BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Aberdeen 67, Hoquiam 64 (2 OT)

For those that left early, they missed out.

For the better part of three-and-a-half quarters, Friday evening’s part two of the boys basketball iteration of the Myrtle Street Rivalry was a ho-hummer as Aberdeen led by 18 points and appeared to be cruising to victory.

Somebody forgot to tell the Hoquiam Grizzlies.

Hoquiam came roaring back, hitting buzzer-beaters to tie the game at then end of regulation and the first overtime only to see Aberdeen hold on for a 67-64 double-overtime victory at Hoquiam High School.

Aberdeen (4-4 overall) held a seven point lead after the first quarter and stretched it to as much as 12 points in the first half.

Hoquiam’s fortunes worsened as the Grizzlies went ice cold from the field in the third quarter. The Grizzlies (4-5) went nearly seven minutes of the quarter without a field goal until Dane McMillan hit a shot from down low to cut the deficit to 42-29 at the 1:03 mark.

Hoquiam’s Dane McMillan puts up a shot against Aberdeen’s Romeo Sanchez on Friday at Hoquiam High School. McMillan scored 12 points in the Grizzlies’ loss. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)

But Aberdeen’s Wyatt Johnson hit the first of what would turn out to be several buzzer-beaters in the game, drilling a 3-pointer to give the Bobcats a 47-29 lead heading into the final eight minutes. The Bobcats outscored Hoquiam 14-2 in the quarter and appeared to be well on their way to an easy victory.

Hoquiam took the majority of the fourth quarter to chip away at the seemingly insurmountable lead. The Grizzlies went on a 11-2 run over the first half of the frame and cut Aberdeen’s lead to within 10 at 49-40 on a Garrett Dick jumper with 4:28 left in the game.

Down 51-43 with less than two minutes left, another jumper from Dick cut Aberdeen’s lead to 51-45 and the Grizzlies began to foul to slow down the game and force the Bobcats to secure the victory from the free-throw line.

But Aberdeen struggled down the stretch from the charity stripe, hitting on just 4-of-14 free throws in the quarter, including six straight misses over the final 40 seconds.

Hoquiam got to within a point at 51-50 after Cameron Bumstead scored on a layup with 18 seconds left.

Aberdeen took a 53-50 lead when Nick Farrer was fouled on an offensive rebound after another Aberdeen free-throw miss and subsequently hit two free-throws with 14.4 seconds left.

With one last gasp, Hoquiam looked to get the ball to Bumstead for the final shot, but Aberdeen denied any open looks for the Grizzlies’ sharpshooter.

The ball ended up in the hands of McMillan, who hoisted up a three from the elbow as time expired. The junior guard’s shot splashed the net to tie the game as a roar erupted from the Grizzly faithful.

In the first overtime period, the teams traded leads until Aberdeen took a 59-56 advantage after senior guard Gio Pisani hit two free throws with 35 seconds left.

After a Hoquiam miss followed by an offensive rebound, the Grizzlies had the ball under the Aberdeen basket with 13 seconds left. Bumstead passed the ball in to the corner to Zach Elsos, who then fed the ball to Dick at the elbow. Dick then fed the ball to Bumstead, who flashed to the corner and buried a three to tie the game with six ticks left on the clock.

Aberdeen quickly got it to the front court, but Farrer’s desperation jumper as time expired was off, sending the game to a second overtime.

The Bobcats wouldn’t be denied in the second period of extra time, taking a 66-61 lead on a Johnson drive and layup followed by a Pisani jumper.

But Hoquiam, which refused to lay down in regulation, continued to fight in overtime. Bumstead hit a three with 8.2 seconds left to make it a 66-64 ballgame and, after Johnson made 1-of-2 free throws at the other end, had a chance to tie the game again with a last-second buzzer-beater. With 5.5 seconds left, Bumstead got the ball, dribbled to the top of the arc and left fly a three, but his shot was off to the left as Aberdeen escaped with a thrilling 67-64 victory.

“We were just all relieved,” Aberdeen point guard Ethan Morrill said after Bumstead’s shot missed. “We were trying to close out and recognize (Bumstead) because he’s their main scorer. He shot a deep 3-pointer and luck happens I guess. … It was just amazing. I can’t describe how happy I am that we won.”

Johnson led Aberdeen with 15 points. Jayden Watson added 14 for the Bobcats while Farrer and Morrill scored eight and seven points, respectively.

Bumstead led Hoquiam with 17 points followed by Dick (15 pts.) and McMillan (12 pts.). Elsos added nine points for the Grizzlies.

Elma 58, Eatonville 40

Elma overcame a slow start and got 17 points from Nick Church en route to a 58-40 win over Eatonville on Friday in Elma.

“We had a slow start and too many turnovers early, but our defense was solid throughout,” Elma head coach Jeff Niemi said. “We thought if we could keep getting stops, we’d go on a run and that run came in the fourth quarter.”

Elma (5-2) outscored Eatonville (1-7) 26-13 over the final eight minutes of the game.

The Eagles shot f 50% from the field (18-36) including 7-of-15 from 3-point range while holding the Cruisers to 34% shooting (16-47).

Sawyer Witt added 15 points for Elma.

Eatonville 5 13 9 13 — 40

Elma 10 11 11 26 — 58

Life Christian 66, Willapa Valley 59

Willapa Valley climbed back from an early double-digit deficit but it was Life Christian that made the plays down the stretch as the Eagles defeated the Vikings 66-59 in a critical Pacific League game on Friday in Menlo.

Down 17-7 after the first quarter, Willapa Valley (5-4 overall, 5-2 Pacific 2B) climbed back into the game and were within a point at 57-56 with approximately two minutes left in the contest.

But the Eagles’ Omari Maulana scored followed by a Willapa Valley miss led to the Vikings having to foul the rest of the way.

Maulana scored 21 points to lead LCA (6-2, 6-0).

Chad Flemetis led Willapa Valley with 21 points to go along with six rebounds.

Logan Walker had 20 points, 16 of those in the first half on four 3-pointers, and five rebounds for the Vikings.

Life Christian 17 19 19 11 — 66

Willapa Valley 7 19 21 12 — 59

GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL

Raymond’s Kyra Gardner is swarmed by Ilwaco defenders as she puts up a shot against the Fishermen on Friday in Raymond (Photo by Larry Bale)

Ilwaco 49, Raymond 35

In a battle of the Pacific League’s top two teams, Ilwaco’s defense proved to be too much as the Fishermen handed Raymond its first league loss of the season 49-35 on Friday in Raymond.

Knotted at 27-27 at halftime, Ilwaco (8-1, 7-0 Pacific 2B) used its defense to force Raymond (8-1, 6-1) into multiple turnover and rushed shots, leading to an eight-point half for the Seagulls, all of those points coming in the third quarter.

Raymond was also outrebounded 55-35, including 24-13 on the offensive glass.

Neither team shot well as Ilwaco went 18-for-68 (26%) from the field while Raymond went 10-for-55 (18%), including just 4-of-24 from beyond the arc.

Ilwaco’s Erika Glenn led all scorers with 23 points.

Kyra Gardner, who was swarmed all night by multiple Ilwaco defenders, led the Seagulls with 18 points.

Willapa Valley 65, Life Christian 37

Katie Adkins scored a game-high 26 points and Britney Patrick had a double-double as Willapa Valley earned a 65-37 victory over Life Christian Academy on Friday in Menlo.

Willapa Valley (6-3, 5-2 Pacific 2B) led 35-14 at the half and outrebounded LCA (1-7, 1-6) 43-16 for the game.

The Vikings had just seven turnovers going into the fourth quarter.

Adkins added eight rebounds and three steals in her complete-game effort.

Patrick scored 17 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had six assists in the victory.

Jaelyn Turner led the Eagles with 20 points.

Life Christian 5 9 11 12 — 37

Willapa Valley 16 19 22 8 — 65

Aberdeen 56, Hoquiam 33

Aliyah Tageant scored 21 points to lead Aberdeen (4-5) to a 56-33 victory over Hoquiam (1-8) on Friday at Hoquiam High School.

Emma Walsh added nine points for the Bobcats, which led 30-16 at halftime.

Taylor Strom led Hoquiam with eight points. Maddie German scored six points for the Grizzlies.

Aberdeen 14 16 10 16 — 56

Hoquiam 9 7 8 9 — 33

Montesano 52, King’s Way Christian 37

Montesano’s Zoe Hutchings scored 23 points to lead the Bulldogs to a 52-37 victory over King’s Way Christian on Friday in Vancouver.

Monte (4-6) shot just 3-for-11 in the first quarter but found its footing and opened up a 42-21 lead by the end of the third quarter.

The Bulldogs defense held KWC (2-6) to a single point in the first quarter and 21 points through three quarters.

Paige Lisherness added 10 points for the Bulldogs.

The Knights’ Laurel Quinn and Kinsey Tindol led KWC with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Montesano 7 14 21 10 — 52

King’s Way Christian 1 10 10 16 — 37

Pe Ell 35, South Bend 28

Pe Ell’s Annika Mason scored a game-high 16 points as the Trojans overcame a 15-0 deficit to defeat South Bend 35-28 on Friday at Pe Ell High School.

South Bend (3-6, 3-4 Pacific 2B) led 15-2 after the first quarter but scored just 13 points over the final three quarters.

“In the second quarter, we couldn’t hit a bucket to save our soul,” South Bend head coach Randy Carlson said. “In the third quarter, the wheels fell off.”

South Bend was down by seven in the fourth quarter when leading scorer Alise Rohr, who had 10 points in the game, fouled out.

South Bend 15 3 5 5 — 28

Pe Ell 2 8 15 10 — 35

Muckleshoot 61, Taholah 59 (OT)

Taholah climbed out of a 10-point hole to start the fourth quarter and force the game into overtime, but it was Muckleshoot that emerged with a 61-59 victory in overtime on Friday at Taholah High School.

Taholah took a six point lead early in overtime, but turnovers ended up being the downfall for the Chitwhins as the Lady Kings overtook Taholah in the final two minutes of overtime.

Taholah was led by Angel Ancheta and Natayla Russell, each of whom scored 14 points.

Nevelen Yellow Bear (14 points), Resa Starr (13 points) and Leila Sam (12 points) led the Lady Kings.