Any time Hoquiam crept close, Aberdeen’s Maddie Gore had an answer.

The senior guard scored over half of her team’s points to lead the Bobcats to a 45-38 Myrtle Street Rivalry victory over the Grizzlies on Thursday at Sam Benn Gym in Aberdeen.

Playing in its season-opener, Hoquiam (0-1 overall) took the early lead with three straight points from senior forward Chloe Kennedy, who was playing in her first game in two seasons after suffering a knee injury that kept her out all of last season.

After a quick timeout, Aberdeen (2-0) took the lead with a 9-0 run, highlighted by a bucket in the paint from senior guard Litzy Orona after receiving a nifty interior pass from Gore.

A close-in shot from sophomore guard Mija Hood put the Bobcats up 9-3 with 4:21 left in the first quarter.

The Grizzlies would cut the deficit to 12-8 on a basket from the low post by Kennedy later in the quarter, but Aberdeen junior guard Laynie Yakovich buried a three off an assist from junior guard Zoe Troeh with less than 30 seconds left to end the frame with the Bobcats up 15-8.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam’s Chloe Kennedy (32) grabs a rebound against Aberdeen’s Maddie Gore (30) during the Grizzlies’ 45-38 loss on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022 at Sam Benn Gym in Aberdeen.

In the second quarter, Gore took over.

The Bobcats’ athletic senior scored and was fouled on a coast-to-coast drive and layup to put the Bobcats up 18-10 and followed that up a minute later with a bucket from the low block as Aberdeen went up 20-11 with 5:18 to go in the half.

Meanwhile, the early foul troubles for Aberdeen put Hoquiam in a bonus free-throw situation, but the Grizzlies struggled to shake off the rust from the line, hitting just 3-of-7 free throws through the first four minutes of the second quarter.

Another Gore steal and layup made it a 22-13 game with 3:58 left in the half and — after Hoquiam senior guard Ella Folkers hit two free throws — Gore buried a 3-pointer for a 25-15 lead at the 3:33 mark.

But Hoquiam closed the gap when senior guard Graci Bonney-Spradlin hit 1-of-2 free throws followed by Kennedy scoring while being fouled after an offensive rebound. She hit the bonus free throw to make it a 25-19 game at the half.

“At halftime we talked about how sometimes when you are playing aggressive, you have to play a little smarter. We were aggressive, but we weren’t playing smart,” said Aberdeen head coach Rachel Wenzel of her team’s first-half foul troubles. “We haven’t had to guard someone like Chloe Kennedy … she’s dominating. So rather than being the aggressor, we shifted our focus to containing Chloe as best we could and I think we did a good job slowing it down in the second half and playing it smart.”

Aberdeen junior guard/forward Jaylynn Phimmasone — who was one of the Bobcats in foul trouble — hit a three to open the second half.

Hoquiam responded with a bucket from sophomore guard Katlyn Brodhead and cut the Bobcats lead to 28-24 on a Folkers three with 5:37 to go in the third quarter.

But as was a theme throughout the game, when Hoquiam got close, Aberdeen went on a run.

The Bobcats scored the next nine points, including two steals and subsequent layups from Gore, an offensive rebound and putback from sophomore forward Alviyah Lamont and another three from Yakovich to go up 37-24.

After a bucket by Grizzlies senior forward Ashlinn Cady stopped the bleeding, Gore and Kennedy traded offensive rebound putbacks to close out the third quarter with Aberdeen up 39-28.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam senior Ashlinn Cady (12) looks to inbound the ball while defended by Aberdeen’s Mija Hood (5) during the Grizzlies’ 45-38 loss on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022 at Sam Benn Gym in Aberdeen.

Gore scored four-straight points to put Aberdeen up 43-28 early in the fourth quarter.

Cady scored to get the Grizzlies closer at 43-30, and Aberdeen’s foul troubles worsened when both Lamont and Phimmasone fouled out with over five minutes left in the contest.

With two of Aberdeen’s starters on the bench for the rest of the game, the Grizzlies went on an 8-0 run, pulling to within five points on back-to-back threes from Bonney-Spradlin with 1:55 to go.

But Aberdeen got a stop on defense followed by a fast-break basket by Zoe Troeh off a bounce pass from Gore to go up 45-38 with 1:01 left in the game.

Neither team scored a point after that as Aberdeen won its second in a row against Hoquiam and four of the past five meetings between the two rivals.

“I feel like we started off a little rusty and we just had to get the jitters out,” Gore said of the win. “We started pressing them hard after the half and I feel like we really upped our offense and defense and started working the ball together.”

Gore finished with 25 points as the only Bobcat to score in double figures.

“Maddie is one of the best players in our area and we knew that and we knew we had to try to contain her. I thought we did well on everybody else,” Hoquiam head coach Chad Allan said. “We couldn’t score enough and we couldn’t stop her enough.”

Yakovich finished with six points with Phimmasone scoring five points in limited minutes.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen guard Laynie Yakovich (1) prepares a free throw during a 45-38 win over Hoquiam on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022 at Sam Benn Gym in Aberdeen.

Aberdeen’s defense forced 32 turnovers against a Hoquiam team playing in its first game of the season.

“You half that and its a different game,” Allan said of the giveaways. “I’m proud of my girls. … We got a lot of young players trying to learn the system. We kept battling within six points, we just couldn’t get over the hump. Aberdeen did that to us by causing turnovers and being active.”

Hoquiam was led by Kennedy, who scored 14 points in the game, 12 of those coming in the first half.

Bonney-Spradlin had eight with Folkers and Cady chipping in seven apiece for Hoquiam.

The Grizzlies went 10-of-22 from the free-throw line, 9-of-16 in the first half.

“The theme of the night was poise because I knew with the history of our programs, it could come down to the team that could keep their composure when things get out of control,” Wenzel said. “I was proud of the girls. I kept reminding them every timeout that we had to keep our composure.”

Hoquiam hosts North Beach at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Aberdeen will play at North Beach at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Hoquiam 8 11 9 10 — 38

Aberdeen 15 10 14 6 — 45

Scoring: A — Gore 25, Yakovich 6, Phimmasone 5, Lamont 3, Z. Troeh 2, Orona 2, Hood 2. H — Kennedy 14, Bonney-Spradlin 8, Cady 7, Folkers 7, Brodhead 2.