The girls prep basketball season started on Tuesday with some Twin Harbors teams involved in marquee matchups.

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Hoquiam 44, Willapa Valley 29

Hoquiam relied on its defense to earn a season-opening 44-29 victory over Willapa Valley on Tuesday at Hoquiam Square Garden.

The Grizzlies (1-0 overall) shot just 27.7% from the field on 18-of-65 shooting, but held Valley (0-1) to 10 points or less in every quarter of the game.

“Typical first game of the season with tons of nerves and trying to find a flow with one another,” Hoquiam head coach Chad Allan said. “(Willapa Valley head coach) Dawn Keeton had her girls ready to go as they worked their tails off and never let us keep a double-digit lead until the fourth quarter.”

Hoquiam led 12-9 after one quarter before holding Willapa Valley to just one point in the second quarter to take a 16-10 lead at the half.

The Grizzlies outscored Valley by eight in the final period to seize control of the game.

Freshman Aaliyah Kennedy led Hoquiam with nine points, eight steals and seven rebounds while Grizzlies forward Sydney Gordon added eight points.

“I really want to express how proud and excited I am to be coaching this group,” Allan said. “All 10 players that got in the game contributed and brought some energy that we have been missing. We had balanced scoring with five players getting more than six points. … Valley always gives us a great game and does it with class and a flat-out relentless work ethic.”

Tylar Keeton had 10 points and six rebounds and junior point guard Kylee Fluke added eight points for Willapa Valley.

Senior Addison Merkel led Valley with eight rebounds to go along with three points.

The Vikings had 34 shots in the game, converting 10 of them (29.4%), and committed 37 turnovers.

“It was a good test to see what we need to work on,” Coach Keeton said. “It’s always a good baseline to start with Hoquiam. They are very well-coached and competitive. They give us a good view of things we have to build on as a team. We didn’t take enough shots tonight and when we did, they weren’t falling, and we need to work on getting our turnovers under control.”

Valley plays at Columbia Adventist Academy at 5:45 p.m. on Thursday.

Hoquiam has a few days off until it takes on Onalaska at 7 p.m. on Monday at Onalaska High School.

Willapa Valley 9 1 10 10 – 29

Hoquiam 12 4 11 18 – 44

Scoring: Valley – Keeton 10, Fluke 8, Matlock 5, Ashley 3, Merkel 3.

Hoquiam – Kennedy 9, Gordon 8, Brodhead 7, Standstipher 6, Stewart 6, LaBounty 4, Burtenshaw 3, Capoeman 2.

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W.F. West 57, Montesano 27

Montesano dropped its season-opener with a 57-27 loss to W.F. West on Tuesday in Montesano.

The Bulldogs (0-1) struggled to slow down Bearcats standout senior Julia Dalan, who scored a game-high 29 points to become the school’s all-time leading scorer.

Montesano trailed 21-7 after one quarter and were frustrated against the Bearcats press defense, which forced 28 Bulldogs turnovers in the game.

“We have a lot of stuff to work on,” Monte head coach Mark Mansfield said. “We battled. With it being our first game, I think we were a little bit nervous. We turned it over a few times and they did a nice job of getting out on the break and they got some easy buckets.”

Junior forward Jillie Dalan – Julia Dalan’s cousin – led Monte with six points as the Bulldogs shot 11 for 42 (26.2%) from the field.

“We did not quit,” Mansfield said. “We made a lot of mistakes, first game, that is going to happen. But every girl that played tonight did something positive. … We just kind of looked like we were in first gear and they were in second gear.”

Monte hosts Aberdeen in a non-league matchup at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday.

W.F. West 21 12 21 3 — 57

Montesano 7 4 7 9 — 27

Scoring: Montesano – Jillie Dalan 6, Schrader 5, Parkin 5, Wintrip 3, Olson 3, Jones 3, Wade 2.

WFW — Julia Dalan 29, Boeck 12, Chloupek 12, Simpson 2, Hoffman 1, Teeter 1.

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Napavine 68, Raymond-South Bend 35

Raymond-South Bend had a tough test to open its season, falling to defending-state champion Napavine 68-35 on Tuesday at Raymond High School.

The Ravens (0-1) trailed by nine points after one quarter and were out of it by halftime after scoring a single point in the second to trail 41-12 at the half.

Junior Kassie Koski was the only Raven to eclipse double digits with a team-high 18 points in the game.

Point guard Megan Kongbouakhay added six points for RSB.

Napavine junior Hayden Kaut reached a milestone by scoring her 1,000 career point in the contest.

“I would like to start off by saying if you love watching good high school girls hoops, you gotta go see Hayden Kaut from Napavine, she is the real deal,” RSB head coach Jason Koski said. “Not that her supporting cast is not worthy, she is just that good.”

Coach Koski added the Tigers (1-0) provided a tough physical matchup and he felt his team met the challenge, but mistakes proved costly.

“Good physical game for our kids to start the season. I thought our kids matched Napavine’s physicality, but we just made way to many mistakes against that quality of a team,” he said. “We saw good things at the point guard position from Megan and solid scoring from Kassie, but we will be looking for more consistent contributions from everyone else.”

The Ravens host Elma at 6 p.m. on Thursday in Raymond.

Napavine 20 21 19 8 — 68

RSB 11 1 10 13 — 35

Scoring: Napavine — Kaut 29, Evander 14, Ondong 8, McCoy 7, Valentine 4, Fay 2, Fay 2, Williams 2. RSB — Koski 18, Kongbouakhay 6, Morley 6, Baugher 2, Pine 2, Lewis 1.

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Black Hills 55, Elma 27

Elma lost its season-opening game 55-27 to Black Hills on Tuesday in Tumwater.

The Eagles (0-1) scored no more than nine points in any quarter of the game and were led by sophomore Keke Bol, who was the only Eagle to score in double digits with 13 points.

Black Hills (1-0) was led by Tyler Venable (24 points), Kiley McMahon (15 pts.) and Ellie Johnson (7 pts., 20 rebounds).

Elma faces Raymond-South Bend at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Raymond High School.

Elma 5 9 6 7 – 27

Black Hills 14 20 15 6 – 55

Scoring: Elma – Bol 13, Moore 8, Guzman 3, Roberts 2, Lewis 1. BH – Venable 24, McMahon 15, Johnson 7, O’Reilly 5, Dolby 2, Coronel 2.