Girls Prep Basketball Roundup: Aberdeen uses second-half run to win season-opener over Elma

Aberdeen and Elma squared off in a season-opening showdown as we review Tuesday’s girls prep basketball action on the Harbor.

GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL

Aberdeen 44, Elma 34

Aberdeen trailed by double digits before a second-half run led to a 44-34 win over Elma in a season-opening game for both teams on Tuesday at Elma High School.

The Bobcats (1-0 overall) took an early 5-1 lead before Elma (0-1) rallied back to tie the game at 9-all on a jumper by junior guard Mia Monroe with 2:25 left in the first quarter.

Aberdeen freshman guard Bentley Brown buried a 3-pointer just before the buzzer sounded to give the Cats a 12-9 lead after one period of play.

In the second quarter, Aberdeen’s shooting went cold and the Eagles took advantage.

Aberdeen senior guard Zoe Troeh hit a stop-and-pop jumper to open the period and – after Elma freshman Keke Bol scored on a layup – Bobcats senior Jaylynn Phimmasone hit a jump shot to put Aberdeen up 16-11 at the 5:30 mark of the period.

Aberdeen wouldn’t score the rest of the first half while Monroe got hot to give Elma a lead.

The junior shooting guard took a pass from senior forward Eliza Sibbett and hit a baseline jumper to pull the Eagles to within one at 16-15.

Monroe followed that up with a floating baseline jump shot to give Elma its first lead of the game at 17-16 with 1:22 to go in the half. She closed out the quarter with an offensive rebound and putback for a 19-16 lead heading into halftime.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Elma junior shooting guard Mia Monroe, left, dribbles against Aberdeen’s Zoe Troeh (3) during a 44-34 loss on Tuesday in Elma.

“We had to be aware of where she was on the court,” Aberdeen head coach Curtis Eccles said of Monroe. “She was hurting us.”

The Bobcats managed just four points in the second frame on 2-for-16 shooting from the floor.

Circumstances worsened for Aberdeen early in the third quarter as Elma scored the first eight points of the period – led by two offensive rebound putbacks by Bol and a three from Monroe – as the Eagles’ lead ballooned to 11 points at 27-16.

“We really tried to focus on getting the ball out early and getting a quick outlet to our wings, and having more patience,” Elma head coach Brandi Henry said. “As soon as we get the basketball in our hands, we wanted to have more patience of them to look inside to our posts.”

With Elma seemingly holding momentum – up 29-19 after another Monroe bucket followed by an emphatic chase-down block by Elma senior point guard Emmie Spencer to stop a breakaway – the Bobcats began their comeback.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Elma senior point guard Emmie Spencer (10) directs traffic against Aberdeen’s Sophie Knutson (1) and Zoe Troeh (3) during a 44-34 loss to Aberdeen on Tuesday in Elma.

Cats senior guard Annie Troeh – on the bench most of the game in foul trouble – re-entered and hit a three followed later by a fast-break lay-up from Phimmasone and an elbow 3-pointer from junior backup point guard Sofia Lopez to nearly erase the deficit.

With just under a minute to go in the third, Aberdeen junior center Alyvia Lamont stole the ball at midcourt and shoveled it to freshman guard Sophie Knutson, who passed it forward to Annie Troeh for a breakaway layup to cut Elma’s lead to 30-29 heading into the final frame.

Aberdeen continued to surge in the fourth period, taking a 33-30 lead on two straight coast-to-coast layups by Zoe Troeh and went up by five when Lopez scored off a nice pass from Knutson.

Elma got to within three points on a coast-to-coast bucket by senior guard Malia Sibbett with just over four minutes left.

Up 39-34 in the final minute, Annie Troeh scored off a long inbound pass from Phimmasone with just two seconds on the shot clock and – after an Elma miss at the other end – Annie Troeh fed twin sister Zoe for a breakaway layup for a 44-34 lead, putting the game out of reach for the Eagles.

Elma scored just seven points over the final 13 minutes of game time and went 2-of-13 (15%) in the fourth quarter.

“That was such a big momentum shift,” Henry said. “Basketball is a game of runs and when Aberdeen had their run, everything kind of started to fall apart and we weren’t able to come back from that.”

Elma was led by Monroe, who had a game-high 13 points, and Bol, who scored in double digits with 11 points.

Aberdeen was led by Annie Troeh, who scored 12 points despite being hampered with foul troubles most of the game, and Brown with 10 points.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen freshman guard Bentley Brown (22) puts up a shot while being defended by Elma senior guard Aaleigha Weld (14) during the Bobcats’ 44-34 win on Tuesday in Elma.

Eccles said the key to victory was his team’s defensive performance in the second half.

“We talked about our defensive pressure that eventually created more turnovers and turned into transition baskets,” he said. “We played eight (players) tonight and I think all eight of them contributed. I think the effort defensively, the way they were up-tempo, really solidified it.”

Eccles, who was previously the head coach of the boys team at Hoquiam High School, said he was more than happy to be back court side as the head coach of a high-school program.

“A win is always important, but just being on the sidelines is a great feeling and it showed how much I missed it,” he said. “I’m glad to be back.”

Elma plays at North Beach at 6 p.m. Friday.

Aberdeen takes on Hoquiam in a Myrtle Street Rivalry game at 7 p.m. Friday at Hoquiam High School.

Aberdeen 12 4 13 15 – 44

Elma 9 10 11 4 – 34

Scoring: Aberdeen – A. Troeh 12, Bentley 10, Z. Troeh 9, Lopez 5, Phimmasone 4, Knutson 4. Elma – Monroe 13, Bol 11, E. Sibbett 4, M. Sibbett 2, A. Weld 2, Spencer 1, Moore 1.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Hoquiam’s Sydney Gordon (42) puts up a shot against Rochester’s Delany Winter during a 45-18 season-opening loss on Tuesday at Hoquiam High School.

Rochester 45, Hoquiam 18

Not much went right for the Hoquiam Grizzlies in a 45-18 season-opening loss to Rochester on Tuesday at Hoquiam Square Garden.

The Grizzlies (0-1) shot just 31% from the field on 16-of-51 shooting and committed 30 turnovers, leading to 23 extra shot opportunities for the Warriors (1-0).

“Rochester came in today and taught us a lot of lessons about ourselves today. We make no excuses,” Hoquiam head coach Chad Allan said. “I obviously did not have us ready to play at this level yet. We got beat on the offensive end and defensive end today. … I have to prepare them better and we will improve. I have a lot of faith in my team. We just need to find our way together.”

Hoquiam failed to reach double-digit scoring in any quarter and scored just six points in the second half.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Hoquiam guard Lexi LaBounty (5) dribbles against Rochester’s Mandy Andree Cordell during a 45-18 season-opening loss on Tuesday at Hoquiam Square Garden.

Lexi LaBounty led Hoquiam with six points.

Sydney Gordon had five points and a team-high nine rebounds for Hoquiam.

Nadine Stewart also had five points for the Grizzlies.

Hoquiam faces Willapa Valley at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday at Willapa Valley High School.

Rochester 13 12 12 8 – 45

Hoquiam 4 8 2 4 – 18

Scoring: Rochester – Andree-Cordell 14, Winter 11, G. Hoover 9, L. Hoover 5, Kush 4, Pratt 2. Hoquiam – LaBounty 6, Stewart 5, Gordon 5, Brodhead 1, Howard 1.