Montesano opened its season with a loss while Elma won its third-straight game to start the season as we review Monday’s boys prep basketball games on the Harbor.

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BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Rainier 51, Montesano 27

The new-look Montesano Bulldogs opened its season with a 51-27 loss to Rainier on Monday at Montesano High School.

The Bulldogs (0-1 overall) trailed by just one point after the first quarter but struggled to find much offense after that.

Montesano scored 15 points in the first quarter and just 16 after that in suffering the 20-point loss to the Mountaineers (3-0).

Montesano head coach Doug Galloway, who returns to helm a Bulldogs program he last coached three seasons ago, said his team showed some positive signs on Monday, but still is in the getting-to-know-each-other stage.

“There’s a lot we can improve on,” he said. “Defensively, to hold a team to 51 our first time out, I was pretty excited about that. … We’re just trying to get acclimated to each other. We’ve got a big group of kids that are new to each other and new to me.”

Montesano graduated 10 seniors off last year’s squad that reached the state tournament and has just one senior and two returning players with any varsity experience.

Sophomore forward Caden Grubb led Monte with 10 points with junior guard Terek Gunter scoring six points for the Bulldogs.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano’s Caden Grubb (left) scored 10 points in the Bulldogs’ 51-27 loss to Rainier on Monday at Montesano High School.

Monte shot 28% from the field on 12-of-43 shooting, including 2 of 16 (12.5%) from beyond the arc.

The Bulldogs had 24 rebounds and three assists as a team while turning the ball over 20 times.

Rainier was led by triplets Jake, Jimmy and Josh Meldrum, who combined for 38 of their team’s 51 points.

“Rainier is a quality, experienced team,” Galloway said. “I think it was a good first game, a good learning experience and we’re only going to get better from here.”

Montesano plays at Black Hills at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Rainier 16 11 17 7 — 51

Montesano 15 6 6 4 — 31

Scoring: Rainier — Ja. Meldrum 15, Ji. Meldrum 12, Jo. Meldrum 11, Shaeffer 5, Linson 4, Howell 2, Hanson 2. Montesano — Ca. Grubb 10, Gunter 6, Barnes 4, Co. Grubb 4, Fry 3, Painter 2, Wilson 2.

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Elma 61, Black Hills 56

Elma used a big fourth-quarter comeback to remain unbeaten with a 61-56 win over Black Hills on Monday in Elma.

The Eagles (3-0 overall) trailed 35-26 at the half and 49-43 after three quarters against the hot-shooting Wolves (2-2).

Elma’s defense helped change the tone of the game in the second half by keeping Black Hills on the perimeter while guards Theo Flores and Traden Carter quarterbacked an efficient offense.

The Eagles shot 50% from the field on 23-of-46 shooting and attacked the basket, converting 14-of-22 free throws (64%).

”Our second half adjustments were phenomenal. Our fourth quarter was damn near perfect,” said Elma head coach Matt Ferrier, whose team outscored Black Hills 18-7 in the final frame. “We dictated the pace of the fourth quarter on both sides of the ball. Theo Flores and Traden Carter did a great job calming is down and getting us in position to execute our stuff. Black Hills can really shoot the ball. We forced them to beat us from 19 feet. The pace of play definitely helped us. Our conditioning level looked very good tonight and down the stretch it was apparent.”

Junior Isaac McGaffey had his third solid game to start the season, scoring a team-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting (67%) with seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.

Elma had balanced scoring with five players scoring at least eight points in the game.

Junior Tanner Moe and Carter scored nine points each – with carter dishing out a team-best five assists – while Flores and Matthew Wood scored eight each.

“Matthew Wood was the player of the game,” Ferrier said of the junior reserve who also pulled down four rebounds. “He came off the bench and was our spark.”

As a team, Elma had 36 rebounds and 14 assists while turning the ball over 10 times, numbers that usually equal wins in prep hoops.

”We are so incredibly proud of our team,” Ferrier said. “An early season, come from behind win, is great for the development of our new identity.”

Elma is set to host the Forks Spartans at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Black Hills 19 16 14 7 – 56

Elma 11 15 17 18 – 61

Scoring: Elma – McGaffey 19, Moe 9, Carter 9, Flores 8, Wood 8, Phan 3, Webb 2, Schneider 2, Olson 1.