A lengthy fourth-quarter run allowed the Willapa Valley Vikings to pull away from the Hoquiam Grizzlies in a 52-39 victory on Wednesday in Hoquiam.

In a non-league matchup of two talented and intriguing Twin Harbors teams, the Vikings used an 11-0 run over an approximate six-minute span in the fourth quarter to pick up the win.

The two teams traded blows for much of the first quarter until Hoquiam (2-1 overall) took a 10-7 lead on two-straight buckets from high-scoring senior guard Michael Lorton Watkins.

The Grizzlies took a 13-7 lead when senior forward Justice Stankavich scored on a creative up-and-under move with 2:31 left in the frame.

But during a timeout, Willapa Valley head coach Jay Pearson changed his defense, putting a shadow on Lorton Watkins to limit his touches.

“I asked my brother (Vikings assistant coach Jon Pearson), ‘How many points are we going to let Lorton Watkins score before we box-and-1 on him?’” Jay Pearson said.

The Vikings head coach tasked either Wil Clements or Kolten Fluke with staying attached to Lorton Watkins to deny the Grizzlies sharpshooter the ball as well as contest any shots.

“We’ve been playing Hoquaim since third-grade basketball,” said Vikings senior guard Riley Pearson, noting how familiar Willapa Valley is with the skill set of Lorton Watkins. “We took a time out, made an adjustment and just made sure he couldn’t catch the ball.”

“Kolten (Fluke) and Wil (Clements) did a fabulous job chasing him,” Jay Pearson said.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam guard Michael Lorton Watkins (12) is shadowed by Willapa Valley’s Kolten Fluke during the Vikings’ 52-39 win on Wednesday in Hoquiam.

Willapa Valley closed out the quarter with two consecutive baskets from senior forward Garrett Keeton — both after grabbing offensive rebounds — to trim Hoquiam’s lead to 13-11 at the end of one frame.

In the second quarter, a jump shot from Hoquiam senior guard Zander Jump put the Grizzlies up 15-11 early before the two teams would trade leads three times throughout the period.

Willapa Valley would take a 19-17 lead on a three from sophomore guard Nathan Fluke followed a few plays later by a Stankavich bucket off a step-through to put Hoquiam up 21-19.

The Vikings would take a 22-21 lead on a Nathan Fluke free throw and took a 24-21 advantage into halftime off a pair of Keeton free throws with under 15 seconds to go in the second quarter.

Willapa Valley went cold from the floor and committed multiple turnovers in the third quarter as Hoquiam made its move.

After the Vikings went up by eight early in the second half after two straight baskets from Derek Fluke — a three followed by a baseline runner off an assist by Riley Pearson — Hoquiam went on a 9-0 run.

Lorton Watkins hit a three from the corner to spark the run at the 5:28 mark of the third, with senior center Kort Gordon capping the run with a bucket in the paint off a nice bounce pass from senior guard Timmy Higgins with 2:03 left on the clock, giving Hoquiam a 30-29 lead.

A pair of Riley Pearson free throws temporarily gave the Vikings the lead at 31-30 with 1:14 left, but Hoquiam senior Owen McNeill buried a three with just 18 seconds left on the clock to give Hoquiam a 33-31 lead entering the fourth quarter.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam guard Timmy Higgins (10) blocks the shot of Willapa Valley’s Wil Clements during a 52-39 loss on Wednesday in Hoquiam.

“We were second-guessing ourselves in that third quarter,” Jay Pearson said. “Until the last two minutes of the quarter, we scored three points. We said, ‘We’re shooting free throws the rest of the game. Catch the ball, be strong with it and attack the basket. Get to the free-throw line.’ … These are games we need to get better to go where we want to go.”

A Keeton three followed by a McNeill baseline jumper opened the fourth quarter and had Hoquiam up 35-34 before the wheels came off for the Grizzlies.

Hoquiam head coach Jeff Niemi was called for a technical foul after there was no call on a Lorton Watkins drive to the basket that ended with a collision and multiple players down on the court.

Riley Pearson made 1-of-2 free throws and was followed by Derek Fluke scoring of an offensive rebound to put Willapa Valley up 37-35 with just over five minutes to go.

A few minutes later, Derek Fluke would score off an assist from Keeton as Willapa Valley beat Hoquiam’s half-court trap to go up 45-35 — the first double-digit lead for either team.

The bleeding didn’t stop for Hoquiam until McNeill scored off an offensive board to make it a 45-37 game with just over a minute left.

A pair of Stankavich free throws pulled Hoquiam closer at 45-39 with 50.7 seconds remaining, but Willapa Valley hit five of its next eight free throws to secure the victory, with Derek Fluke grabbing his own rebound off a missed free throw and scoring a buzzer beater to end the game.

“We took a timeout, (coaches) said ‘calm down,’ we got a couple of steals and got up by 10,” Riley Pearson said. “We never looked back.”

One day after opening the season with a physical win over Columbia Adventist head coach Jay Pearson dubbed “ugly,” Willapa Valley decided to take off the reigns on Wednesday.

“I think the key tonight was we were pretty relaxed and confident,” he said. “I knew we couldn’t play that bad again. I said, ‘It’s a non-league game. Green light. Don’t second-guess yourself. If you’re open, shoot it. Play pedal to the metal and let’s go for it.’ And I think they did. They just had fun and I liked that.”

Four Vikings scored in double figures as Keeton (13 points, 7 rebounds), Derek Fluke (12 pts., 12 reb.), Kolten Fluke (11 pts.) and Riley Pearson (10 pts.) all scored at least 10 in the game.

Willapa Valley shot 38% from the floor on 15-of-40 shooting, including 4-of-14 (29%) from 3-point range and 18-of-33 (55%) from the free-throw line.

Willapa Valley grabbed 33 rebounds as a team, 13 on the offensive end.

“In practice, we’ve been working on blocking out and rebounding and that’s probably one of the best rebounding games I’ve seen,” Riley Pearson said.

Hoquiam was led by Stankavich and McNeill with 10 points apiece while Lorton Watkins had nine, three of those in the second half.

Hoquiam hosts North Beach at 7 p.m. Friday.

Willapa Valley plays at Pe Ell at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Willapa Valley 11 13 7 21 — 52

Hoquiam 13 8 12 6 — 39

Scoring: WV — Keeton 13, D. Fluke 12, K. Fluke 11, Pearson 10, N. Fluke 4, Clements 2. H — Stankavich 10, McNeill 10, Lorton Watkins 9, Jump 6, Gordon 2, Hobucket 2.

Elma 64, Columbia-White Salmon 50

Elma overcame a long bus ride and some early sluggish play to pick up a 64-50 non-league victory on the road against Columbia-White Salmon on Wednesday.

The Eagles were paced by senior guard Cason Seaberg, who scored a team-high 24 points, including three 3-pointers and 11 points in the first quarter as Elma had little energy after a three-and-a-half hour bus ride.

“We played lethargic in the first quarter,” Elma head coach Matt Ferrier said. “Zero energy or intensity whatsoever.”

Elma’s Traden Carter got going in the second quarter, scoring 11 of his 14 points in the frame to stake the Eagles to a 29-15 lead at halftime.

The Eagles defense tightened up after the half to lead Elma to a 45-25 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Both teams played their reserves in the final period as Elma moved to 3-1 on the season with the victory.

“To go on the road, fight adversity and figure out how to win was crucial,” Ferrier said, commending Jonah Martinez’s eight points off the bench. “We are still learning as a program and our guys are buying in.”

Elma hosts Forks at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Elma 15 14 16 19 — 64

CWS 10 5 10 25 — 50

Scoring: E — Seaberg 24, Carter 14, Cain 9, Martinez 8, Studer 3, Meadows 2, Skeem 2, Vessey 1, Flores 1.

Other scores

Black Hills 78, Aberdeen 45