Willapa Valley was within striking distance throughout its game against Toutle Lake at the 15th Annual Jack Q. Pearson Holiday Classic on Thursday in Menlo, but too many empty trips led to a 34-43 Vikings’ loss.

Willapa Valley (6-3 overall) struggled to put points on the board when it counted most.

Trailing 23-18 at the half, the Vikings trailed by six points early in the third quarter but ended the frame down 28-25 on an offensive rebound-putback-and-1 by senior forward Gabby Quezada with 21 seconds left in the period.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Willapa Valley forward Gabby Quezada (32) scores after an offensive rebound in a 43-34 loss to Toutle Lake at the 15th Annual Jack Q. Pearson Holiday Classic on Thursday in Menlo.

Willapa Valley would trim the deficit to as little as two points when senior Grace Huber cut to the basket and received a pass from senior guard Brooklyn Patrick to make it a 29-27 game with just under six minutes left.

But the Vikings would get no closer as multiple empty offensive trips combined with Toutle Lake heating up from beyond-the-arc led to the loss.

The Ducks hit four 3-pointers down the stretch — including two off the bench by Candace Thayer — as Toutle Lake extend its lead to 43-33 with 1:18 left to secure the victory.

Willapa Valley was led by Huber, who had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four steals in limited minutes due to foul trouble.

Quezada added seven points and three rebounds while Patrick had four points, a team-high 12 rebounds and five assists in the loss.

Willapa Valley went 15 for 45 from the field (33%) and were 3 of 12 from the free-throw line (25%).

“You have to make free throws,” Vikings head coach John Peterson said. “Three for 12 is going to lose you games and it did. … They’re called free throws for a reason, because there is no one in front of you. Hopefully, we can make ‘em.”

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Willapa Valley guard Brooklyn Patrick puts up a shot in a 43-34 loss to Toutle Lake at the 15th Annual Jack Q. Pearson Holiday Classic on Thursday in Menlo.

Willapa Valley also turned the ball over 25 times, a statistic Peterson also led to his team’s offensive struggles.

“Empty possessions will kill you and we just have to be patient,” he said. “It’s just frustrating for everybody. We’re right there and you’d like to be able to finish. But it’s early. … By the time the middle of January rolls around, I hope we’ll be rolling. … This is a really good group of kids and are smart and they try hard, we’re just young.”

Willapa Valley continues play in the JQP Classic with a game against Adna at 6 p.m. Friday.

Toutle Lake 8 15 5 15 — 43

Willapa Valley 9 9 7 9 — 34

Scoring: Toutle Lake — K. Dean 8, L. Dean 8, Hooper 8, C. Thayer 6, P. Thayer 6, Smith 6, O. Thomas 1. Willapa Valley — Huber 10, Quezada 7, Matlock 4, Patrick 4, Emery 4, Channell 3, Russell 2.

Toledo 53, South Bend 27

South Bend lost the second game of a back-to-back on Thursday, falling 53-27 to Toledo at South Bend High School.

Twenty-four hours after losing 49-29 to Onalaska at home, South Bend (0-8) trailed 22-12 after one quarter and 30-16 at the half against the Indians (3-7).

Elli Capps and Raydynn Morley led South Bend with nine and eight points, respectively.

“Our effort was much better tonight,” South Bend head coach Jon Schray said. “If we can keep working with the effort from tonight we will continue to improve at a much faster rate and get into the win column soon.”

South Bend will play at Chief Leschi at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 4.

South Bend 12 4 3 8 — 27

Toledo 22 8 13 10 — 53

Scoring: South Bend — Capps 9, R. Morley 8, Markwell 4, Bale 2, Stigall 2, Makaylee Kuiken 2. Toledo — Stanley 25, Arceo-Hansen 12, Holter 4, Hill 4, Winter 4, Marcil 2, Cabrera 2.

Taholah 71, Ocosta 30

Taholah got off to a quick start and had the game well in control early in a 71-30 victory over Ocosta on Thursday in Westport.

The Chitwhins (2-1) led 17-8 after one quarter and outscored the Wildcats (4-5) 20-5 in the second quarter to hold a commanding 24-point lead at halftime.

Taholah was led by Precious Crossguns, who scored a game-high 26 points.

Miki Ness led Ocosta with 14 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists.

Freshman Anna Davis added seven points and 13 rebounds for the Wildcats, which shot 8 of 41 from the field (20%) and committed 21 turnovers in the contest.

Ocosta will face Ilwaco at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 4.

Taholah will host North Beach at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Taholah 17 20 13 21 — 71

Ocosta 8 5 9 8 — 30

Scoring: Ocosta — M. Ness 14, Davis 7, Matthews 4, Rasmus 3, Denny 2. Taholah — Crossguns 26.

BOYS PREP WRESTLING

Monte ties for second at The Rock Tournament

Montesano tied for second place in the final team standings of The Rock Tournament on Thursday at Vashon High School.

Led by weight-class victories by Cole Ekerson and Mateo Sanchez, Monte finished with 151.5 points to tie Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) for second place.

Forks placed first with 194.5 points with Zillah (139) and Mt. Baker (136.5) placing fourth through fifth, respectively.

Ekerson beat Vashon’s Colin McIntyre 5-2 to win the 138-pound final while Sanchez defeated Forks’ Nate Dahlgren in the 182-pound title match, coming from behind to earn a pinfall victory after trailing 5-0 early on.

Monte got second-place finishes from Gage Stutesman (152 pounds) and Kaleb Ames (160) and fourth-place finishes from Sean Ryker (145) and Gabe Phyala (170).

Elma placed sixth in the team standings with 123.5 points, paced by a first-place finish from Xavier Espinoza, who won via fall at 4:33 over Forks’ Mathew Montes to win the 106-pound class.

Elma also got top-five placements from Austin Salazar (195, 2nd), Hunter Price (285, 3rd), Aidyn Johnson (113, 4th).

Hoquiam placed 14th in the 16-team field with 51 points.

Alan Ramirez placed third in the 152-pound weight class for the Grizzlies.

Full tournament results can be found at trackwrestling.com.