To this point of the season, the Montesano Bulldogs’ formula for victory has been a relentless pressure defense and prodigious offensive rebounding.
As the Bulldogs found out on Tuesday, you don’t necessarily need to rely on offensive rebounds when your shots are falling.
Monte had arguably its best shooting performance of the season in downing Elma in dominant fashion 84-19 at Montesano High School.
The third-ranked Bulldogs (10-2 overall, 3-0 1A Evergreen) wasted no time in jumping out to a big lead against a young Eagles team that features just two seniors on the roster.
Monte took a 10-0 lead on a steal and layup from all-state forward McKynnlie Dalan just two minutes into the game.
Later in the period, Montesano junior guard Mikayla Stanfield scored on a layup off one of 37 Elma turnovers to take a 23-0 lead with less than two minutes left in the first quarter.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano guard Vanna Prom (21) and Elma’s forward Nicole Johanson (12) compete for a loose ball during the Bulldogs’ 84-19 victory on Tuesday in Montesano.
Elma sophomore guard Mia Monroe scored on a baseline shot as the Eagles got its first points of the game to make the score 23-2 with 1:36 on the clock in the first period.
Montesano senior guard Jordan Karr came off the bench to bury a three and stake the Bulldogs to a 26-2 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
The Bulldogs kept the pressure on through the second quarter, going up 42-2 after a Dalan three and a free throw by senior guard Jaiden King with three minutes left in the first half.
Monte would take a 53-3 lead into the half after an offensive rebound and putback by freshman forward Evanjillie “Jillie” Dalan.
“We talked yesterday at practice and today before the game that we need to play our game no matter who we are playing and come out with a lot of energy and we had that,” Monte head coach Mark Mansfield said. “It’s just that mindset of don’t let up and don’t be satisfied of where we are at.”
With the Bulldogs leading 73-5 in the third quarter, McKynnlie Dalan hit two straight 3-pointers to close the quarter out with Montesano leading 79-5.
Monte would take as much as a 74-point lead in the fourth quarter before Elma (1-8, 0-2) outscored Monte — playing its reserves — 14-5 in the final period.
While still having a dominant rebounding performance with 25 rebounds (20 offensive) to just nine total for Elma, Montesano didn’t have to rely on its offensive-rebounding prowess nearly as much as in previous games as the Bulldogs shot 36 of 70 from the field (51.4%).
McKynnlie Dalan led Monte with 30 points on 13-of-19 shooting (68.4%) with four rebounds, five steals and four assists.
Jillie Dalan had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds while King scored 12 points and had four steals for Montesano.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano guard Jaiden King scored 12 points and had four steals in the Bulldogs’ 84-19 victory over Elma on Tuesday in Montesano.
Karr finished with nine points off the bench on three 3-pointers while Stanfield had six points and a team high seven steals for a Bulldogs team that had 28 steals on the evening.
“Tonight was the best shooting night we’ve had. Inside, outside, we ran the floor well and found the open person. … We didn’t settle,” Mansfield said. “When we’re shooting like that, it makes us doubly-tough because teams can’t just focus on McKynnlie. It was a great offensive team effort, one through 10 tonight, they did a nice job.”
“I think we moved the ball really well tonight, which is something we’ve been trying to work on in practice,” McKynnlie Dalan said. “I think that finally started to happen tonight. We got some open looks and knocked them down.”
Elma scored 14 of its 19 points in the fourth quarter and was led by junior guard Emmie Spencer with six points.
“We knew Monte was a great basketball team going in so there is no pretending there,” Elma head coach Brandi Henry said. “We know there is always a rivalry between Elma and Monte, so it’s always important for us to keep it classy and keep our composure. … The big thing is to never give up, especially when it is really easy to when looking at the score. I thought they did a great job of battling all four quarters. … I’m very proud of them.”
Elma will host Tenino at 7 p.m. on Thursday in a 1A Evergreen League matchup.
In its three 1A Evergreen League games this season, Monte has not allowed 20 points in a contest and held its opponents to an average of 12 points per game.
“Our motto the last couple of games has been to bury teams,” Dalan said. “You can get up on them, but actually putting them away and keeping up that intensity and not just settling in is going to be really important when we play tougher teams down the road. … We carried it out and good things happen.”
Monte will play one of those tough teams when the head to Chehalis to face the 2A class’ third-ranked team in WF West at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Elma 2 1 2 14 — 19
Montesano 26 27 26 5 — 84
Scoring: Elma — Spencer 6, Monroe 4, DeMoss 2, Moore 4, Lewis 2, Sibbett 1. Montesano — M. Dalan 30, E. Dalan 14, King 12, Karr 9, Stanfield 6, Schrader 5, Young 2, York 2.
