Hoquiam and Willapa Valley boys basketball teams picked up wins as we review Tuesday’s high-school hoops on the Harbor.

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BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Hoquiam 55, Shelton 46

Hoquiam got a big game from standout sophomore guard Lincoln Niemi en route to a 55-46 victory over Shelton on Tuesday at Shelton High School.

The Grizzlies (2-2 overall) did several things well in Tuesday’s victory, most notably on the offensive end.

Paced by Niemi’s 32 points, Hoquiam shot 55% from the field on 22-of-47 shooting, including 10-of-19 (52.6%) from the 3-point line.

The Grizzlies took control of the game with a fast-break spurt in the second quarter, turning what was a four-point lead after one period into a 34-14 advantage by halftime.

“We just really all of a sudden started running and finishing,” Hoquiam head coach Jeff Niemi said. “We went on a big spurt for about three minutes that helped us win that quarter.”

Niemi hit four threes and scored 16 of Hoquiam’s 22 points in the second frame while the Grizzlies defense held the Highclimbers (1-2) to six points and 14 total for the half.

Shelton trimmed Hoquiam’s lead to single digits late in the fourth quarter, but ran out of time as the Grizzlies headed home with the 55-46 victory.

“Credit to (Shelton), they kept battling,” Coach Niemi said.

Hoquiam was outrebounded 37-26 – including 15-5 on the offensive glass – but reduced its turnovers to 12 compared to 30 in a loss to Chelan on Saturday.

“Twelve turnovers was encouraging for us to see,” Coach Niemi said. “We know rebounding is going to be a challenge because we are undersized. We’re just really preaching to hunker down and everybody has to rebound together. … If we can get good shots and take care of the ball, we can kind of counter some of that. We’ve got to continue to work on all that stuff.”

Niemi hit eight threes and added seven rebounds and five assists to his stat line.

Junior guard Joey Bozich added eight points, three rebounds and two assists for the Grizzlies.

Hoquiam hosts Kalama at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

Hoquiam 12 22 11 10 – 55

Shelton 8 6 10 22 – 46

Scoring: Hoquiam – Niemi 32, Bozich 8, Maxfield 6, Azeveda 5, Byron 2, Dayton 2. Shelton – Parsons 12, Phipps 12, Sylvester 9, Myers 7, Gott 2, Loeta 2, French 2.

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Willapa Valley 74, North Beach 39

Willapa Valley got things going in the second quarter en route to a 74-39 triumph over North Beach on Tuesday at Willapa Valley High School.

The Vikings (2-2) held a 13-3 lead after the first quarter before erupting for 25 points in the second frame to take a 38-11 lead at the half.

“I thought we started a little slow in the first quarter, but we found a rhythm in the second quarter and played well on both ends,” Valley head coach Derek Rask said. “Our half-court defense was solid, leading to quality transition opportunities for us.”

Valley extended its lead to 61-24 at the end of the third quarter before calling off the dogs and giving their starters a break.

Junior guard Blane King continues to emerge as a feature player with 21 points and four steals for the Vikings.

Senior guard Aiden Sliva (11 points) and junior guard Hank Swartz (10 points) scored in double figures while senior power forward Connor “Cheese” Keeton had four points and a team-high five assists for Valley.

The Hyaks (0-3) turned the ball over 25 times, which North Beach head coach Jordan Fry said was key to the loss.

“You’re just not going to win too many games turning the ball over that much,” Fry said. “We played pretty good on defense in the first quarter and played hard throughout the game. Credit to Valley though, they played their butts off and they ran a very similar style of offense that we’re trying to run, but they ran it really well.”

North Beach was led by sophomore JJ Eastman with nine points and 10 rebounds.

Sophomore wing Sonny Terrell added eight points while Hyaks senior forward Sawyer Reither “played an overall solid game,” according to Fry.

The Hyaks host Northwest Christian at 6 p.m. on Friday.

Willapa Valley faces Pe Ell at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at Pe Ell High School.

Willapa Valley 13 25 23 13 – 74

North Beach 3 8 13 15 – 39

Scoring: WV – King 21, Sliva 11, Swartz 10, Russell 8, Lusk 7, Ritzman 5, Fluke 4, Jarvis 4, Keeton 4. NB – Eastman 9, Terrell 8, Johnson 7, Herrera 5, Frank 4, Russell 2, Apodaca 2, Polk 2.