Larry Bale)
Daniel Whiting and 6-foot—9 center Joe Nisbett led Ilwaco with 16 points apiece.
Raymond was led by standout sophomore Tre’ Seydel, who scored 18 points in the contest.
McCartney Maden and Adrian Quintana also scored in double figures for the Seagulls, tallying 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Rask acknowledged the contributions of seniors Brian Sida, Maden, Audison Phimmasone, Mason Crawford and Berkley Crites on Senior Night.
“It has been a great pleasure of mine to coach these fine young men,” he said.
Raymond 4 14 14 20 — 52
Ilwaco 24 23 10 16 — 73
Northwest Christian 62, North Beach 47
A shaky third quarter was too much for the North Beach Hyaks to overcome in a 62-47 loss to Northwest Christian on Saturday in Lacey.
North Beach (4-14, 4-12 Pacific 2B) was down by six points at halftime but saw their chances of a victory slip away as NWC (15-3, 13-3) pulled away in the third quarter.
Reagan Harnagy had 13 points and eight rebounds to lead the Hyaks.
Peyton Scholler (12 points, 5 rebounds) and Josh Bighead (10 pts., 4 assists) also scored in double digits for North Beach.
Life Christian 73, Willapa Valley 52
Willapa Valley saw its chances of a Pacific League title end after suffering a 73-52 loss to Life Christian Academy on Friday in Tacoma.
The Vikings (14-5, 13-3 Pacific 2B) entered the contest one game back of the league-leading Eagles (15-3, 15-1) entering the final week of the regular season.
But LCA put any notions of a share of the league title to rest when they opened the game with a 24-14 first quarter and held a 20-point lead by halftime en route to the victory.
Logan Walker led Willapa Valley with 17 points as the Vikings shot 19-of-55 (35%) from the field for the game.
Chad Flemetis added 12 points for Willapa Valley.
Willapa Valley 14 12 12 14 — 52
Life Christian 24 22 12 15 — 73
Ocosta 62, Chief Leschi 61
With the game on the line, Omar Luque showed himself to be a prime-time player.
Down one with less than five seconds left in the game, the Ocosta senior stole an inbound pass, was fouled and sank both free throws to give the Wildcats a nail-biting 62-61 victory over Chief Leschi on Saturday in Puyallup.
Ocosta (8-10, 8-8 Pacific 2B) was down by five points with 29 seconds left but hit three 3-pointers as the Warriors (9-9, 7-9) made free throws to set up the final play.
With Ocosta trailing 61-60 with 4.4 seconds left and neither team with a timeout remaining, Luque picked off the inbound pass and was fouled with 2.7 seconds left as the 6-foot-5 center was heading to the basket. Luque calmly drilled both free throws to give Ocosta the 62-61 lead.
A last-ditch desperation heave from the Warriors was off-target, giving Ocosta the important league victory.
“This was the most exciting game of the year so far. We played a very inconsistent game both defensively and offensively for most of the game. We had good stretches of both and really bad stretches thrown in as well,” Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby said. “It took a ton of things to bounce our way tonight and luckily for us, they all did. The guys never gave up hope right until the end.”
Cole Hatton scored 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead Ocosta and was credited by Quimby as hitting big shots to keep the Wildcats within striking distance.
Kobe Rudolph added 13 points and Luque ended the game with 12 points and 11 boards as Ocosta shot 23-of-64 (36%) from the floor.
With the win, Ocosta leaps ahead of Chief Leschi for fifth place in the Pacific League standings.
“Very excited to get this win tonight as it means we get to host a playoff game in another week,” Quinby said.
Ocosta 16 10 15 21 — 62
Chief Leschi 15 12 14 20 — 61
GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL
Hoquiam 47, Taholah 35
Charli Sampson-Eastman had a big game to lead Hoquiam to a 47-35 non-league victory over Taholah on Saturday at Taholah High School.
Sampson-Eastman scored 15 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists to lead the Grizzlies to their third victory of the season.
“Charli is really starting to come on at the right time of year,” Hoquiam head coach Chad Allan said after citing his team’s defense, which held the Chitwhins to less than 10 points in each of the first three quarter, as a key to the victory. “We were able to create a few more offensive points from our defensive effort today. We have so much respect for their perimeter game with (Precious) Crossguns and inside game of (Nakeah) McCrory.”
Sharaya Brydon added 12 points and six rebounds for the Grizzlies.
Taholah (9-7, 7-0 Coastal 1B) was led by Crossguns and McCrory, who scored 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Hoquiam 10 15 10 12 — 47
Photo by Larry Bale Raymond’s Tre’ Seydel, left, shoots against Ilwaco’s Joe Nisbett during the Seagulls’ 73-52 loss to the Fishermen on Saturday in Raymond.
