The Montesano High School band had just swung into the final chorus of “Sweet Caroline” when the lights went out Saturday at Hoquiam Square Garden.

Since Neil Diamond’s lyrics for the 1969 pop standard did not include “Good times never seemed so dark,” spectators quickly deduced that a halftime power outage had interrupted the Montesano-Elma district girls basketball game.

Since Rob Burns was covering the game, I was there only as a spectator. By the time power was restored nearly an hour later, I was on the road to Kelso for my scheduled assignment, Saturday night’s Montesano-Seton Catholic district boys basketball contest. Leading by three at the half, Monte went on to complete a 46-30 win.

Before I departed, however, one fan asked if I had experienced such a blackout at a game that I covered. Another onlooker, making an unusually optimistic appraisal of my longevity, said I could write about it in about 20 years.

For those unwilling to wait that long, this was the fourth Harbor basketball or football game I can recall attending as either a reporter or spectator that contained a mid-game power outage.

Oddly, all four involved either Montesano or North Beach teams — and Elma athletic director Todd Bridge (in attendance Saturday) witnessed at least two.

Bridge was coaching North Beach’s football team in 2014 when the lights went out at Lt. Jim Davis Stadium during halftime of a tense Friday night Pacific League showdown against Raymond.

This time maintenance crews were unable to restore power and the remainder of the contest was postponed until the following afternoon. Those who returned to Oyehut saw a classic finish, with North Beach eventually outlasting the Gulls in double overtime, 12-6.

That game, incidentally, marked the Daily World swan song of photographer Aaron Lavinsky, who captured some memorable images of the ghostly aura accompanying the Friday night blackout.

It was, however, far from Lavinsky’s final football assignment. In what some outside the Harbor might consider an upgrade from North Beach-Raymond, he shot Super Bowl LII earlier this month for his current employer, the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Since Bridge has also been employed by the Montesano and Hoquiam school districts, it’s possible he might have even been on hand when a bank of lights went out at Olympic Stadium during the second half of a Montesano-Hoquiam football game in the 1990s.

While the Grizzlies waited paitiently for power to be restored, Montesano head coach Brent Whitaker hustled his team over to a small illuminated section of the stadium to run a few practice plays. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Bulldogs went on to win once play was resumed.

About a decade earlier, the lights went out at Montesano’s gym during a district play-in boys basketball game between North Beach and Ilwaco.

When the delay persisted, Ilwaco coach Tom Millbrooke floated the notion of replaying the game in its entirety. Since his team owned a double-digit lead at the time, North Beach coach Bob Sutter rejected this generous offer. Play was eventually resumed that night at the point of stoppage and the Hyaks went on to a comfortable victory.

As was the case last Saturday, I was in Montesano only as a spectator. The late Ray Ryan covered the game for The Daily World.

Ray, who had a well-deserved reputation of being associated with such bizarre contests, was also on the scene when some bozo tossed a tear-gas cannister into Centralia’s Tiger Stadium during halftime of a state football playoff game in the 1980s.

The stadium was evacuated, with the game completed the following night. Needless to say, Montesano was one of the teams in that game — and wound up winning it.

Considering the often-rugged Twin Harbors weather, it’s a bit surprising there aren’t more power-related interruptions of area games. Or perhaps I’ve been fortunate not to witness more of them.

But if I’m ever assigned to a Montesano or North Beach game that Todd Bridge attends, I might take along a flashlight just in case.