North Beach won for the first time this season while honoring a Harbor coaching legend as we report on a weekend full of boys prep basketball games.

~~~

BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

North Beach 45, Northwest Christian 40

North Beach honored one of its legends in a 45-40 home-opening victory over Northwest Christian on Saturday in Ocean Shores.

The Hyaks (1-3 overall) picked up their first win of the season in their home-opener on “Larry Moore Appreciation Night,” where the longtime Hyaks head coach received a standing ovation while being honored as part of the festivities.

North Beach led 17-11 at the half until the Wolverines (2-4) exploded for 19 points in the third quarter – 12 by senior guard Dan Babber – as the Hyaks trailed 30-21 heading into the final period of play.

That’s when North Beach’s Jeremiah ‘JJ’ Eastman took over the game.

The sophomore guard was smoking hot in the final period of play, hitting 5 of 6 threes and scored 18 of his game-high 25 points to lead North Beach to a 24-10 fourth quarter and the victory.

In addition to the 25 points, Eastman had 11 rebounds and seven steals in a breakout performance.

“It felt really good to get our first win of the season in front of a packed crowed at Larry Moore’s ‘House of Pain’ with Larry Moore himself in attendance,” North Beach head coach Jordan Fry said. “JJ did an amazing job to knock down shot after shot in the fourth quarter, but it was really our defense that stole the show and allowed us to get all the good looks.”

NWC hit 4-of-12 shots (33%) in the fourth quarter.

Parker Johnson had six points while Sawyer Reither had five points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Hyaks.

PHOTO BY MATT CYPHERT North Beach head coach Jordan Fry (left) congratulates former head coach Larry Moore during a ceremony to honor the Hyaks legend in a game against Northwest Christian on Saturday at North Beach High School.

“It was awesome to get the very first win in my coaching career with my mentor and former coach in the audience,” Fry said. “We still have a lot to improve on, but our tenacity and grit really showed up today. Being down by nine points on the fourth quarter and coming back like we did is hard to do. We believe it’s the first step to something special out here on the beach.”

North Beach hosts Elma at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

NWC 5 6 19 10 – 40

North Beach 5 12 4 24 – 45

Scoring: NWC – Babber 22, Vahey 13, Payment 5. NB – Eastman 25, Johnson 6, Reither 5, Terrell 4, Russell 3, Rockey 2.

~~~

Aberdeen 78, Rochester 34

Aberdeen ended the 2024 portion of its season with a 78-34 win over Rochester on Saturday in Aberdeen.

The Bobcats (1-3) dominated in picking up their first win of the season.

Leading by four after one quarter of play, Aberdeen took a comfortable 36-17 halftime lead after a 24-point second quarter and put the game away with a 10-point differential in the third quarter.

Bobcats junior guard Isaac Garcia had 21 points on 8 of 16 shooting (50%) to go along with five steals and four rebounds to lead Aberdeen.

Jhacob Quezada (17 pts.) and Xanto Raya (10 pts., 2 stl.) also scored in double figures for the Cats, which shot 32 of 69 from the field (46.4%).

Aberdeen was 21 of 41 from inside the 3-point line (51.2%) and 11 of 28 from beyond it (39.3%) in its highest-scoring game of the young season.

The Bobcats had 34 rebounds and 22 steals to just nine turnovers as a team.

Aberdeen takes the winter break off and will be back in action against Montesano at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4 in Aberdeen.

Rochester 8 9 8 9 – 34

Aberdeen 12 24 18 24 – 78

Scoring: Aberdeen – Garcia 21, Quezada 17, Raya 10, Matthews 9, Martin 4, Howard 4, Jones 4, O’Brien 2, Kelly 2, Gladson 1.

~~~

Montesano 46, Shelton 30

Montesano didn’t break 50 points for the third time to start the season, but it was more than enough as the Bulldogs cracked the win column with a 46-30 victory over Shelton on Saturday at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.

The Bulldogs (1-2) held an 11-point lead after one quarter but saw the Highclimbers (1-4) cut the Monte lead to 33-27 entering the fourth quarter.

But the Bulldogs defense held Shelton to just three points in the final frame to secure the victory.

Bulldogs junior wing Mason Fry scored 20 points on 8-of-20 shooting (40%) and had five rebounds, three steals and an assist in victory.

Junior Guard Terek Gunter went 6 of 11 from the floor (54.5%) to score 15 points for the Bulldogs.

Monte went 16 of 48 as a team from the field (33%), and had 24 rebounds and six steals to 14 turnovers as a team.

Montesano plays at Centralia at 7 p.m. on Monday.

Shelton 2 10 15 3 – 30

Montesano 13 9 11 11 – 46

Scoring: Shelton – Sylvester 7, Phipps 6, Parsons 5, Holzgrove 4, Gott 4, Kulback 3, Leth 1. Montesano – Fry 20, Gunter 15, Painter 5, Co. Grubb 4, Bruland 2.

~~~

Willapa Valley 56, Pe Ell 30

After starting off the season 0-2, Willapa Valley has now won three-straight games with a 56-30 drubbing over Pe Ell on Saturday at Pe Ell High School.

The Vikings (3-2) had three players score in double figures and had the game well in hand by halftime, leading 33-5 at the break.

“Our goal was to set the tone defensively, and we did a great job of doing that in the first half,” Valley head coach Derek Rask said. “I thought our effort was fantastic, and it led to quality offense. It’s always tough to win at Pe Ell, so our preparation and approach to the game were excellent tonight. “

Senior point guard Nathan Fluke had a team-best 20 points while junior center J.B. Russell had 11 points and six rebounds for Valley.

Blane King (10 pts., 4 stl.) also scored in double figures while Brody Ritzman led the Vikings with seven rebounds.

Valley looks to extend the winning streak when it faces Raymond-South Bend at 7 p.m. on Monday at Willapa Valley High School.

Willapa Valley 15 18 13 10 – 56

Pe Ell 4 1 15 10 – 30

Scoring: WV – Fluke 20, Russell 11, King 10, Swartz 7, Ritzman 2, Sliva 2, Lusk 2, Keeton 2.

~~~

Crescent 68, Ocosta 56

Ocosta lost for the first time this season with a 68-56 defeat to Crescent on Saturday in Westport.

Despite outshooting Crescent 81-44, the Wildcats (3-1) hit just 22% of their attempts while the Loggers (4-2) shot at a 50% clip.

“Well, it is said that the NBA is a make or miss league and that definitely holds true in high school basketball as well,” Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby said. “Tonight’s game came down to Crescent making us pay for every little error on defense … The percentage difference was just too much to overcome. We had plenty of chances to make a run tonight, we just couldn’t string enough makes together to make it happen. Defensively, we did not play up to our standard and they made us pay.”

Senior guard Kayden Turner scored 20 points to go along with four steals while 6-foot-5 freshman post Sonny Beard added 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Wildcats.

Ocosta plays at North Mason High School at 7 p.m. on Monday.

Crescent 13 17 22 16 – 68

Ocosta 16 9 15 22 – 56

Scoring: Crescent – Love 27, H. Bourm 16, L. Sprague 14, L. Bourm 5, Thompson 4, J. Sprague 2. Ocosta – Turner 20, Beard 14, Welch 7, Agramon 5, Salis 4, Prigmore 4, Priest 2.

~~~

FRIDAY BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Forks 67, Elma 48

The way the game started was much preferable to how it finished for the Elma Eagles.

Despite getting the early jump, Elma was dominated by Forks in the second half of a 67-48 loss on Friday at Elma High School.

The Eagles (3-1 overall) were hot at the start, opening the game on an 11-3 run capped by a three from junior guard Tanner Moe.

Elma senior guard Traden Carter’s jumper just before the buzzer put the Eagles up 16-9 at the end of one quarter of play.

Carter photo

Forks (5-0) chipped away at the lead throughout the second quarter and eventually caught the Eagles on a basket in the paint by sophomore forward Ty Rowley, tying the game at 25-all with 2:13 left in the first half.

The Eagles would regain the lead on a three by junior guard Matthew Wood with 55 seconds to play in the third quarter, but Rowley responded with a basket at the other end to give the Spartans a 29-28 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, Elma’s dam broke and it was Rowley that burst through.

The Spartans’ 6-foot-3 forward scored 11 of his game-high 24 points in the third as Forks’ lead extended to as much as 17 points in the frame.

Elma got as close as 12 points when senior guard Theo Flores stole the ball and sent an outlet pass to Isaac McGaffey, who scored to make it a 53-41 game with 6:18 on left in the fourth quarter.

But Forks continued to pound the boards and run the fast-break to push its lead to 21 points at 67-46 in the final minute of the game.

“I thought we were a hair fatigued tonight, but that doesn’t matter. Effort is effort and we should be able to do the effort things and the dirty work when the game is on the line,” Elma head coach Matt Ferrier said. “And we just didn’t do that tonight.”

Rebounding turned out to be a determining factor as Forks held a 44-28 advantage on the glass, including 14-6 on the offensive boards.

“You are going to lose games every single night if you get outrebounded by that many double digits,” Ferrier said.

Forks’ rebounding, particularly on the offensive glass, led to a huge margin in shots taken in favor of the Spartans. Forks took 78 total shots to 55 for Elma, including converting 22-of-41 shots in the paint (54%), where most of the Spartans’ damage was done.

“We went away from doing some key things. We saw a few layups miss. We saw a few free throws miss and all of a sudden we were starting to get down while they were starting to get confident and comfortable,” Ferrier said. “Once they smelled some blood in the water, it was all over for us. We got pounded in our own house, which is unreal. It’s the first time since I’ve been coaching here that we left the gym after a loss feeling that we got the (obscenity) kicked out of us.”

In addition to Rowley’s 24 points, the junior had over 20 rebounds in the game.

Flores photo

Elma was led by Flores with 12 points while Carter (11 pts.), McGaffey (10 points, 13 rebounds) and Wood (10 pts., 4 reb.) each scored in double digits for the Eagles.

“We’re going to watch video tape and take a peek at us getting the (obscenity) kicked out of us and show (the players) what, how and why we got beat up and down the court and on the offensive glass and get better at it,” Ferrier said.

Elma plays at North Beach High School at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Forks 9 20 20 18 – 67

Elma 16 12 8 12 – 48

Scoring: Forks – Rowley 24, Lausche 12, Barajas 8, Foster 6, Olson 5, Lohrengel 5. Elma – Flores 12, Carter 11, McGaffey 10, Wood 10, Moe 5.

~~~

Black Hills 61, Montesano 36

Montesano dropped its second game to open the season with a 61-36 loss to Black Hills on Friday in Tumwater.

The Bulldogs (0-2) struggled at the start, committing eight turnovers and hitting just 2-of-12 shots to score four points and trail by 11 at the end of one quarter of play.

Monte trimmed the deficit to six by halftime thanks to 5-of-13 shooting and just one turnover.

With the Bulldogs trailing 38-29 entering the fourth quarter, the Wolves (3-2) outscored Monte 23-7, with six different players hitting at least one shot from the field in the frame.

Montesano shot 3 for 13 and had seven turnovers in the period.

Junior wing Mason Fry led Montesano with 12 points and five rebounds.

Sophomore post Caden Grubb had eight points and a team-best nine rebounds for the Bulldogs.

Montesano takes on Shelton at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Moda Center in Portland.

Montesano 4 13 12 7 – 36

Black Hills 15 8 15 23 – 61

Scoring: Montesano – Fry 12, Ca. Grubb 8, Co. Grubb 6, Painter 5, Gunter 2, Dowler 2. Black Hills – Morgan 15, Q. Morrill 14, T. Morrill 11, Beck 9, Buhre 4, Roberson 3, Faught 3.

~~~

Other games

North Beach 45, Northwest Christian 39

Naselle 68, Taholah 47

GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL

Willapa Valley 43, Mary M. Knight 35

Willapa Valley opened up 1B Coastal League play with a 43-35 win over Mary M. Knight on Friday at Willapa Valley High School.

The Vikings (2-1, 1-0 1B Coastal) were led by junior forward Rilyn Channell, who had a double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds.

Valley junior guard Lauren Matlock had 10 points and five steals while junior center Paisley Hurley had two points and a game-high six blocks in the victory.

”It may not have been a pretty league win, but the girls battled until the end and came out ahead,” said Valley head coach Dawn Keeton, whose team hadn’t played a game since Dec. 5. “It’s hard having a week in between games early in the season. We’re trying some new things and struggled at times, but that’s how we get better is to struggle. We adjusted and fixed some things as we went along, which is what we should be doing early in the season.”

Valley faces Pe Ell in a non-league game at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday at Pe Ell High School.

Mary M. Knight 14 9 12 8 – 35

Willapa Valley 13 5 13 4 – 43

Scoring: WV – Channell 13, Matlock 10, Keeton 6, Merkel 5, Fluke 4, Ashley 3, Hurley 2.

~~~

Other games

Naselle 36, Taholah 30