Montesano wrapped up its regular season with a perfect league record after a 65-31 victory on Friday at Hoquiam Square Garden.
Though head coach Mark Mansfield felt his Bulldogs got of to a “sluggish start,” Monte (18-3, 8-0 1A Evergreen) took a 13-3 lead after the first quarter and led 32-14 at the half.
Monte put some distance between itself and Hoquiam (12-7, 5-3) after erupting for 24 points in the third quarter – 12 combined from talented sisters McKynnlie and Evanjillie “Jillie” Dalan – to take a comfortable 56-23 lead into the fourth period.
“Give credit to Hoquiam. Coach (Chad) Allan has done a really nice job with those girls and they played hard throughout,” Mansfield said. “We felt we were just a little bit off tonight, but we had a really good third quarter and our defense picked up and did some nice things. It was a good way to end the regular season.”
Montesano’s Maia Young (14 points), McKynnlie Dalan (12 points, 6 steals) and Jillie Dalan (10 points, 11 rebounds) each scored in double digits for a Bulldogs team that shot 25 for 81 from the field (30.8%) and 12 for 23 from the charity stripe (52.1%).
Hoquiam was led by senior center Chloe Kennedy, who had a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds to go along with eight blocks.
Ashlinn Cady (9 points, 8 rebounds), Ella Folkers (7 points, 5 rebounds) and Graci Bonney-Spradlin (3 points, 4 assists, 4 steals) also made significant contributions for the Grizzlies, which shot 28% on 11-of-40 shooting from the field.
“What a great opportunity for us tonight to play one of the top five 1A teams this year and improve our own program.” Allan said. “This game came at a great time to get us ready for playoffs next week. I could not have been prouder of my team working so hard together and bounce back from the last time we played Montesano. … The whole team played their roles well tonight and started to see some success against a great team. … I believe we have not played our best basketball yet.”
Monte’s defense was once again its key to victory on Friday, out-rebounding the Grizzlies 39-20 with 28 steals off 35 Hoquiam turnovers in the game.
“Montesano comes at you like a tsunami and as a team they are so balanced in scoring, but they are always led by our alpha-league player McKynnlie Dalan and company,” Allan said, referencing Monte’s all-state star. “I hate playing against her, but love watching her lead her team.”
Montesano will enter the 1A District 4 Tournament as the league’s No. 1 seed and will host La Center at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Hoquiam is the league’s No. 2 seed and will host Columbia-White Salmon at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Montesano 13 19 24 9 – 65
Hoquiam 3 11 9 8 – 31
Scoring: Montesano – Young 14, M. Dalan 12, E. Dalan 10, Prom 8, Stanfield 7, King 6, Karr 5, York 3. Hoquiam – Kennedy 10, Cady 9, Folkers 7, Bonney-Spradlin 3, Gordon 2.
BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
Willapa Valley 51, Mossyrock 49
Willapa Valley locked up the 1B Columbia Valley League title with a thrilling 51-49 victory over Mossyrock on Friday at Mossyrock High School.
Willapa Valley (16-5, 12-0) led 22-21 after Mossyrock (13-4, 8-2) stayed close, bolstered by a large and excited Senior Night crowd.
Willapa Valley fell behind 39-34 at the end of the third quarter and was just eight minutes away from having to share the league title before a fourth-quarter comeback led to the narrow victory.
Leading by two points with 40 seconds left, Willapa Valley senior guard Riley Pearson drilled two clutch free throws and – after Mossyrock scored to cut the lead to a point — Willapa Valley senior Wil Clements was fouled with 17 seconds left.
Clements made 1 of 2 free throws to put Valley up 51-49 with one possession left.
A mishandled ball on Mossyrock’s ensuing possession led to a mad scramble for the loose ball as time expired.
The win gives Willapa Valley the league title and a long bye until it sees its first playoff action, which will be in the district semifinals on Feb. 15 in Menlo.
“Heck of a game, big-time game,” Willapa Valley head coach Jay Pearson said. “In the first half, I’ve never seen us play that tight. … we missed 6-7 chippies that we need to make in big games. … In the second half, we were a little more relaxed and attacked the basket. …That was the difference in the game, we started making those chippies we were missing in the first half.”
Willapa Valley was led by Pearson and Derek Fluke, with 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Senior forward Garrett Keeton also had an impactful, if not interesting game on Friday.
Keeton “had the game of his season,” according to Coach Pearson, scoring seven points, grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out five assists and recording a pair of steals to help fire up the Valley comeback.
“They dared Garrett Keeton to beat them and he did,” Coach Pearson said. “He was attacking the basket, scored on two consecutive drives, made some incredible passes I’ve never dreamed of and hit a big three when they backed off of him.”
This all after Keeton left the game early in the first quarter after getting one of his molars knocked out during some physical play.
“I thought he was done for the night, then he came back out (of the locker room) and said ‘I’m ready to go coach.’” Pearson explained. “That’s a competitor.”
Senior Kolten Fluke added nine points, nine rebounds and five assists for Valley, which went 35% from the field on 17-of-49 shooting and was 14 of 19 from the free-throw line (74%).
Willapa Valley 13 9 12 17 — 51
Mossyrock 10 11 18 10 — 49
Willapa Valley – Pearson 15, D. Fluke 13, K. Fluke 9, Keeton 7, N. Fluke 4, Clements 3. Mossyrock – K. Kolb 9, E. Kolb 17, M. Cooper 7, Young 8, L. Cooper 3, Isom 5.
Elma 48, Eatonville 36
Elma picked up arguably its biggest win of the year with a 48-36 victory over Eatonville in the regular-season finale on Friday in Elma.
The Eagles (4-12, 3-5 1A Evergreen) held Eatonville (12-7, 4-4) to less than 10 points in three of the game’s four quarters and had three players score in double figures.
Mia Monroe led the way for Elma with 12 points followed by Olivia Moore (10 points) and Aaleigha Weld (10).
Eliza Sibbett scored nine points for an Eagles team that went 16 for 55 from the field (29%) and 12 of 22 from the line (55%).
Elma led 9-4 after a low-scoring first quarter but got hot in the second, scoring 16 points in the frame led by Moore’s 7-of-8 free-throw shooting.
Elma led 25-18 at the half and outscored the Cruisers 23-18 in the second half, holding Eatonville to nine points in each of the final two quarters.
“It was an overall great team effort. Our bench had energy and I felt that our players left everything out on the floor,” Elma head coach Brandi Henry said. “I’m thrilled that our seniors got to experience one last victory on their home court.”
Elma will enter the 1A District 4 Tournament as the league’s No. 4 seed and will take on Seton Catholic in the first round at 6 p.m. Thursday in Vancouver.
Eatonville 4 12 9 9 – 36
Elma 9 16 10 13 – 48
Scoring: Eatonville – Anderson 16, Meyer 6, Hall 6, Blocker 4, Smith 4. Elma – Monroe 12, Moore 10, Weld 10, Sibbett 9, Spencer 4, DeMoss 3.
Other scores
Girls Prep Basketball
PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano’s Mikayla Stanfield (10) shoots against Hoquiam’s Sydney Gordon (44) during the Bulldogs’ 65-31 win on Friday in Hoquiam.
ALEC DIETZ | THE CHRONICLE Willapa Valley guard Riley Pearson (12) looks to get past the Mossyrock defense in a 51-49 win on Friday at Mossyrock High School.
ALEC DIETZ | THE CHRONICLE Mossyrock guard Keegan Kolb looks to an official for a foul call after getting tangled up with Willapa Valley’s Derek Fluke during Valley’s 51-49 win on Friday at Mossyrock High School.
