Montesano advanced while Hoquiam’s season came to an end as we review Saturday’s girls hoops state-tournament games on the Harbor.

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Montesano 47, The Bush School 19

Montesano found itself booking a trip to Yakima once again as the Bulldogs buried the Bush Blazers 47-19 in a 1A State Tournament game on Saturday at W.F. West High School.

The 10th-seeded Bulldogs (18-6 overall) held the No. 15 Blazers (15-4) nearly scoreless through the first eight minutes of play.

Monte took a 12-0 lead when senior Ava Schrader scored and was fouled with 8.4 seconds left to play in the first quarter.

Bush senior forward Kate Hutchison hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to avoid being shut out in the first frame.

Hutchinson added a pair of buckets in the paint early in the second quarter to cap a 7-0 run and trim Monte’s lead to 12-7, but the Bulldogs outscored the Blazers 14-1 over the remainder of the first half.

Leading 19-8 with just under a minute to play, Monte sophomore point guard Tieander Olson grabbed a rebound off her own missed shot, scored and was fouled to put Monte up 22-8.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano guard Tieander Olson (right) scores and is fouled by The Bush School’s Kara Ma during the Bulldogs’ 47-19 win in a 1A State Tournament game on Saturday in Chehalis.

Olson followed with another offensive-rebound putback and was fouled, with Hutchison called for a technical foul on the play. Monte freshman guard Jordyn Perry swished the two technical free throws to extend the lead to 26-8 at the end of the first half.

The Bulldogs opened the second half by taking a 20-point lead on a layup from junior guard Josie Forster and stretched its lead to 30 – the largest of the game – at 40-10 on a long jump shot by senior Ali Park with 1:24 left in the third period.

The Bulldogs held a 42-16 lead at the end of the third and held Bush to three points in the final frame to earn the 47-19 victory.

“Our bench had so much good energy and Josie (Forster) was crazy on the rebounds, … And I think that everyone was just feeding off of each other’s energy, which is what we need to win big games,” Montesano junior forward and leading scorer Jillie Dalan said.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano’s Josie Forster (1) scores during the Bulldogs’ 47-19 victory in a 1A State Tournament game on Saturday at W.F. West High School.

Nine different Bulldogs scored in the game as Monte shot 27% from the field on 18-of-67 shooting and committed 17 turnovers in the game.

“We didn’t shoot super well and they did a good job of double and triple-teaming Jillie,” Monte head coach Mark Mansfield said. “We just couldn’t seem to get the shots to fall. We had the open shots, they just weren’t falling. But defensively, we just never gave them a chance to get going.”

Dalan led Monte with 16 points and nine rebounds while Olson had nine points, a team-high 11 rebounds and six assists for the Bulldogs.

Forster and Schrader added seven rebounds apiece for a Monte team that had 53 boards – 25 on the offensive end – to just 23 total for The Bush School.

Hutchison scored 12 of Bush’s 19 points as the Blazers shot 17% (7-41) from the field and had 19 turnovers against a smothering Monte defense.

“I thought we really played with a lot of energy,” Mansfield said. “We talked about it all week. We needed to bring the energy on the floor, off the floor, everybody talking on the bench. Our bench was fantastic tonight. We flew around and did a lot of good things defensively.”

“After our Seton Catholic (loss) last Saturday, we’ve been harping so much on defense that I think it’s finally translating over,” Dalan said. “We’ve been working on our press and I think it really showed tonight.”

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano junior forward Jillie Dalan scored a game-high 16 points in a 47-19 win over The Bush School in a 1A State Tournament game on Saturday in Chehalis.

With the win, Monte advanced to the Round of 12 in Yakima for the fifth consecuitve season, sans the 2021 season where the state tournament was not played due to COVID.

“It’s so exciting,” said Dalan, who will be making her third trip to Yakima. “That’s our end goal, but it doesn’t end there. We want to win at the SunDome. Our end goal is to make it to Saturday.”

“(Returning to Yakima) speaks volumes about the kids we have in the program,” Mansfield said. “It’s important to them. … We talk about this is where we always want to be. This is the goal. We have it in our team room: Taking those steps to get to where? The SunDome, and they’ve bought in. It’s important to them and it means something to them. You can’t really coach that. It makes me proud of the effort they give, day in and day out. … Everybody contributed and I couldn’t be prouder.”

The Bulldogs face No. 7 Cashmere in an elimination game at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday at the SunDome in Yakima.

Bush 3 5 8 3 – 19

Montesano 12 14 16 5 – 47

Scoring: Bush – Hutchison 12, Fischer 3, Agarwal 2, Ma 2. Montesano – Dalan 16, Olson 9, Forster 6, Blancas 4, Schrader 4, Perry 2, Jones 2, Parkin 2, Busz 2.

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PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Hoquiam’s Lexi LaBounty (5) drives to the hoop during a 64-42 loss to Nooksack Valley in a 1A State Tournament game on Saturday at Mount Vernon High School.

Nooksack Valley 64, Hoquiam 42

Hoquiam’s season came to an end with a 64-42 loss to Nooksack Valley in the first round of the 1A State Tournament on Saturday at Mount Vernon High School.

Hoquiam (15-9) trailed the Pioneers (17-8) 20-8 after the first quarter, but behind five points apiece from freshman guard RenaéJah Burtenshaw, junior guard Lexi LaBounty and freshman forward Aaliyah Kennedy, the Grizzlies reduced the deficit to 30-27 by halftime.

But No. 9 seed Nooksack Valley had too much firepower in the second half, outscoring the 16th-seeded Grizzlies 34-15 to cruise to victory and end Hoquiam’s season.

“Nooksack just had too much firepower and playoff experience for us to hang the whole game,” Hoquiam head coach Chad Allan said. “We just could not find more offense in the second half and they showed why they are a higher seed in the toughest league in state.”

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Hoquiam’s Aaliyah Kennedy shoots against Nooksack Valley’s Kate Shintaffer during the Grizzlies’ 64-42 loss in a 1A State Tournament game on Saturday at Mount Vernon High School.

Kennedy led Hoquiam with 12 points and six rebounds.

The Grizzlies shot 15 of 37 from the field (40.5%), were outrebouned 31-23 and committed 22 turnovers in the loss.

Allan said his team learned much with the state-playoff experience.

“We showed great growth today and proof our program is heading in the right direction. I have nothing but pride and love for my players and coaches that helped us get here,” Allan said. “Special thanks to our two seniors – Nadine Stewart and Katlyn Brodhead – for being the spark to our rise together. Great season of growth for the Grizzlies and looking forward to more in the future.”

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Hoquiam’s Katlyn Brodhead (13) shoots against Nooksack Valley’s Kate Shintaffer (11) during the Grizzlies’ 64-42 loss in a 1A State Tournament game on Saturday at Mount Vernon High School.

Hoquiam 8 19 8 7 – 42

Nooksack Valley 20 10 19 15 – 64

Scoring: Hoquiam – Kennedy 12, LaBounty 8, K. Brodhead 7, Burtenshaw 5, Standstipher 4, Gordon 4. NV – Bartl 25, DeHoog 19, Davis 8, Burke 6, Shintaff 4.

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Other games

1B State Tournament

No. 10 Oakesdale 61, No. 15 Taholah 29

(Taholah eliminated)