Hoquiam made the plays down the stretch to erase an Elma lead and pick up a critical 60-51 league victory on Friday in Hoquiam.

Faced with falling further behind in the 1A Evergreen League, the Grizzlies (11-4 overall, 3-3 1A Evergreen League) trailed at the half and after three quarters before exploding for 22 points over the final eight minutes of the game.

The contest began in similar fashion to the last meeting between the two teams back on Jan. 4, as Elma (8-5, 2-3) took advantage of Hoquiam early foul troubles. Four Grizzlies recorded two fouls apiece while Elma forward AJ Holmes scored 15 of his team high 21 points in the first half.

Hoquiam senior center Owen McNeill hit three 3-pointers in the first half and the Hoquiam defense helped to keep the Grizzlies in the game, down 27-23 at the half.

“I was actually pretty happy about that because with our foul trouble, I was thinking ‘Can we just stay in this?’” Hoquiam head coach Jeff Niemi said of his team’s halftime deficit. “Owen with three 3’s in the first half kept us going because we were not scoring for awhile. That was huge.”

In the second half, Hoquiam whittled the deficit to 41-38 heading to the fourth quarter, where the Grizzlies outscored the Eagles 22-10.

The Grizzlies were led by senior guard Michael Lorton Watkins with 12 of his game high 25 points in the frame, including 7 of 8 from the free-throw line.

McNeill (9 points, 2 assists), Justice Stankavich (8 points, 4 rebounds), Templer (2 points, 4 steals), Zander Jump (4 points, 4 steals) and Aiden Butcher (4 points, 8 rebounds) each had significant contributions on the Hoquiam victory.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Elma’s Traden Carter (10) drives to the basket against Hoquiam’s Michael Lorton Watkins (12) during the Grizzlies’ 60-51 win on Friday at Hoquiam Square Garden.

As a team, Elma went 4 of 13 from the field in the fourth quarter (30.7%).

Elma was led by Holmes with 21 points on 9 of 14 shooting (64%) and five steals.

Senior Cason Seaberg had 13 points, four rebounds and two blocks in the game. The talented Elma guard was held to two points in the fourth quarter as Hoquiam’s defense focused on limiting his opportunities.

“We just kind of focused on Seaberg more in second half. Jake Templer and Timmy Higgins did a great job just chasing him around,” Niemi said. “(Seaberg) did just a little bit of everything against us last time, so we didn’t want him to be comfortable, that was the main thing. … If he did get (the ball), we just wanted to make sure we had help there.”

The Grizzlies went 19 of 43 from the field (44.1%) and committed 14 turnovers to 22 for the Eagles.

With the victory, Hoquiam leapfrogs Elma and sits a half-game ahead of the Eagles for third place in the 1A Evergreen League.

Elma hosts Napavine at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Hoquiam will take on Onalaska at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday in Hoquiam.

Elma 12 15 14 10 — 51

Hoquiam 11 12 15 22 — 60

Scoring: Elma — Holmes 21, Seaberg 14, Carter 6, Cain 5, Vessey 5. Hoquiam — Lorton Watkins 25, McNeill 9, Stankavich 8, Higgins 4, Jump 4, Butcher 4, Gordon 2, Hobucket 2, Templer 2.

Tenino 50, Montesano 33

Montesano is still searching for a league victory after a 50-33 loss to Tenino on Friday at Tenino High School.

The Bulldogs (3-12, 0-5) trailed 28-15 at the half and were outscored 17-10 in the third quarter to suffer their fifth straight 1A Evergreen League loss this season.

Standout junior forward Tyce Peterson scored 18 points to lead the Bulldogs.

Aside from Peterson, no other Bulldog finished with more than three points on the evening.

Tenino (11-6, 4-1) were led by Austin Gonia, who scored 17 of his game high 22 points in the first half.

Noah Schow added 21 points for the Beavers.

Montesano hosts first-place Eatonville at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Montesano 8 7 10 8 — 33

Tenino 10 18 17 5 — 50

Scoring: Montesano — Adams 3, Olsen 3, Bodwell 2, Damasiewics 1, Peterson 18, Bruland 1, Cobb 2, Taylor 3. Tenino — Gonia 22, Schow 21, Noonan 2, O’Connor 5.

Cheif Leschi 53, Raymond 50

A frantic comeback fell just short as Raymond lost to league-leading Chief Leschi 53-50 on Friday at Raymond High School.

The Seagulls (8-9, 4-5 2B Pacific) trailed by as much as 17 points in the second half before cutting the deficit down to three with just seconds remaining against the Warriors (13-2, 8-0).

Raymond struggled to find offense in the first half, scoring 20 points and trailing by 13 at halftime.

Down 17 early in the third quarter, Raymond began a comeback that eventually saw the Gulls climb to within three at 53-50 when Jarrod Gunderson hit a three with 2.3 seconds left in the game.

Raymond’s defense deflected the subsequent inbound pass off a Warriors defender, giving the ball back to Raymond with 0.7 left on the clock and a chance to send the game into overtime.

Gunderson got an open shot from the corner, but the attempt was off the mark as Raymond’s upset bid was thwarted.

“I was really proud of the way our guys competed tonight against Chief Leschi,” Raymond head coach Mike Tully said. “It was a great all-around team effort. Hopefully, we can keep the same effort and energy level going for the rest of the season.”

Senior guard Morgan Anderson led the Seagulls with 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals.

Talan Yearout had seven points and 10 rebounds for Raymond.

The loss drops the Seagulls to a tie with Forks for fourth place in the 2B Pacific League, a game behind third-place Ocosta.

Raymond plays at Forks at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Chief Leschi 17 16 9 12 — 53

Raymond 9 11 10 20 — 50

Scoring: Chief Leschi — Brown 18, Lewis 8, Lara 6, Earl 5, G. Dillon 4, James 3, Spino 3, Oyos 2, T. Dillon 2. Raymond — Anderson 16, Hutson 9, Yearout 7, Gunderson 6, Quintana 6, Medeiros 4, Heuy 2.

Ocosta 69, North Beach 18

Ocosta started Senior Night with a bang and rolled to a 69-18 victory over North Beach on Friday in Westport.

The Wildcats (8-8, 5-4 2B Pacific) started hot, scoring 26 points in a first-quarter performance that had the home crowd on its feet. Juan Huerta hit two early 3-pointers and scored eight points while Garrison Barnum and Josh Figueroa attacked the basket to score nine and six points, respectively, in the opening period.

Leading by 21 points after one quarter, Ocosta continued to pour it on in the second frame, outscoring North Beach (4-12, 2-7) 18-1 as Kayden Turner scored 11 of his team high 15 points in the period.

A 17-8 third quarter secured the Senior Night victory for the Wildcats.

Aside from Turner, Ocosta was led by senior Josh Figueroa (11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals), Kevin Agramon (10 points, 3 assists, steal) and Barnum (9 points, 2 assists, 6 steals).

The Wildcats shot 18 of 39 from the field (46.1%) and 9 of 24 from the free-throw line (37.5%).

“Our boys really came out with a ton of energy,” Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby said. “The boys really focused tonight on playing exceptional half-court defense by limiting the ball penetration and I thought we did an awesome job of that tonight. All the seniors: Josh Figueroa, Kevin Agramon, Garrison Barnum, Xander Prigmore, Juan Huerta, and Mark Lewis got on the board tonight and contributed to the win.”

The Hyaks were led by Jade Charley with seven points and shot 8 of 24 (33%) from the field.

With the win, Ocosta sits in third place in the league standings and will face Taholah at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Taholah High School.

North Beach will host league-leading Chief Leschi at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

North Beach 5 1 8 4 — 18

Ocosta 26 18 17 8 — 69

Scoring: North Beach — J. Charley 7, Curry 5, Hovland 2, K. Charley 2, EAstman 2. Ocosta — Turner 15, Figueroa 11, K. Agramon 10, BArnum 9, X. Prigmore 8, Huerta 8, T. Lewis 2, J. Agramon 2.