MONTESANO — Friday night’s Evergreen 1A League finale between Montesano and Hoquiam was a celebration for the hosts and a record-setting night, too.
The Bulldogs honored their six four-year varsity seniors in a pre-game ceremony, then watched senior Josie Toyra light up the scoreboard with a school-record 11 3-point baskets in a 72-27 win over the Grizzlies at Bo Griffith Memorial Gym.
Toyra finished with 35 points, draining 11-of-15 from behind the 3-point arc, to lead all scorers for fifth-ranked Montesano (8-0, 17-3). Toyra, along with Jordan Spradlin, Shayla Floch, Josie Talley, Cheyann Bartlett and Hannah Quinn, helped the Bulldogs to a fourth consecutive undefeated league season, a 48-0 record since 2013-14.
“I guess that is what you get when you go to open gym; I’ve been shooting baskets in my driveway since I was 3,” Toyra said. “It is cool to be able to do that. I couldn’t do this without my teammates, that’s for sure. I didn’t expect this, not on any night and especially not on Senior Night. It is really special.”
Montesano led from the get-go, with Toyra taking advantage of Hoquiam’s defense that was focused on crashing down on Spradlin in the paint. For the vast majority of Toyra’s treys, when the ball went to Spradlin, the defense crashed and she was wide open for the shot.
Toyra drained three in a row in the second quarter to finish with four in the first half. In the third, the senior was 5-for-6 in 3-point attempts, including a trey with 2:31 left in the quarter to kick-start the mercy rule running clock at 57-17. Toyra finished with two more early in the fourth quarter. The previous school record was seven 3-pointers, set by Floch against Forks on January 13.
Hoquiam (2-6, 7-12) had an unenviable task of either getting out on Toyra and the rest of the team outside or crashing the paint and the board on Spradlin, who added 16 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots.
“Montesano came ready to play tonight, but they were able to hit all of their shots and we weren’t,” HHS head coach Mark Maxfield said. “And Toyra was amazing. Wow. She put the time in, apparently, and it shows.”
The Grizzlies patiently went after the Bulldogs’ defense, but shots didn’t fall when they needed them. Defensively, Hoquiam did a decent job on Spradlin, but were undone by Toyra’s outside shooting and drives to the basket by Floch. Kylee Bagwell led Hoquiam with eight points off the bench.
“It was a great senior night,” Montesano head coach Julie Graves said. “It was awesome for these seniors to go out with a bang. They really put it together tonight. We want to make sure we have that confidence and peak at the right time. We want to get better and we did that. In the middle of the offense, (Toyra) got open looks and she hit them. She’s gaining more confidence every time she steps onto the floor and is more willing to shoot now.”
On Friday, Montesano will host the Trico League No. 4 seed, while Hoquiam will travel to the Trico League’s No. 2 seed in the opening round of the District IV 1A tournament.Hoquiam 4 10 7 6 — 27 Montesano 19 18 25 10 — 72
Hoquiam (27) — Cox 1, Mode, Jump 2, Hernandez 4, Parson 4, Krohn 4, Bagwell 8, Vonhof 2, German 2. FG — 12-52. FT — 3-7.
Montesano (72) — Granstrom, Ekerson, Hutchings, Quinn, Grubb, Bartlett 4, Lovell, Talley 6, Toyra 35, Perkinson, Floch 11, Spradlin 16. FG — 27-54. FT — 6-11.
JV — Montesano 45, Hoquiam 31.
