BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
Willapa Valley 62, Raymond 57
The old saying about rivalry games is you can throw the records out the window. When Willapa Valley and Raymond continued their longstanding feud on Friday, the phrase couldn’t have been more accurate.
Raymond gave 3rd-ranked Willapa Valley all it can handle before the Vikings emerged with a skin-of-their-teeth 62-57 victory on Friday.
“Tip of the cap to Raymond. They outplayed us for three-and-a-half quarter,” said Willapa Valley head coach Jay Pearson, whose team was down by seven with 2:53 left before bearing down to earn the win. “You can tell they wanted it more than us tonight.”
Led by Cole Enslow’s 18 points, the upstart Seagulls (3-9 overall, 3-7 Central 2B) had the heavily-favored Vikings (12-0) on the ropes late in the fourth quarter when Pearson called a timeout to try to rally his team.
“I said, ‘I wish I could tell you some magical answer, but you’re just going to have to give it all you got and your guy (you’re defending) doesn’t score,’” Pearson said of his late-game timeout speech. “Defense is going to win this game.”
Defense and a healthy dose of Willapa Valley’s top two scorers — Matt Pearson and Logan Walker.
Willapa Valley’s dynamic scoring duo got aggressive, hitting big shots and attacking the basket to get to the foul line to overtake Raymond late in the game. Over the final three minutes of the contest, Pearson went 4-for-5 from the free-throw line while Walker was a perfect 4-for-4 from the stripe.
“Nothing is ever given to you and you have to work and earn everything in this league,” Coach Pearson said. “Finally, a light kicked on that we better get to work.”
Raymond head coach Derek Rask was proud of his team despite the loss.
“I thought we executed our game plan very well. Our players played disciplined basketball, and we gave ourselves an excellent chance to win,” he said. “I’m proud of the effort we displayed tonight.”
Pearson scored a team-high 18 points while Walker had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Vikings junior forward Chad Flementis scored 14 points, including three 3-pointers in the first quarter, to keep the game close early on.
Willapa Valley’s Chad Flementis (10) drives the lane against Raymond’s Cesar Delgado on Thursday. (Photo by Larry Bale)
Raymond’s Cesar Delgado and McCartney Maden added 10 points apiece and Devine Souvannavanh scored five points and dished out a team-high eight assists on the evening.
“This was a fantastic and exciting rivalry game tonight,” Rask said. “Both teams played very hard, and it was a back and forth contest throughout.”
Coach Pearson was relieved to earn a tough league win on the road.
“It was a classic Raymond-Valley rivalry game,” Pearson said. “They outplayed us and probably deserved to win it. … Luckily for us, we turned the tide in the last three minutes.”
Willapa Valley 17 12 16 17 — 62
Raymond 14 14 16 13 — 57
Top Players: WV — Pearson (18 pts.), Walker (17 pts., 10 reb.), Flementis (14 pts.); Raymond — Enslow (18 pts.), C. Delgado (10 pts.), Maden (10 pts.), Souvannavanh (5 pts., 8 asst.).
Montesano 74, Tenino 35
The Bulldogs rebounded from a tough loss on Wednesday to defeat Tenino 74-35 on Friday in Montesano.
Junior guard Sam Winter paced Monte, filling up the stat sheet with a team-high 20 points, six rebounds, six assists and and five steals.
Shaydon Farmer added 15 points and eight rebounds and Evan Bates had 10 points and five rebounds for the Bulldogs (7-6, 1-1 Evergreen 1A).
Monte held Tenino to 29-percent shooting (14-for-49) from the field and held the Beavers to nine points or less in each quarter, which pleased Bulldogs head coach Doug Galloway after Monte suffered a 57-56 loss in its league opener to Hoquiam earlier in the week.
“The kids had great energy and played well together,” said Galloway, whose team shot 29-for-67 from the field. “It was a good team win.”
Logan Brewer scored a game-high 21 points to lead Tenino (8-4, 0-2).
Tenino 9 9 8 9 — 35
Montesano 19 19 20 16 — 74
Top Players: Montesano — Winter (20 pts., 6 reb., 6 asst., 5 stl.), Farmer (15 pts., 6 reb.), Bates (10 pts., 5 reb., 3 asst.); Tenino — Brewer (21 pts.).
Mary M, Knight 67, Lake Quinault 21
A tough night shooting led to Lake Quinault’s 67-21 loss to Mary M. Knight on Friday in Elma.
“It was kind of an off night shooting-wise and we couldn’t find a rhythm,” Lake Quinault head coach Chris Christiansen said. “It was a really tough game for us. … (Mary M. Knight) was ready and we’re just not quite there yet. Hopefully, next time we face them we’ll be ready.”
Thunder Mowitch led the Elks with 13 points and six rebounds for a Lake Quinault team that shot 8-for-47 from the field.
LQ 3 7 5 6 — 21
MMK 12 20 33 2 — 67
Top Players: LQ — Mowitch (13 pts., 6 reb.).
Ocosta 57, Pe Ell 54
Ocosta’s Cole Hatton hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final 15 seconds to help the Wildcats escape with a 57-54 victory over Pe Ell on Friday at Pe Ell High School.
“I’ve got twice as much gray hair as I had a month ago,” Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby said. “We did just enough to win tonight. It wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination.”
Ocosta (6-5, 6-4 Central 2B) held as much as a 16-point lead in the third quarter, but a combination of Wildcats turnovers and the Trojans (0-12, 0-10) hitting the offensive glass got Pe Ell back in the game.
The Trojans trimmed Ocosta’s lead to two points on multiple occasions in the fourth quarter, but Hatton and Kobe Beck, who was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, helped ice the game from the charity stripe.
Hatton finished with 18 points. Beck added 15 points and Richard Dueber had five blocks for Ocosta, which host Onalaska at 7 p.m. on Monday.
Trojans junior Jeremiah Yost scored 17 points on the night.
Pe Ell will take on Chief Leschi at 7 p.m on Tuesday at Chief Leschi High School.
Ocosta 9 18 19 11 — 57
Pe Ell 14 14 8 18 — 54
Top Players: Ocosta — Hatton (18 pts.), Beck (15 pts.), Dueber (5 blk.).
Taholah 58, North River 45
Taholah fell behind early but made up for it in the second quarter in a 58-45 win at North River on Friday night.
The Chitwhins (4-2 overall) got a big lift from Deven James who led the way with 25 points.
Luis Nieves kept North River in the game with 24 points in the contest but the Mustangs couldn’t keep pace late in the game.
North River head coach Sean Pearson said he was encouraged by his team’s effort even though his team ran out of gas at the end.
“They outlasted us. Our players did better than we normally do against them and I’m proud of their effort,” he said.
North River will take on Oakville at 5:45 at home on Tuesday while Taholah will prepare to face Okaville at 7 p.m. on Friday.
North River 19 10 6 10 – 45
Taholah 13 18 13 14 – 58
Top Players: North River – Luis Nievs (24 pts.) Kalvin Nieves 10; Taholah – James Dan (11 pts. Jauvon James-Juneau (12 pts.), James (24 pts.).
— Hasani Grayson, Grays Harbor News Group
GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL
Tenino 53, Montesano 44
Three Montesano players scored in double figures but it wasn’t enough as the Bulldogs lost a defensive struggle to Tenino 53-44 on Friday at Montesano High School.
The Bulldogs (7-6, 1-1 Evergreen 1A) led by eight midway through the second quarter, but Tenino (11-3, 2-0) caught Monte at 29-29 and used its momentum to take an eight-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Monte was able to cut the Beavers’ lead to four points in the final frame, but couldn’t get over the hump as Tenino earned the 1A Evergreen League victory.
Monte sophomore forward Zoee Lisherness scored 13 points to lead the Bulldogs. Her sister, Paige Lisherness, had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Glory Grubb had 12 points an four assists in the loss.
Tenino’s stat sheet also featured a pair of sisters. Kaylee Schow scored 18 points and Ashley Schow added 16 for the Beavers.
Monte shot 29 percent from the field, hitting 17-of-58 shots.
Tenino shot at a 47-percent clip on 23-of-49 shooting.
Monte head coach Julie Graves noted Katie Granstrom for a “tough defensive effort” for the Bulldogs, which faces Forks at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday at Forks High School.
Tenino 4 16 17 16 — 53
Montesano 4 13 12 15 — 44
Top Players: Montesano — Z. Lisherness (13 pts.), P. Lisherness (12 pts., 11 reb.), Grubb (12 pts., 4 stl.), Matti Ekerson (7 pts.); Tenino — K. Schow (18 pts.), A. Schow (16 pts.).
Mary M. Knight 47, Lake Quinault 8
Lake Quinault’s offense struggled from the floor in a 47-8 loss to Mary M. Knight on Friday in Elma.
Though they grabbed 29 rebounds as a team, the Elks (0-3) struggled on offense, going 0-for-23 from the field.
Elks captain Kat Neeland led Lake Quinault with 11 rebounds.
The Elks take on Taholah at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Taholah High School.
Lake Quinault 3 1 1 3 — 8
MMK 17 15 13 2 — 47
Top Players: LQ — Neeland (11 reb.).
Taholah 70, North River 20
Taholah used its transition game to run away from the North River Mustangs in a 70-20 blowout Friday night in Cosmopolis.
Taholah’s Denise Curleybear paced the Chitwhins offense with 19 points and was a big part of her team’s 45-16 halftime lead.
North River was led by Ruby Gumaeluis and Lena White, each with seven points.
The Chitwhins (5-3 overall) will play host to Lake Quinault at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday while the Mustangs will search for tier first win of the season when they take on Oakville at home at 7 p.m., also on Wednesday.
North River 6 10 4 2 — 20
Taholah 26 19 13 12 — 70
Top Players: North River – Ruby Gumaelius (7 pts.), Leana White (7 pts.); Taholah — Angel Ancheta (13 pts.), Nettie Mail (19 pts.), Denise Curleybear (17 pts.).
— Hasani Grayson, Grays Harbor News Group
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Grays Harbor 68, Skagit Valley 52
Grays Harbor will be heading into their conference schedule with some momentum after coming away with a 68-52 home victory over Skagit Valley on Friday night.
Grays Harbor (6-6 overall) put the game away with strong play in the fourth quarter after Skagit made things tight in the third.
Grays Harbor had a double-digit lead for the majority of the contestm, but the Chokers saw the lead trimmed to 46-42 by the end of the third.
Grays Harbor’s Sandin Kidder led the Chokers with 25 points and said defense needed to be the focus in the fourth quarter.
Grays Harbor’s Sandin Kidder puts up a scoop shot against Skagit Valley on Friday in Aberdeen. Kidder scored 25 points to lead all scorers in the contest. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
“We were just focusing on getting the defensive stops we needed. The offense was running smoothly except for the turnovers, so we just locked in on defense to keep the gap where it was.”
The Chokers put the game out of reach by outscoring the Cardinals 22-10 in the fourth with the help of efficient shooting. Grays Harbor shot 47.6 percent from the field in the final frame while Skagit shot 21 percent and made just three shots from the field in the final 10 minutes.
Grays Harbor head coach Chad Allan said his team came out with good energy but still looked a little rusty after the winter break.
“We always knew they were going to come back and stay in it, we just need to make sure we clean some things up coming out of break,” he said. “I thought our energy was really good today on defense. We got a lot of tips and forced 20 turnovers but our timing and our rhythm was a little off.”
Grays Harbor’s Keeley Teel, left, defends Skagit Valley’s Katie Skipworth during the Chokers’ 68-52 win on Friday in Aberdeen. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Grays Harbor will face Centralia on Wednesday at 6 p.m. to start its conference schedule.
Centralia qualified for the conference tournament last season and could prove to be an early season test for a young Chokers team.
Allan said his team will have to grow up fast at this point in the year.
“With a bunch of freshmen we have to make sure we mature as fast was we can. That was the last tune-up and now it’s league time,” he said. “Now it’s time to make sure we take care of things.”
Skagit Valley 8 12 22 10 – 52
GHC 19 11 16 22 – 68
Top Players: Kidder (25 pts., 13 reb., 4 asst), Charleea Armstrong (20 pts., 10 reb., 4 asst.); Skagit – Mieke Van Ess (12 pts., 9 reb.).
— Hasani Grayson, Grays Harbor News Group
