It was a busy Monday as five Twin Harbors prep boys basketball teams hit the hardwood.
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BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
Forks 62, Hoquiam 39
Forks made certain Hoquiam sharpshooting guard Lincoln Niemi wasn’t going to beat them.
The Spartans mixed their defenses well and never let Niemi out of their sight as Hoquiam suffered a 62-39 loss on Monday at Hoquiam Square Garden.
Coming off back-to-back 30-plus point games, Niemi was held to nine points on 2-of-10 shooting (20%) as the Spartans threw multiple defenses at the Grizzlies in hopes of limiting Niemi’s effectiveness.
“They did a good job taking Lincoln away,” said Hoquiam head coach Jeff Niemi, noting his team moved the ball to get open looks, but the shots weren’t falling. “We had some really good looks in the first half, we just couldn’t hit ‘em. … They were giving us something else besides Lincoln and they were good looks. We just weren’t hitting them.”
Coach Niemi estimated the Grizzlies missed 12 open threes in the first half en route to a 30-17 halftime deficit.
In the third quarter, Forks (6-0) pulled away with a 21-7 quarter, thanks in large part to its rebounding advantage, which was 50-32 for the game, 21-12 on the offensive glass.
“Forks is a good team. They pounded us on the glass,” Coach Niemi said. “Tough night at the office.”
Hoquiam responded with a better effort in the fourth quarter to trim Forks’ lead to 13 points, sparked by junior guard Joey Bozich’s three 3-pointers in the period.
But the Spartans’ starters re-entered the game to push the lead over 20 by the end of the game.
“They did a good job. They had a good plan and it worked well for them tonight,” Coach Niemi said.
Bozich led Hoquiam with 16 points while Tage Dayton had 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies.
Hoquiam shot 34% from the field on 15-of-54 shooting, including 5 of 21 from 3-point range (23.8%).
The Grizzlies had 16 turnovers in the game to 13 for the Spartans.
Forks shot 27-of-60 (45%) in the game, the bulk of that coming from inside the arc (23-48, 47.9%).
Hoquiam plays at Sultan High School at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
Forks 13 17 21 11 – 62
Hoquiam 8 9 7 15 – 39
Scoring: Forks – Rowley 23, Olson 15, Barajas 10, Lausche 7, Davila 3, Lohrengel 2, Micheau 2. Hoquiam – Bozich 16, Niemi 9, Maxfield 4, Byron 4, Azeveda 4, Dayton 2.
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Centralia 67, Montesano 61
Montesano recovered after a slow start but eventually fell 67-61 to Centralia on Monday in Centralia.
The Bulldogs (1-3) scored just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting with nine turnovers to trail 19-8 after one quarter of play.
But Monte responded with a big second quarter paced by eight points apiece from Mason Fry and Colton Grubb to trail 34-29 by halftime.
But try as they might, Monte was never able to overcome the gap in suffering its third loss in four tries this season.
Grubb led the way for Monte with 21 points to go along with seven rebounds and four steals.
Fry finished with 19 points, six rebounds and two assists for the Bulldogs, which shot 22 for 59 as a team, including 5 of 26 from beyond the arc.
Monte had 31 rebounds, eight steals and eight assists as a team as well as 19 turnovers.
The Bulldogs face Forks at 5:15 p.m. on Friday at Montesano High School.
Montesano 8 21 13 19 — 61
Centralia 19 15 16 17 — 67
Scoring: Montesano — Co. Grubb 21, Fry 19, Bruland 8, Ca. Grubb 8, Wilson 6, Gunter 4, Dowler 1. Centralia — Sanders 15, K. Yeung 14, Griffis 13, J. Yeung 12, Daarud 6, Navorrett 5, Pirtle 2.
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Willapa Valley 66, Raymond-South Bend 53
Willapa Valley held off a second-half surge to beat Raymond-South Bend 66-53 on Monday in Menlo.
The Vikings (4-2) held a three-point lead after one quarter before taking a big halftime lead with 24 points in the second period.
“The difference in the game was really in the second quarter,” Willapa Valley head coach Derek Rask said. “We were efficient on the offensive end and our transition defense was very good.”
The Ravens (0-3) rallied in the third quarter to cut the Vikings’ lead down to six, but RSB got no closer as Valley held on for the win.
”The gym was packed and it was a great atmosphere tonight,” Rask said. “I thought we executed well on the defensive end, and we rebounded extremely well as a team. Rebounding has been a point of emphasis for us.”
Valley was led by Blane King with 22 points while Nate Fluke (13 points), Lucas Lusk (12 pts.) and Brody Ritzman (10 pts.) also finished in double figures for the Vikings.
Fluke, Lusk and JB Russell had eight rebounds each for the Vikings.
Willapa Valley plays at Naselle at 7 p.m. on Friday.
RSB faces Wahkiakum at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Wahkiakum High School.
RSB 13 10 17 13 – 53
Willapa Valley 16 24 13 13 – 66
Scoring: Valley – King 22, Fluke 13, Lusk 12, Ritzman 10, Russell 9.
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North Mason 71, Ocosta 42
Turnovers led to Ocosta’s demise in a 71-42 loss to North Mason on Monday at North Mason High School.
The Wildcats (3-2) committed 30 turnovers in the game, a stat that head coach Jason Quinby said led to the loss.
“Turnovers were the name of the game tonight,” he said. “We had an astounding 30 turnovers on the night against their pressure defense, which led to numerous transition buckets for the Bulldogs.”
Ocosta trailed 34-19 at the half and showed some signs of life in both the half-court offense and defense, but North Mason scoring buckets off turnovers was too much to overcome.
“When we didn’t turn the ball over, we had some success in the half court and held them at bay when we made them run half court-offense,” Quinby said. “We definitely know that we’ll be working on passing in our next practice.”
Kayden Turner (11 pts.) and Dalton Welch (10 pts.) each scored in double figures for the Wildcats.
Sonny Beard had eight points and a team-best 10 rebounds for Ocosta.
The Wildcats take on Tenino at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Tenino.
Ocosta 13 6 16 7 – 42
North Mason 20 14 23 16 – 71
Scoring: Ocosta – Turner 11, Welch 10, Beard 8, Priest 5, Solis 3, Prigmore 3, Agramon 2.