Hoquiam rallied from a double-digit first-half deficit to earn a 66-63 overtime victory over Elma on Friday at Elma High School.
It was Elma (0-1 overall, 1A Evergreen) that jumped out to an early 15-13 lead at the end of the first quarter before taking control of the game in the second frame as Hoquiam struggled from the field. The Eagles pushed their lead to double digits at 24-13 when Sawyer Witt hit a three from the elbow with 4:43 left to go in the first half.
Facing a 26-17 deficit at halftime, Hoquiam began to whittle away in the third quarter, getting to within four points on four separate occasions before Elma would regain control with baskets to delay the Grizzlies’ comeback.
It wouldn’t be until the final two minutes of the game that Hoquaim would finally break through.
Down 55-52 in the final 70 seconds of the game, Hoquiam’s Justice Stankavich scored on a reverse layup to bring the Grizzlies to within one point. After a costly Elma turnover, Abe Morales gave the Grizzlies the lead, burying a 3-pointer for a 57-55 lead with 36.2 seconds left in the game.
But on the Eagles’ next possession, Witt picked up a loose ball and scored to tie the game at 57-all.
Hoquiam’s final shot was off target as the game went to overtime.
In the extra period, Hoquiam took a 63-59 lead when sophomore point guard Michael Lorton-Watkins drilled a three from the top of the key with 1:33 left to go.
Twenty seconds later, Lorton-Watkins hit 1-of-2 free throws to stretch the lead to 64-59.
Witt responded by scoring four straight points to bring Elma to within a point at 64-63 with 31 seconds to go.
But Hoquiam (1-0) was not going to let this lead slip away. Morales and Lorton-Watkins each went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to go up 66-63 and a last-chance possession for Elma ended in a turnover at mid-court as Stankavich snatched up the loose ball to secure the win.
“In the first half, we were trying to find each other. We were trying to find our identity. We talked about it at halftime about making some adjustments offensively and defensively,” said Hoquiam head coach Kyle Blumberg, who earned his first victory as Grizzlies head coach. “For us it was build up the pressure, play defense like you never have before and let’s go out and win this game.”
Blumberg said a key to Hoquiam’s second-half turnaround was getting more aggressive on the offensive end of the floor.
“We got better because we attacked the basket in the second half. That opened up the 3-point shot where in the first half we were hocking it up (from 3-point range) a bit too much,” he said.
Lorton-Watkins led all scorers with 27 points — six of those in overtime — and hit five 3-pointers in the game.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam sophomore point guard scored a game-high 27 points, including seven points in overtime, to lead the Grizzlies to a 66-63 season-opening overtime victory over the Elma Eagles on Friday in Elma.
Stankavich added 16 points for the Grizzlies.
Elma was led by Sawyer Witt, who had 17 points on the evening.
Cobey Moore (14 points) and Logan Witt (11 points) also finished in double figures for the Eagles.
Blumberg, who got a ceremonial dousing of the team water bucket in the locker room after the game, said it was it “was a good overall win for us” but there is still much work to be done.
“It’s a new program, I’m a new coach and am trying to install certain things within the program,” he said. “It’s one win and we have a lot more to go.”
Hoquiam 13 4 18 22 9 — 66
Elma 15 11 11 20 4 — 63
Willapa Valley 47, Pe Ell 34
Willapa Valley moved to 2-0 on the season with a 47-34 victory over Pe Ell on Saturday in Pe Ell.
Tyler Adkins led the Vikings with 16 points while Landin Isaksen (10 pts.) and Beau Buchanan (5 pts., 9 reb.) were also cited for their efforts in the victory.
Willapa Valley led 23-14 at the half and 36-18 at the end of three quarters.
The Vikings defeated Columbia Adventist 61-32 on Tuesday in Vancouver to open the season.
Buchanan (14 pts., 12 reb.) and Riley Pearson (12 pts., 5 asst.) led Willapa Valley in Tuesday’s victory.
Willapa Valley 10 13 13 11 — 47
Pe Ell 3 11 4 16 — 34
Montesano 59, Tenino 32
Montesano opened the season with a 59-32 victory over Tenino on Friday in Montesano.
Caydon Lovell led the Bulldogs with a game-high 26 points while the Monte defense held the Beavers to 20 points in the first half and just 12 in the second half.
“I was really excited about our kids effort tonight,” Montesano head coach Doug Galloway said. “We haven’t had a lot of practice but I was really excited about the effort they put out.”
Tenino 11 9 10 2 — 32
Monte 20 17 9 13 — 59
Ocosta 50, North Beach 45
Ocosta’s Josh Figueroa hit four straight free throws in the final minute of the game to secure a 50-45 victory for Ocosta over North Beach on Friday in Ocean Shores.
North Beach (0-2) got out to an early 15-5 lead after Ocosta (3-0) started slow in the first quarter.
Ocosta’s Kobe Rudolph scored 13 of his team high 17 points in the second quarter to give the Wildcats a 26-21 lead at halftime.
In the final minute of the game, Ocosta was nursing a six-point lead when Kyle Fry hit a three to bring the Hyaks to within a bucket.
But Figueroa hit four straight 1-and-1 free throws to secure the Ocosta win.
North Beach’s Josh Bighead led all scorers with 18 points while Tre’Vaughn Greene added 12 points for North Beach.
Ocosta 11 15 14 10 — 50
North Beach 16 5 11 13 — 45
GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL
Tenino 45, Montesano 29
Montesano struggled to score in its opening game of the season, losing to Tenino 45-29 on Friday in Tenino.
The Bulldogs shot just 11-for-60 from the field as a team, 6-of-23 from the foul line and committed 33 turnovers in the loss.
“We did not match their intensity from the opening tip. We didn’t shoot the ball well and we didn’t take care of it either,” Montesano head coach Mark Mansfield said.
Monte trailed 24-12 at the half after scoring six points in each of the first two quarters and trailed by 20 points after scoring just three points in the third.
“We dug ourselves a big hole and couldn’t climb out of it,” Mansfield said. “Give Tenino credit, they came ready to play and hit some big shots.”
Paige Lisherness led Monte with eight points followed by Cassidy Golding (7 pts.) and Zoee Lisherness (6 pts.).
Montesano 6 6 3 14 — 29
Tenino 8 16 11 12 — 45
North Beach 49, Ocosta 45
North Beach defeated Ocosta 49-45 in overtime on Friday in Westport.
Ocosta (1-2) tied the game on a Miki Ness half-court shot to beat the fourth-quarter buzzer and send the game into overtime.
Ness led Ocosta with 16 points, six rebounds and four steals.
Alexia Bradley had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds while Annika Hollingsworth just missed a double-double of her own with nine points and nine rebounds.
Other scores
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Elma’s Sawyer Witt (13) avoids the block of Hoquiam’s Dane McMillan during the Grizzlies’ 66-63 season-opening overtime victory on Friday in Elma.
