Taholah and Raymond-South Bend picked up postseason wins while Aberdeen’s boys wrestling team earned a few more state-qualifying spots as we review Tuesday’s Twin Harbors prep sports events.

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GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL

Taholah 53, Willapa Valley 48

In their two meetings during the regular season, the Taholah Chitwhins and Willapa Valley Vikings were as about as closely matched as two teams can get.

That held true on Tuesday as Taholah made clutch shots late in the game to beat Valley 53-48 in a battle for the 1A Coastal League’s top playoff seed at Hoquiam High School.

The Chitwhins (15-5 overall) and Vikings (11-9) split their two head-to-head matchups this season and finished tied atop the league.

Rather than let a coin flip decide the No. 1 and 2 league seeds, the two competitors decided to settle it on the court.

In a game akin to two prize fighters trading blows back and forth, Taholah and Valley were tied after each of the first three quarters and throughout the fourth.

Chitwhins standout junior post Noelani McCrory scored from the low block with two seconds on the clock to tie the game at 11-11 after one period.

Valley returned the favor when freshman guard Kaelynn Ashley drilled a three at the buzzer to knot the game up 24-24 at halftime.

Neither team led by more than three points in the third quarter and after a free throw by Taholah sophomore Shirleymae Stafford with just under a minute left in the period, the two teams entered the final eight minutes of play tied at 35-all.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Taholah’s Shirleymae Stafford (24) is defended by Willapa Valley’s Lauren Matlock during the Chitwhins’ 53-48 victory on Tuesday at Hoquiam High School.

The teams traded shots over the first half of the frame until a three from Chitwhins sophomore guard Luvaila Smith gave Taholah a 42-41 lead.

Senior guard Keeliana McCrory followed with a drive and layup to put the Chitwhins up 44-41 with 3:44 to play.

Trailing 46-42 after a bucket by Noelani McCrory, Valley tied the game on a basket from junior guard Lauren Matlock followed by a pair of free throws from freshman forward Tylar Keeton with 2:25 remaining.

A bucket in the post from Stafford followed by a Keeton putback off an offensive rebound tied the game at 48-48 at the 1:38 mark.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Willapa Valley’s Tylar Keeton (32) looks to pass against Taholah’s Noelani McCrory during the Vikings’ 53-48 loss on Tuesday at Hoquiam High School. Keeton led all scorers with 18 points.

Enter Smith, who drifted to the corner, took a drop pass from Keeliana McCrory and splashed in a clutch three for a 51-48 Taholah lead with 56 seconds on the clock.

“At first, I was looking for my posts to see if they were down there because I have a lot of trust in them and I know they can make that shot,” Smith said of her dagger three. “(Valley) had three girls on a post. My only choice was to take that shot and I took it and made it. It was just an adrenaline rush.”

The Taholah faithful erupted on the play, but Smith focused on one individual in the crowd.

“I looked straight at my dad and I had the biggest smile on my face,” she said. “He was looking at me and smiling also. … It felt really good and felt really good to be able to impact my team like that.”

After a Valley timeout, it was the Taholah defense that stepped up, forcing a five-second inbound violation to gain possession of the ball.

With under 10 seconds left in the game, Taholah had an inbound play at half-court leading by three. Smith saw teammate Maliah Pluff making a run to the basket and arced a pinpoint pass to the freshman guard, who rose up for an uncontested layup that secured the 53-48 victory.

“We really just wanted to play as a team and we’ve been pushing for that all season,” Taholah head coach Dramikha Jackson said. “But also, we just wanted to play some good basketball. … We just wanted to work the ball around a lot and at the end of the day, we were able to push through and overcome whatever (Valley) was throwing at us.”

Pluff led Taholah with 15 points while Stafford added 13 in lieu of leading-scorer Noelani McCrory, who finished with seven points after dealing with early foul trouble.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Taholah guard Maliah Pluff scored 15 points to lead the Chitwhins to a 53-48 win over Willapa Valley in a playoff-seeding game on Tuesday in Hoquiam.

Smith finished with nine points on three 3-pointers for a Chitwhins team that shot 21 of 65 from the field (32%) and hit 5-of-12 free throws (42%).

Keeton was the only Viking to score in double figure with a game-high 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Valley hit 16 of 45 shots from the floor (36%) and converted 12 of 19 from the charity stripe (63%).

The two teams were tied six times in the second half, four of those in the fourth quarter.

“Normally in the second half, we want to push and make a break and get a comfortable lead,” Jackson said. “But we’ve also been saying a lot this season to take it one play at a time. Can you get me just one basket? Just slowing down the tempo and understanding that we still have control of this game.”

“Both teams battled hard on both ends,” Valley head coach Dawn Keeton said. “We never gave up. The grit was huge tonight and I’m proud of all my girls. … I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

With the win, Taholah enters the playoffs as the league’s No. 1 playoff seed with Valley slotted in at the second spot. Both teams will host a first-round District 4 Tournament game at 6 p.m. on Thursday, with Valley taking on Oakville and the Chitwhins facing Columbia Adventist.

“It’s 0-0 now, everybody is even,” Coach Keeton said. “We just have to go out and take it one game at a time and one possession at a time.”

“We’re going into playoffs really confident, especially with that No. 1 seed right now,” Smith said. “We’re going to play with our hearts on our sleeve.”

“We just wanted to prove a point,” Jackson said. “We’re working and we’re overcoming all the doubts we’ve had. So going into playoffs first place in league, we love that. Next is district champs. It’s one game at a time. … We’re excited. … We’re here to win and we’re hungry and that’s the best part about it.”

Willapa Valley 11 13 11 13 – 48

Taholah 11 13 11 18 – 53

Scoring: Valley – Keeton 18, Hurley 8, Matlock 7, Fluke 6, Merkel 6, Ashley 3. Taholah – Pluff 15, Stafford 13, Smith 9, N. McCrory 7, K. McCrory 7, A. McCrory 2.

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Raymond-South Bend 49, Onalaska 45

Raymond-South Bend is one win away from a state-tournament berth after a 49-45 victory in a 2B District 4 quarterfinal game on Tuesday at Rochester High School.

The Ravens (13-5 overall) trailed 10-4 after a sluggish start but rallied behind eight points from standout forward Kassie Koski to take a 19-14 lead after one period of play.

The RSB defense held the Loggers (15-7) to just four points in the second quarter as Ravens Megan Kongbouakhay and Ava Baugher broke the Onalaska press to take a 29-18 lead at the half.

In the second half, poor free-throw shooting almost proved fatal for the Ravens.

“Third and fourth quarters, we were dismal from the free-throw line, which almost cost us the game,” said RSB head coach Jason Koski, whose team went 6 of 19 from the charity stripe over the final 16 minutes of play (32%) after hitting 6 of 10 in the first half.

Leading by three with 16 seconds left in the game, Kassie Koski made 1-of-2 free throws to secure the victory and send the Ravens into the district semifinals.

Koski finished with 20 points – eight in the fourth quarter – three rebounds and three assists to lead RSB.

Baugher had a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Ravens.

“Nice to have a little diversity in our lineup to change pace when we need to,” Coach Koski said. “Now we better figure out how to make some free throws.”

RSB faces Rainier in a district-semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Kelso High School.

Onalaska 14 4 13 14 – 45

RSB 19 10 7 13 – 49

Scoring: Onalaska – Jacoby 23, R. Marshall 7, D. Marshall 6, Sandridge 4, Haight 3, Talley 2. RSB – Koski 20, Baugher 17, Stigall 6, Kongbouakhay 5, Pine-Isaksen 1.

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BOYS PREP WRESTLING

Aberdeen sending 10 to state after crossover dual

Aberdeen secured five additional state-tournament berths at the WIAA District 4 2A Crossover on Tuesday at Mark Morris High School in Longview.

The Bobcats had six total wrestlers competing at the dual meet, which pitted 2A Evergreen Conference wrestlers against 2A Greater St. Helen’s League foes for a chance at the final state-tournament spot out of District 4.

Aberdeen won five total matches, with Jaidon Williams (126 pounds), Adonis Hammonds (144), Michael Hatton (165), Trevin Stewart (215) and Bryan Sanchez (215) qualifying for the Mat Classic XXXVI on Feb. 21-22 at the Tacoma Dome.

They will join teammates Ryder Lessard (113), Glenny Black (138), Erick Silveira (175), Landon Hamblin (285) and Jimmie Gertson (285) at the state meet.

Full results available at trackwrestling.com.

Aberdeen crossover results

120 pounds: Preston Hardy (Ridgefield) via fall over Alex Carlson (Aberdeen), 2:48

126: Jaidon Williams (A) via fall Tyus Kimbrough (Columbia River), 3:14

144: Adonis Hammonds (A) via 19-3 technical fall over Aydden Bonnevile (Mark Morris)

165: Michael Hatton (A) via 16-0 technical fall over Nolan Wilkins (Ridgefield)

215: Trevin Stewart (A) via fall over Gavin Beckley (Woodland), 1:50

215: Bryan Sanchez (A) via 4-3 tiebreaker over Antonio Navarro-Guizar (R.A. Long)