Aberdeen and Raymond’s boys basketball game came down the the final seconds as we take a look at Saturday’s basketball action on the Harbor.
BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
Aberdeen 55, Raymond 54
Aberdeen held on for an often strange yet never dull 55-54 win over Raymond on Saturday at Aberdeen High School.
The two teams played close throughout a foul-filled first half, with the Seagulls (7-7 overall) leading 10-8 after one quarter and Aberdeen (4-9) taking a 24-22 lead at the half.
The Bobcats led 30-22 early in the third quarter after senior center Charlie Ancich scored in the paint off an assist from senior guard/forward Manny Garcia with 6:16 on the clock.
Raymond rallied to trim the deficit to four on a jump shot from junior guard Chris Quintana, but the Cats extended the lead to 37-30 on a three from reserve guard Ryker Scott at the 2:10 mark.
The Seagulls trailed 37-34 after another Quintana jump shot with 1:20 left in the frame, but Aberdeen’s JaBron Brooks answered with a bucket in the paint followed later in the period by a Garcia free throw as the Bobcats took a 40-35 advantage into the fourth quarter.
After Brooks fouled out to open the final period, Raymond regained the lead when Quintana hit an open corner three after an offensive rebound, putting the Gulls up 43-42 with 5:16 to play.
Garcia answered with a three on the following possession followed by a jumper to put the Cats on top 47-43.
Quintana brought the Gulls to within a basket when he swished another jump shot at the 4:23 mark.
Then Raymond center Talan Yearout – who sat most of the game with foul troubles – got the ball and made a strong move inside to score and was fouled.
However, Yearout was called for a technical foul while celebrating after the play had ended, giving the standout 6-foot-7 senior the odd distinction of fouling out of the game on a technical foul after scoring a basket.
Yearout converted the free throw to put Raymond up 48-47, then took a seat on the bench for the remainder of the contest.
“We’re a resilient team and have played a lot of close games. We’ve been tight back and forth with teams all year long,” Raymond head coach Mike Tully said of his team’s response to the technical foul call. “They’re used to those tough situations.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Isaac Garcia drives to the basket against Raymond’s Dalton Welch, right, during the Bobcats’ 55-54 win on Saturday at Aberdeen High School.
Garcia made 1-of-2 technical free throws on the other end to tie the game at 48-48 with 3:55 on the clock.
A steal by Quintana on the Aberdeen possession kept the Bobcats from taking the lead.
Just a few seconds later, the Bobcats bench was hit with a technical foul. Quintana converted both technical free throws to put Raymond up 50-48.
Raymond senior Austin Snodgrass was fouled on the ensuing possession and splashed in both free throws, putting the Gulls up 52-48 with 3:18 left in the game.
“I apoligized to them. That tech was on me,” said Aberdeen head coach Brandyn Brooks, who added he felt his team wasn’t getting calls he believed they should. “I apologized to my team for making the game harder than it was. But the focus in their eyes when they came into the huddle, they said, ‘OK coach, it’s all good. We got it.’ That’s all I needed to hear.”
The final three minutes belonged to Aberdeen’s Garcia brothers.
Bobcats sophomore guard Isaac Garcia grabbed an airball and put it in to cut the deficit to 52-50 followed by a jumper to tie the game at 52-all with 2:25 on the clock.
Older brother Manny then drilled a clutch 3-pointer to put Aberdeen up 55-52 with 1:52 on the clock.
Raymond responded when sophomore Chris Banker grabbed and offensive board and scored on a reverse layup to make it a 55-54 game with 1:18 left.
After the Gulls defense forced a shot-clock violation from the Cats, Raymond missed two open shots but kept the ball alive with offensive rebounds, calling a timeout on the third offensive board to set up a play with 10.3 seconds left.
The ball was worked around to Quintana at the top of the key, but as the Gulls guard to a step toward the free-throw line, Aberdeen senior guard Grady Springer deflected the ball off Quintana’s dribble and a mad pile-up for possession ensued. A jump ball was called the by referees, giving Aberdeen the ball.
After what seemed like the longest final few seconds in prep basketball history, with Raymond forced to foul and both teams exhausting multiple timeouts, a steal by Snodgrass on the inbound play gave Raymond one last chance with 0.3 seconds left.
Needing a quick catch-and-shoot conversion to win the game, Raymond’s Dalton Welch sent a lob in to senior guard Ashton Kongbouakhay for an NBA-range 3-pointer, but Aberdeen guard Xanto Raya was there to block the shot, giving Aberdeen the nail-biting 55-54 victory.
“Tonight, our mission was to go get our lick back,” Aberdeen head coach Brandyn Brooks said, referencing Raymond’s 47-42 win over the Bobcats back on Dec. 9. “They got a win on us down in Raymond in overtime that we feel like we should’ve won. As of late, we’ve been playing tremendous on defense. We still have some offensive inconsistencies, but defensively, we rest our hat on that. If we can come out and play defense like we did tonight, we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win.”
Tully said he was proud of how his team fought through adversity until the bitter end.
“I mentioned it after the game. I said, “Guys, we made that 3.9 seconds last a long time. We did everything we could possibly do and you gave yourselves a shot to win it,” he said. “There’s no quit in these guys. They’re going to battle to the very end and I’m proud as heck of what they were able to do tonight even though we came out on the wrong end of it.”
Quintana led all scorers with 21 points to go along with six steals while Snodgrass (13 points) and Banker (12 pts.) each scored in double figures for Raymond.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Raymond’s Chris Quintana (14) is defended by Aberdeen’s Isaac Garcia during the Bobcats’ 55-54 win on Saturday in Aberdeen.
The Seagulls were hurt with foul troubles and foul shooting early, with 19 personal fouls in the game and went 3 of 10 in the first half from the charity stripe.
Raymond went 6 for 6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to shoot 10 of 22 (54%) for the game.
“Having to sit (Yearout) for stretches and then a couple of other guys, it’s something that we have enough depth to overcome it and the guys who did come in did a good job,” Raymond head coach Mike Tully said. “We talked about (the free throws) at halftime. We had to buckle down and make some free throws. … We know its an area that has been a struggle for us. … We made some clutch free throws. We had some guys make free throws when it counted. Hopefully, that will carry on through the rest of the season for us.”
Aberdeen was led by Manny Garcia with 16 points while Ancich and sophomore guard Jhacob Quezada scored 11 apiece for the Bobcats.
“(The win) says a lot about our defensive growth and, as a family, how we are coming together,” Coach Brooks said. “They’re starting to understand how everybody has a role and your job is to be a star in your role. … If you play defense like a team, everything else will piece itself together, and we’re definitely playing defense like a team.”
Aberdeen plays a 2A Evergreen Conference game at Centralia at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Raymond takes on Chief Leschi in a 2B Pacific League game at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Puyallup.
Raymond 10 12 13 19 – 54
Aberdeen 8 16 16 15 – 55
Scoring: Raymond – Quintana 21, Snodgrass 13, Banker 12, Welch 3, Yearout 3, Kongbouakhay 2. Aberdeen – M. Garcia 16, Quezada 11, Ancich 11, I. Garcia 6, Scott 3, Walsh 3, Brooks 3, Springer 2.
North Beach 60, Taholah 51
North Beach won for the third time in its past four games with a 60-51 victory over Taholah on Saturday at Taholah High School.
The Hyaks (5-9) led by 10 at the half held off the Chitwhins (5-7), which trimmed the deficit to as close as five points in the second half.
“We had an exciting game with Taholah tonight,” Hyaks head coach Larry Moore said. “They cut the lead to five a couple of times but our guys kept their composure and were able to secure the win.”
North Beach was led by senior post Tyrell Hovland, who “had a monster game,” according to Moore with 12 points, 16 rebounds, nine blocks and five steals.
In addition to Hovland, three additional Hyaks scored in double figures as Jayden Williams (12 points), Jade Charley (11 pts.) and Jeremiah Eastman Jr. (11 pts.) each reached double digits.
North Beach hit 23-of-59 shots from the field (40%).
Taholah junior guard Jayden Lewis led all scorers with 22 points – 10 in the fourth quarter – followed by freshman guard Peyton Vitalis, who scored 13 for the Chitwhins.
Taholah plays a non-league game at South Bend at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
North Beach hosts Ocosta in a 2B Pacific League game scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
North Beach 19 13 15 13 – 60
Taholah 15 7 16 13 – 51
Scoring: Taholah – Lewis 22, Vitalis 13, Valenzuela 7, Davis 5, McCrory 2, Adams 2. North Beach – Hovland 12, Williams 12, J. Charley 11, Eastman 11, K. Charley 7, Curry Sith 5, Lauderdale 2.
GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL
White River 58, Montesano 33
Montesano struggled to keep up with White River in a 58-33 loss on Saturday in Montesano.
The Bulldogs (7-7) trailed 21-8 after the first quarter and by 18 at the half against the 2A class’ No. 10 RPI team.
“They’re a top-10 2A team and they showed it today,” Monte head coach Mark Mansfield said of the run-and-gun Hornets (10-2). “They’re very quick, very tenacious and sped us up quite a bit. We did a lot of good things against them, we just couldn’t consistently do it.”
Monte had “well over 30 turnovers in the game,” according to Mansfield, and – aside from a double-double from sophomore post Jillie Dalan (14 points, 11 rebounds) – no other Bulldog scored in double figures.
“(White River) is very relentless,” Mansfield said. “We’d score a bucket and they’d just beat us down the court and get a layup. Throughout the game, they are just so on you all the time, creating havoc and forcing us into questionable decisions. It was a good learning experience for us. … They showed us stuff we need to work on.”
Montesano plays a 1A Evergreen League game against Hoquiam at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Hoquiam.
White River 21 17 10 10 – 58
Montesano 8 12 6 7 – 33
Scoring: White River – Sprouse 19, Schmitz 11. Montesano – Dalan 14, Stanfield 8, Olson 7, Forster 2, Taylor 2.
Other games
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen senior Patrick Walsh (3) drives to the hoop against Raymond’s Taren Stephens, left, and Austin Snodgrass (20) during the Bobcats’ 55-54 victory on Saturday in Aberdeen.
