Having lived by the long-distance shot for a half, Hoquiam’s boys ultimately died by it on Thursday night.

Black Hills stormed back from an 18-point halftime deficit to top the Grizzlies, 60-51, in a non-league boys basketball game at Hoquiam Square Garden.

This was assuredly a tale of two distinct halves.

Jack Adams III, Jerod Steen and Victor James combined to can seven 3-point shots in the first half in staking the Grizzlies to a 38-20 lead at intermission.

But the Grizzlies (0-2) turned cold after the break, connecting on only 6 of 33 field-goal attempts in the final two quarters — including a glacial 1-of-18 from beyond the arc. The Class 2A Wolves (1-0), meanwhile, made five of their six treys for the contest in the second half.

“I felt the shot selection was poor and, because of that, they got a lot of easy baskets,” Hoquiam coach Curtis Eccles summarized. “It’s something we need to improve on.”

It didn’t help that Jace Varner, Hoquiam’s reliable senior post, sat out the entire second half due to medical reasons. Black Hills, which had six players taller than the 6-foot-2 Varner, increased its domination of the paint, finishing with a 57-32 rebounding bulge.

“We talk about the importance of chemistry,” Eccles noted. “You have a guy like Jace, who is a big part of the puzzle, and when that piece is missing…”

Repeatedly drawing fouls when they went inside, the Wolves also enjoyed a huge advantage from the foul line. They went 20-of-32 from the stripe, while Hoquiam was 2-of-3.

All of which contributed to a 20-0 Black Hills second-half run that turned the game around.

The Wolves needed less than three minutes in the third quarter to cut the 18-point halftime deficit in half. Thanks in part to a pair of baskets from reserve guard Marques Rivera, the Grizzlies initially appeared to weather the storm and still owned a 47-35 advantage on Adams’ rebound bucket with 2:56 remaining in the quarter.

Hoquiam, however, didn’t score again for more than 10 minutes. When Adams finally ended the drought with a layin at the 2:21 mark of the fourth quarter, Black Hills was in front, 55-49, and never looked back.

The Wolves had taken a permanent lead, at 50-47, on Joe Crumley’s three-ball with 5:19 remaining.

Noah Brewer, Black Hills’ 6-3 center, scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half. Crumley finished with 17 points and Garrett Glenn, the son of Elma High grad Dave Glenn, added 16.

Adams, who scored both of Hoquiam’s fourth-quarter baskets, took team scoring honors with 19 points while also collecting 12 rebounds. Steen put down five 3-pointers in adding 17 points.

Sixth man Anthony Nash contributed seven rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Grizzlies.

Hoquiam remains home Tuesday to face Cascade Christian.

Black Hills 11 9 21 19 — 60

Hoquiam 19 19 9 4 — 51

Black Hills (60) — Crumley 17, Kindell, Cunningham, Glenn 16, Brewer 23, Loveless, Olson 3, Grabski 1, Walker. FG — 17-58 (.293). FT — 20-32.

Hoquiam (51) — Spradlin, Steen 17, Adams 19, James 7, Varner 2, Espedal 2, Rivera 4, Eccles, Nash, Dayton. FG — 20-65 (.308). FT — 2-3.

JV — Black Hills 54, Hoquiam 45. Matt Brown 12 points for Hoquiam.