Montesano’s boys team beat Cedar Park Christian while the Bulldogs girls team lost a close one to Aberdeen as we review Monday’s Twin Harbors prep basketball games.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano’s Peyton Damasiewicz, right, defends against Cedar Park Christian’s Joey Fuiten (13) during the Bulldogs’ 54-41 victory on Monday at Montesano High School.

BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Montesano 54, Cedar Park Christian 41

Despite not playing its A-game, Montesano found a way to win with a 54-41 victory over Cedar Park Christian on Monday in Montesano.

Playing in front of its home crowd for just the second time this season, the Bulldogs (6-1 overall) trailed 11-7 after the first quarter but found some success in the second frame, scoring 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting as a team, including hitting four 3-pointers to take a 28-17 lead at the half.

After scoring just four points in the third quarter as the Eagles trimmed the Monte lead to 32-27 entering the final period of play, the Bulldogs went 6-of-11 from the floor and 8-of-11 from the charity stripe to outscore Cedar Park Christian 22-14 in the fourth quarter.

“We played a little bit like we were in the holiday season,” Montesano head coach Leonard Barnes said. “It was not our sharpest game, was not our crispest game, but good teams find a way to win.”

Monte was led by Delon Chan and Tyce Peterson with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano’s Jaxson Wilson (10) scores on a layup during the during the Bulldogs’ 54-41 victory on Monday in Montesano.

Barnes commended the play of guards Jaxson Wilson and Terek Gunter, who combined for 16 points and provided a spark off the bench for the Bulldogs.

“They both gave tremendous effort and hustled out there,” Barnes said. “They were everywhere and gave us a super lift.”

Montesano senior post Gabe Bodwell scored six points to go along with a team-high 10 rebounds and “played strong inside with defensive presence,” according to Barnes.

Montesano went 17-of-59 from the field (29%), including 7-of-34 from beyond the arc (20.5%), and hit 13-of-19 free throws (68%).

The Bulldogs host a holiday tournament at 6 p.m. on Thursday against Castle Rock.

The winner will face the winner of North Beach versus Black Hills on Friday.

Cedar Park Christian 11 6 10 14 – 41

Montesano 7 21 4 22 – 54

Scoring: CPC – Nagel 19, Fuiten 9, Eiles 7, Forney 2, Singletary 2. Montesano – Chan 12, Peterson 10, Wilson 9, Gunter 7, Bodwell 6, Damasiewicz 5, Cobb 4.

PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL

Aberdeen 35, Montesano 34

Aberdeen’s Zoe Troeh hit the winning shot in the final seconds of the game to lead the Bobcats over Montesano 35-34 on Monday at Sam Benn Gym in Aberdeen.

The Bobcats (5-3) trailed 32-31 with two minutes to play until Troeh gave Aberdeen just its second lead of the game with two free throws.

Montesano’s Jillie Dalan, who had a game-high 19 points, scored in the paint to give the Bulldogs a 34-33 lead with 30 seconds left in the game.

With her twin sister and Bobcats leading scorer Annie Troeh on the bench after fouling out, Zoe Troeh came up clutch, dribble-driving to the basket and knocking down a floater with nine seconds left to put the Cats up 35-34.

Aberdeen then pressed on Monte’s final possession of the game despite having five teams fouls, meaning any foul would put Montesano on the free-throw line for two shots.

But the Bobcats played it smart, avoiding any fouls and forcing Monte to take time getting the ball up the court. By the time the Bulldogs (1-6) passed to the corner for a final shot, time expired as Aberdeen beat Montesano for the first time in the past 10 meetings dating back to 2015.

The press was a high-risk, high-reward call by Aberdeen head coach Curtis Eccles, whose team has struggled with foul troubles at times this season including on Monday, with Annie Troeh fouling out and starting guard Sophie Knutson hampered with four fouls throughout the second half.

But Eccles was confident his players had learned from past mistakes and would execute.

“I emphasized in the timeout, ‘Don’t foul. Give them pressure.’ But it’s a soft pressure. We have a defense where we kind of float back but it’s a pressured look,” he said. “(Monte) still has to dribble by us and we’re keeping the ball in front, so it’s still making them take some time to set up a play. This way, we didn’t just give it to them and they have to work. Our players did a great job not fouling.”

Annie Troeh led Aberdeen with 12 points and six steals while Bentley Brown added 11 points for the Bobcats.

Zoe Troeh his six points and eight rebounds in a clutch performance.

Dalan had 15 points through three quarters as Monte led 30-29 entering the fourth quarter, but Aberdeen held the Bulldogs to just 2-of-16 from the field in the final quarter (12.5%), with Dalan scoring both buckets.

Aberdeen will face Columbia-White Salmon at the Montesano’s holiday tournament at noon on Thursday.

Montesano will host Rochester in the other girls game at the holiday tournament at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

The winners of both games will face each other on Friday.

Montesano 10 14 6 4 – 34

Aberdeen 8 10 11 6 – 35

Scoring: Montesano – Dalan 19, Schrader 6, Stanfield 5, Olson 3, Jones 1. Aberdeen – A. Troeh 12, Brown 11, Z. Troeh 6, Lamont 6.

Toledo 52, Willapa Valley 22

Willapa Valley found it tough to get anything going on offense in a 52-22 non-league loss to Toledo on Monday in Menlo.

The Vikings (7-2) scored no more than eight points in any quarter to have their seven-game winning streak snapped by the Indians (5-3).

“Toledo came out really strong and definitely outmuscled us on both ends of the court. We struggled to get shots off and to get them to fall in the basket,” Valley head coach Dawn Keeton said. “We struggled to build any momentum and we weren’t able to link anything together to create productive output.”

Tylar Keeton and Hadlee Russell scored seven points apiece for a Vikings team that shot 8-of-34 from the field (24%) and 4-of-8 from the free-throw line (50%).

But 15 Valley turnovers were converted into points by Toledo, which Coach Keeton said is something her team will learn from.

“This game will help us in the long run to get us where we want to go,” she said. “It points out things we need to work on and we’re going to build on this from here on out.”

Willapa Valley is set to play Raymond-South Bend at 5:45 p.m. on Friday at Raymond High School.

Toledo 13 11 17 11 – 52

Willapa Valley 4 5 8 5 – 22

Scoring: Willapa Valley – Keeton 7, Russell 7, Fluke 4, Wilson 2, Matlock 2.

Other scores

Seaside (Oregon) Holiday Classic

Tillamook 39, Elma 23 (Thursday)

Madras 54, Elma 35 (Friday)

Neah-Kah-Nie 49, Elma 40 (Saturday)