Holding Jordan Spradlin scoreless for nearly the first 11 minutes represents no guarantee of success for Montesano’s girls basketball opponents.
Hoquiam discovered that the hard way Tuesday night. Building a 15-point lead before Spradlin scored the first of her 25 points, the fourth-ranked Bulldogs rolled to a 66-30 rout of the Grizzlies in an Evergreen 1A League game at Hoquiam Square Garden.
This was a classic case of pick your poison for the underdog Grizzlies. Collapsing a variety of defenses, they began by double-teaming the 6-foot-1 Spradlin inside and all but daring Montesano (4-0, 13-2) to shoot from the perimeter.
With Spradlin frequently swinging entry passes to the wings, the Bulldogs obliged.
Senior wing Josie Toyra put down a trio of 3-point shots in scoring 11 of her 13 points in the first quarter. Senior point guard Cheyann Bartlett contributed a fourth triple and senior forward Shayla Floch, sandwiching a long deuce around a couple of driving layins, scored six points in the first quarter.
“I think if Jordan recognizes one of her teammates has a better shot, she’ll get the ball out to her,” Monte coach Julie Graves said. “We did a good job getting the ball inside and she kicked the ball out. Toyra and Shayla hit some big shots and Shayla drove really well too.”
Toyra, Bartlett and Hannah Quinn combined to score the final 10 points of the opening stanza to give the Montesano a 24-6 lead at the break. Montesano connected on 10 of its 18 field-goal attempts in the first quarter.
”Our strategy (in denying Spradlin shots) worked well,” Hoquiam coach Mark Maxfield said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t plan for them to shoot the lights out.”
It was hardly a picnic for the Grizzlies (0-4, 4-10) once they resorted to a more conventional defense. Powering up close-range shots and dominating the offensive glass, Spradlin tallied 10 points in the second quarter and 15 more in the third before exiting the floor for good in the final minute of the third period.
Leading 36-15 at the half, the Bulldogs outscored the Grizzlies 22-1 in the third quarter. That implemented the 40-point running-clock mercy rule with 1:41 remaining in the third stanza.
Spradlin also pulled down 15 rebounds.
Graves was particularly pleased with her team’s ball-handling. Montesano committed only seven turnovers (four in the fourth quarter, when reserves played almost exclusively) and amassed 18 assists as a team.
Bartlett handed out four assists, with Floch, Quinn and Josie Talley distributing three apiece.
“Like I told the girls, they have the (state’s) No. 2 RPI ranking for a reason,” Maxfield concluded. “They’re a senior team that’s played a lot of ball. That’s what we hope to attain.”
The undersized Grizzlies rebounded surprisingly well but were undone by, among other things, cold shooting. They hit only 23 percent of their field-goal attempts.
Senior forward Casey Mode, who ironically played elementary-school ball in Montesano, came off the bench to top the Grizzlies with 11 points.
Maxfield also cited the reserve work of Maddie German.
Montesano travels east of the mountains on Saturday to face unbeaten second-ranked Cashmere. On Friday, Hoquiam hosts Tenino in the second half of a co-ed doubleheader.
Montesano 24 12 22 8 — 66 Hoquiam 6 9 1 14 — 30
Montesano (66) — Bartlett 5, Talley 5, Toyra 13, Floch 6, Spradlin 25, Quinn 2, Lovell 2, Hutchings 8, Granstrom, Perkinson, Ekerson, Grubb. FG — 27-57 (.474). FT — 8-13.
Hoquiam (30) — Jade Cox 3, Jump 4, Hernandez 4, Krohn 2, Vonhof, Mode 11, Dunn, Jordan Cox 1, German 5. FG — 12-52 (.231). FT — 5-8.
JV — Montesano 53, Hoquiam 27.
