Hoquiam snapped a five-game skid against their Myrtle Street rivals by erasing a halftime deficit en route to a 60-57 victory over Aberdeen on Thursday at Aberdeen High School.

Both team played well early on, hitting buckets and trading leads until the Bobcats (1-3) went on a 7-0 run – five points by sophomore guard Bentley Brown – to take a 15-8 lead.

Later in the first quarter, Hoquiam (3-1) trailed by six after a jumper by Aberdeen sophomore guard Sophia Knutson, but a pair of free throws by Grizzlies senior guard Katlyn Brodhead cut the Cats lead to 17-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Aberdeen had several double-digit leads throughout the second period and led by 12 at 37-25 when Hoquiam closed the gap over the final 1:25 of the first half. Grizzlies freshman guard RenaeJah Burtenshaw scored on a reverse layup followed by Brodhead three with a second left to trim Aberdeen’s lead to seven at the half.

“We were making a lot of our own mistakes. We were trying to fight ourselves on turnovers and little bobbles,” Grizzlies head coach Chad Allan said of hist team’s first-half performance. “(Aberdeen) came out and hit some shots and went on runs, but we kind of spurred some of their runs on with some of our miscues. We cleaned that up in the second half.”

Hoquiam would complete the comeback in the third quarter.

The Grizzlies ramped up the energy and defensive pressure to force seven Aberdeen turnovers in their first seven possessions of the second half, but Hoquiam was unable to capitalize, scoring a lone free throw by junior guard Lexi LaBounty as Aberdeen held a 37-31 lead.

A three by Aberdeen senior guard Abby Mainio stretched Aberdeen’s lead to 40-32 with just under five minutes left in the third quarter.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Abby Mainio (foreground) drives against Hoquiam’s Austyn Capoeman during the Grizzlies’ 60-57 win on Thursday at Aberdeen High School.

It turned out to be the turning point for the Grizzlies.

Hoquiam went on a 8-1 run, climbing to within a point at 41-40 when junior post Sydney Gordon scored off a drive and feed from freshman forward Aaliyah Kennedy.

The Grizzlies would take the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter when Kennedy would find a wide-open Brodhead in the corner. The 5-foot-7 shooter rose up and buried a three to put Hoquiam up 43-41 at the 2:28 mark of the quarter.

Aberdeen would regain the lead on a basket in the paint by sophomore guard Sawyer Shoemaker, but a bucket in the paint by Gordon made it a 48-45 game in favor of Hoquiam heading into the final period.

“He told us that he believed in us and we just needed to push,” Brodhead said of Allan’s halftime speech. “We needed to play like we know how to. … We had more energy and came out (in the second half) wanting to win.”

The Grizzlies would go up by as much as six on a steal and layup by Kennedy with 3:36 to play, but another clutch Mainio three made it a 55-52 game with 2:45 to play.

A jumper from Brown made it a 56-54 game with 2:01 left followed by Mainio making 1 of 2 free throws to pull the Bobcats to within a point.

But Hoquiam clutched up down the stretch.

Hoquiam sophomore guard Austyn Capoeman fed the ball to Gordon at the free-throw line. The 5-foot-9 forward drove to the low block and scored on a bank shot to put Hoquiam up 58-55 with 1:27 left in the game.

Knutson would bring Aberdeen back to within a point on a running bank shot with 54 seconds on the clock.

The Bobcats then had several chances to tie the game, including a possession with under a minute to play.

But a lob pass by Brown was intercepted by a leaping LaBounty, who then darted a pass to Gordon, who put in another bank shot from the low post to put Hoquiam up 60-57 with 34.4 seconds remaining.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam junior Sydney Gordon prepares to shoot a free throw during a 60-57 win over Aberdeen on Thursday in Aberdeen.

On the ensuing possession, Aberdeen made a quick outlet to senior post Alyvia Lamont, but her layup attempt was blocked by Kennedy.

A pair of missed Hoquiam free throws gave Aberdeen one last chance, but a Bobcats pass was stolen by Brodhead and the Grizzlies were able to run out the clock to earn the victory, the first over Aberdeen since 2021.

“We haven’t beat Aberdeen in awhile,” Allan said. “My goal at first was to tie it up by the end of the third. I knew if we could do that, we could go on a run in the fourth. … I’m just so proud of them for the resilience they had because we preach that. Good things are going to happen. Teams are going to go on runs, we just want to go on the last one.”

Brodhead led all scorers with 18 points to go along with five steals while Gordon (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Kennedy (11 pts., 13 reb., 3 steals) each had double-doubles for Hoquiam.

“I think we just wanted that win,” Gordon said. “We worked better together, ran the ball and had good defense. … I’ve wanted to beat Aberdeen since I was a little kid so this means a lot to me.”

The Grizzlies hit 22-of-53 shots on the evening (41.5%) while Aberdeen went 21 of 51 from the field (41.2%).

Hoquiam held a 35-25 rebounding advantage but the key stat of the game was turnovers. Aberdeen had 28 turnovers to 20 for Hoquiam, but most of those came in the second half as the Bobcats had just eight turnovers in the first half.

“It was a lack of hitting some shots at the end,” Aberdeen head coach Curtis Eccles said. “That was a key turnaround, was us turning the ball over towards the end. Twenty-eight turnovers is too many to overcome. … We had quite a few in the second half and made some poor decisions and things occurred that prevented us from really getting any good looks because we were turning the ball over. It gave (Hoquiam) more opportunities to score.”

Brown (14 pts.), Mainio (11 pts.) and Lamont (10 pts.) each scored in double figures for Aberdeen while Knutson added six points and a team-high seven assists for the foul-plagued Bobcats, which had three starters with three fouls in the first half.

Hoquiam’s win snapped a five-game losing streak against Aberdeen dating back to May of 2021.

For a Brodhead, who celebrated her 18th birthday one day prior, her first victory over Aberdeen was a nice gift.

“I had a little bit of hype from my birthday and it translated today,” she said. “I don’t think we’ve beat them since I’ve been in high school. It’s a good feeling to beat them senior year.”

Aberdeen plays at Rochester in a non-league game set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Hoquiam will take on Black Hills in a non-league contest scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Black Hills High School.

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Hoquiam 13 17 18 12 – 60

Aberdeen 17 20 7 12 – 57

Scoring: Hoquiam – K. Brodhead 18, Gordon 17, Kennedy 11, Burtenshaw 6, Stewart 2. Aberdeen – Brown 14, Mainio 11, Lamont 10, Dunlap 7, S. Shoemaker 6, Knutson 6, Kolodzie 2.