Hoquiam stayed in the 1A Evergreen League race with a key 51-46 victory over Montesano on Thursday at Hoquiam Square Garden.

The Grizzlies (5-7 overall, 2-2 1A Evergreen) trailed 16-5 after a sluggish first quarter, but turned their fortunes around before halftime to take a 25-24 lead into the break.

“Great team win. The boys never quit and in getting down so early, they never wavered,” Hoquiam head coach Kyle Blumberg said. “It was a very physical game and Montesano came to play. Hats off to (Montesano head coach) Doug Farmer. He did a great job preparing them against us.”

Montesano (1-12, 0-4) had arguably its best quarter of the season to open the game, led by sophomore forward Tyce Peterson’s nine points in the frame.

But the Grizzlies — which managed just a Zander jump field goal in the first quarter — righted the ship to score 20 points in the second period, led by junior forward Justice Stankavich’s nine points.

Hoquiam made six shots and outscored Montesano 15-10 in the third period of a game that didn’t feature much offense.

“This was not a stat game, but a defensive grind,” Blumberg said. “We got great minutes from (junior guard) Jalen Hobucket and (junior center) Kort Gordon, who did a great job doing the little things on the defensive side. Without those two, we don’t win this game.”

Stankavich (11 points, 7 rebounds) and Jake Templar (11 pts., 5 steals) led Hoquiam in scoring, with Jump, Templar and Michael Lorton Watkins combining for 10 steals in the contest.

Peterson led all scorers with 17 points while his Bulldogs teammate Caydon Lovell also scored in double figures with 10.

“We had a great first quarter, then we gave up some offensive rebounds and had too many fouls, which aided their run in the second,” Farmer said. “Our kids played hard and competed. Ultimately, (they) had some good looks and needed some shots to fall in the second half.”

With the win, Hoquiam sits in a tie for third place in the 1A Evergreen League with Tenino, a game behind Eatonville and Elma, which are tied for first with identical 3-1 league records.

Next up for the Grizzlies is a matchup against Tenino at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Tenino.

Montesano faces Elma in an East County rivalry game at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Elma.

Montesano 16 8 10 12 — 46

Hoquiam 5 20 15 11 — 51

Montesano (46) — Stankavich 11, Templer 11, Michael Lorton Watkins 9, Owen McNeill 7, Zander Jump 6, Gordon 5

Hoquiam (51) — Peterson 17, Lovell 10, Jackson Busz 4, Christian Olsen 4, Trent Adams 4, Soren Cobb 4, Jaxson Wilson 3

Raymond 65, Chief Leschi 45

Two days after suffering a gut-wrenching loss to first-place Ilwaco, Raymond responded with its most important win of the season to date.

Raymond got big games from seniors Tre’ Seydel and Adrian Quintana to earn a 65-45 league victory over previously-undefeated Chief Leschi on Thursday in Puyallup.

The Seagulls (8-3, 5-3 2B Pacific) got off to a hot start and never looked back, scoring 26 points in the first quarter to take a 16 point lead, an advantage it would hold at halftime.

Chief Leschi (11-1, 6-1) outscored Raymond in the third quarter 15-12, but the Seagulls poured it on in the fourth quarter, besting the Warriors 16-8 over the final eight minutes of the game to pick up the victory.

Seydel had a double-double with 32 points and 12 rebounds while fellow Seagulls senior Adrian Quintana scored 17 points and dished out four assists.

The win over Chief Leschi, which entered the game No. 3 in the WIAA RPI rankings, puts Raymond three games ahead of Ocosta for the league’s fourth spot and it trails third-place Forks by a half-game.

“This was a huge win for us on the road,” Raymond head coach Derek Rask said. “Chief Leschi is one of the best teams in our league/state and our kids rose to the occasion in their gym. We were ready to go from the tip as a team and our approach was spot on throughout the game. Our kids gave us great effort and intensity on both ends of the floor and our execution was fantastic. They deserved and earned this win. I’m super proud of them.”

Raymond faces Ocosta at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Westport.

Raymond 26 12 16 11 — 65

Chief Leschi 10 12 15 8 — 45

North Beach 55, Ocosta 44

North Beach snapped a six-game losing streak with a 55-44 victory over Ocosta on Thursday in Ocean Shores.

The Hyaks (4-8, 1-7 2B Pacific) used its height and physicality to jump out to a 26-17 lead at the half.

After Ocosta (4-7, 2-5) trimmed the deficit to 37-33 at the end of the third quarter and took the lead with four minutes remaining in the game, North Beach hit its shots down the stretch — including a clutch 3-pointer from sophomore Tyrrell Curry — to seal the victory.

“It was a defensive battle tonight,” North Beach head coach Larry Moore said. “Both teams worked extremely hard on the defensive end. It was a tight contest all the way to the end.”

North Beach was led by senior center Tre’Vaughn Greene with 15 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks.

Hyaks senior point guard Josh Bighead added 11 points with sophomore Curry (7 points), Tyrell Hovland (8 pts., 8 rebounds) and Kobe Charley (5 pts.) drawing praise from Moore for the way they “stepped up tonight.”

Ocosta was led by junior Mark Lewis, who scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the contest.

Kevin Agramon and Xander Prigmore scored nine points apiece for the Wildcats.

“Tonight’s game game down to two different halves for us,” Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby said. “In the first half, North Beach took it too us physically by getting the ball inside and using their height to either score directly or with putback rebounds. In the second half, we came out with a lot more intensity and actually took the lead before we ran out of steam and took some hurried shots that didn’t fall. North Beach, meanwhile, hit everything in the last few minutes.”

Ocosta hosts Raymond at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

North Beach will be in action at 7 p.m. Monday at South Bend High School.

Ocosta 8 9 16 11 — 44

North Beach 14 12 11 18 — 55

Ocosta (44) — Lewis 11, K. Agramon 9, X. Prigmore 9, Josh Figueroa 8, Kayden Turner 3, Garrison Barnum 2, Noah Prigmore 2

North Beach (55) — Greene 15, Bighead 11, Hovland 8, Tyrell Curry 7, Daniel Castaneda 7, Kobe Charley 5

Northwest Christian 54, South Bend 37

South Bend came up short in a 54-37 loss to Northwest Christian on Thursday in South Bend.

South Bend (1-8, 0-8 2B Pacific) entered the game without two starters and lost junior Jordan Posada to an ankle injury in the game’s opening minutes, putting South Bend behind the 8-ball from the get-go.

“At that point we had every excuse to let NWC beat us by 30, but the rest of the team really dug in a stepped up,” South Bend head coach John Schray said. “I was very proud of the effort we showed. If we can play with the heart we showed tonight when we have our full roster we will be playing some very good basketball.

South Bend fell behind 21-12 after the first quarter and managed just one point in the second period to trail 32-13 at the half.

Jacob Carlson scored 11 points with Justin Yi and Branson Williams adding nine points apiece for South Bend.

Williams grabbed a team high 10 rebounds with Yi and Ferrill Johnson adding five steals apiece.

Next up for South Bend is a non-league contest at Mary M Knight High School at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Northwest Christian 21 11 6 16 — 54

South Bend 12 1 12 12 — 37

Scoring

Northwest Christian (54) — D. Babber 6, J. Babber 14, A. Brooks 3, C. Walker 16, L. Maveaga, K. Lanham 2, M. Dunning 5

South Bend (37) — Justin Yi 9, Ferrill Johnson 6, Jacob Carlson 11, Ryan Kirpes 2, Branson Williams 9

Willapa Valley 84, Firm Foundation 42

Despite having its coaching staff unable to attend due to COVID, Willapa Valley played a well-rounded game to earn an 84-42 victory over Firm Foundation Christian on Thursday in Menlo.

With Vikings head coach Jay Pearson and assistant coach Jon Pearson unable to attend due to COVID, longtime assistant coach Jim Noren took the helm and was assisted by former Vikings head coach and current head coach of the Willapa Valley girls basketball team, John Peterson.

The temporary coaching change had no adverse affect on Willapa Valley as the Vikings had five players score in double figures and held a 23-7 lead after one quarter.

The Vikings (12-4, 5-0 1B Columbia Valley) got 20 points from Wil Clements with Kolten Fluke (16 points, 5 steals), Tyler Adkins (13 pts.), Gavin Hampton (13 pts.) and Derek Fluke (12 pts., 17 rebounds, 5 assists) also scoring in double figures for Willapa Valley.

Willapa Valley shot 33-for-67 (49.3%) from the field in the game and hit 13-of-20 (65%) free throws against an Eagles team that was playing in its first game since mid-December.

“It was fun,” said Peterson, who previously coached the boys team for 17 years, 16 of those with Noren as his assistant coach. “I told (Noren), ‘You probably set a record as the only undefeated coach in Willapa Valley history because you are resigning after the game.’”

Willapa Valley, which sits at No. 10 in the WIAA RPI 1B rankings, faces Mossyrock at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at Mossyrock High School.

Firm Foundation 7 10 12 13 — 42

Willapa Valley 23 22 27 12 — 84

Other scores

Prep Boys Basketball

Elma 64, La Center 52

Chief Leschi 80, Taholah 19 (Thursday)

Prep Girls Basketball

Chief Leschi 63, Taholah 56 (Thursday)