Aberdeen wasn’t about to let Hoquiam spoil its Senior Night celebration.
The Bobcats pulled away toward the end of the first quarter and never looked back in a 55-25 non-league victory on Monday in Aberdeen.
Aberdeen (12-6 overall) held a 10-5 lead with half a minute left in the first quarter after Hoquiam senior forward Avery Howard converted 1-of-2 free throws.
Then the Bobcats press defense paid dividends as a Grizzlies turnover led to a bucket of an offensive rebounds from Aberdeen senior forward Jaylynn Phimmasone, who then stole the subsequent inbound pass, which led to Bobcats freshman guard Sophia Knutson scoring off a rebound to put Aberdeen up 14-5 at the end of the first quarter.
The short run to close out the quarter sparked the Bobcats, which took a 19-8 lead on a Phimmasone free-throw line jumper at 4:43 of the second quarter.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen senior forward Jaylynn Phimmasone drives to the hoop against Hoquiam’s Sydney Gordon during the Bobcats’ 55-25 win on Monday at Aberdeen High School.
The Bobcats closed the first half on a long three from senior guard Annie Troeh followed by an inbound pass from Phimmasone to Knutson for a score to take a 24-8 halftime lead.
“We were really nervous in the first quarter, especially because of Senior Night, it just made us kind of play badly,” Annie Troeh said. “In the second quarter, we weren’t as nervous and we played much better as a team.”
“Our chemistry was a little off because our normal starters weren’t starting,” said Aberdeen head coach Curtis Eccles, who had four seniors in the starting lineup on Senior Night. “Basketball is about runs and I knew that we were good enough to have more runs than (Hoquiam) would have and that was evident in the latter part of the first quarter.”
Aberdeen’s defensive pressure continued to produce results in the third quarter as the Bobcats went up by 25 after Annie Troeh – hampered with foul trouble – buried another three halfway through the frame.
The Bobcats closed out the quarter up 39-12.
After the Cats’ Abby Mainio opened the fourth quarter with an offensive rebound and putback, Annie Troeh scored on a nifty hesitation scoop shot to give Aberdeen a 43-12 lead with 7:10 to play.
Bobcats junior forward Alyvia Lamont scored on an offensive rebound followed by a Zoe Troeh steal and layup for a 47-12 lead with 5:40 on the clock.
With Aberdeen leading 49-17 after a Little jump shot, the Bobcats pulled their remaining starters from the floor and brought in the reserves with 3:43 left to play.
Annie Troeh led the way with 19 points – including 4 of 10 from 3-point range (40%) – and three steals. The standout senior shooting guard managed her way around three first-half fouls, re-entering the game with just over three minutes left in the second quarter and avoided any further foul problems.
“She said, ‘Coach, I promise I won’t get a fourth foul,’” Eccles said of Annie Troeh’s pleas to re-enter the game. “I said, ‘Well, it’s your night. So I’m going to trust you.’ We didn’t put her on an offensive threat and made sure she was in a safe zone defensively and she did a great job. We were able to keep her in there offensively and it ended up paying off.”
“It was really frustrating because I wanted to be aggressive,” Annie Troeh said. “I couldn’t contribute on the defensive side as much today, so at least I got some threes to help with the offense.”
Knutson (8 points, 4 steals) and Phimmasone (8 pts., 5 reb., 2 stl.) scored eight points apiece while Zoe Troeh had her typical all-around floor game, scoring four points, grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds, dishing out three assists and swiping a game-best eight steals for Aberdeen.
“We really love the 1-3-1 press,” Zoe Troeh said of Aberdeen’s keys on the defensive end. “When we started that, we got steals, we got points and I think it really made a huge difference.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam sophomore Sydney Gordon (42) scores against Aberdeen’s Bentley Brown during the Grizzlies’ 55-25 loss on Monday at Aberdeen High School.
Gordon led Hoquiam with a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double while sophomore guard Lexi LaBounty added four points and six steals for the Grizzlies.
“Congratulations to Coach Eccles and the Bobcats for playing at a level of greater speed and fundamentally sound than our program at this time,” said Grizzlies head coach Chad Allan, whose team went 11 for 53 from the field (21%) and committed 33 turnovers in the game. “All credit goes to Aberdeen, but we cannot seem to stay out of our own way.”
Aberdeen honored its four seniors – Annie and Zoe Troeh, Phimmasone and Sofia Lopez – on Senior Night as all four started and scored for the Bobcats.
“I loved that,” Zoe Troeh said of having four senior starters. “I love our team and it was really nice to get to play with everyone. … Now that it’s ending, I’m so sad it’s going to be over. I love playing with Annie and I love playing with the team overall and I feel like we’re getting so much better now that its the end.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen senior Zoe Troeh (3) reads the floor during the Bobcats’ 55-25 win over Hoquiam on Monday in Aberdeen.
“It’s sad to know this is one of our last home games and our last time playing Hoquiam,” Annie Troeh said. “It’s been a really fun season.”
Aberdeen has a key 2A Evergreen Conference game at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Shelton.
Hoquiam (4-14) plays at Eatonville in a 1A Evergreen League game scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Hoquiam 5 5 4 13 – 25
Aberdeen 14 10 15 16 – 55
Scoring: Hoquiam – Gordon 10, Little 8, LaBounty 4, Brodhead 2, Howard 1. Aberdeen – A. Troeh 19, Knutson 8, Phimmasone 8, Lamont 6, Z. Troeh 4, S. Shoemaker 4, Mainio 4, Lopez 2.
