YAKIMA — Cold shooting and turnovers at the start of the game was too much for Montesano to overcome in a season-ending 64-41 loss to Zillah on Saturday in the 1A Regional Playoffs at Davis High School.
Montesano (15-10 overall) had trouble finding ways to score, hitting four shots from the field in the first half and committing 14 turnovers before the halftime break.
Bulldogs head coach Julie Graves said it was tough to right the ship after a slow start.
“The momentum went their way right from the get-go and I think that kind of got to us, so we dug ourselves a hole,” she said.
Things didn’t improve for the Bulldogs in the second quarter where Zillah (18-6) outscored Monte 21-9. The Leopards were led by Addison Krueger who came up with 19 points while the Bulldogs came in planning to slow down Brynn Widner and Callie Delp.
Down 34-16 at the half, Monte looked to come out aggressive and force some turnovers of its own. At one point the Bulldogs had trimmed a 22-point deficit down to 14 until turnovers allowed the Leopards to widen the margin again.
“We were mixing up our defenses and trying to apply full-court pressure,” said Graves. “We had a few stretches to where we got three or four stops in a row, but we could not convert on the offensive end.”
Montesano’s leading scorer, Zoe Hutchings, was plauged with foul trouble after picking up her third and fourth fouls in opening moments of the third quarter. The 6-foot-3 center led the Bulldogs with 13 points.
Montesano will graduate six seniors, including starters Katie Granstrom, Lexi Lovell and Glory Grubb.
Though she would have liked a trip to the state tournament, Graves said she feels good about what her team accomplished this year.
“I’m really proud of our kids for making it this far. We faced some adversity and they stayed together as a team and had a great district tournament to make it to regionals,” she said.
Montesano 7 9 13 12 – 41
Zillah 13 21 11 19 – 64
Top Players: Montesano – Hutchings (13 pts.), Paige Lisherness (8 pts.), Matti Eckerson (7 pts.), Zoee Lisherness ( 8 reb); Zillah — Krueger (19 pts.), Delp (13 pts.), Widner (10 pts.).
2B Regional Playoff
South Bend 42, Liberty Bell 36
The South Bend Indians earned a trip to Spokane with a 42-36 victory over Liberty Bell in a 1A Regional Playoff game Saturday at Wenatchee High School.
After a slow start had the 15th-seeded Indians (16-9) down 12-6 after the first quarter, South Bend’s defense put the clamps down on the No. 10 Mountain Lions (18-6). The Indians held Liberty Bell scoreless for the entirety of the period, capping a perfect 17-0 second quarter with a buzzer-beater by freshman forward Reece Williams. South Bend entered halftime with a 23-12 lead.
“We got good looks, just did not finish them,” South Bend head coach Gary Wilson said of the Indians first quarter before turning his attention to the second frame. “We adjusted to what they (Liberty Bell) were doing and really had a nice run in the second. Once again, our defense got our game going.”
In the third quarter, South Bend’s defense remained on point, holding the Mountain Lions to just five points to extend the Indians lead to double digits heading into the fourth quarter.
“I thought the girls did a great job in the third quarter of controlling the tempo of the game,” Wilson said of his team’s poise.
Liberty Bell made things tense in the fourth quarter after mounting a comeback, but South Bend’s Hannah Byington and Alise Rohr made free throws down the stretch to earn a well-deserved 42-36 victory.
“The fourth was exciting, frustrating and exhausting all wrapped up in one,” Wilson said of the game’s final eight minutes. “We definitely went into panic mode for a stretch. Our legs were gone and it showed up on the free-throw line.”
South Bend hit on just 7-of-25 free throws in the second half, but held Liberty Bell to just 10-of-58 shooting from the field for the game.
South Bend senior Karley Reidinger led the Indians with 15 points and 12 rebounds, including hitting three 3-point shots.
Fellow senior Jessica Sanchez also had a double-double for the Indians, scoring 10 points to go along with 10 rebounds, four steals and four assists.
With the victory, South Bend remains hot. The Indians are playing their best basketball of the season, having won eight of their last nine games, the only loss during that time span coming in the district tournament against the state’s No. 1 team, Wahkiakum.
The Indians will take on No. 7 Auburn Adventist in the first round of the state playoffs at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
“The girls really left it out on the floor. I am so proud of these kids and how hard they work,” praised Wilson. “On to Spokane.”
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
St. George’s 54, Ocosta 39
The Ocosta Wildcats’ season came to an end on Saturday with a 54-39 loss to No. 12 St. George’s School on Saturday at West Valley High School.
No further information was available at the time of this writing.
1B Regional Playoffs
Pomeroy 63, Taholah 32
The Taholah Chitwhins lost Saturday’s 1B Regional Playoff game to No. 2 Pomeroy 63-32 at Richland High School.
Seventh-seeded Taholah will face No. 15 Selkirk in the first round of the state tournament at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday at the Spokane Arena.
No further information was available at the time of this writing.
BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
2B Regional Playoffs
St. George’s 79, Willapa Valley 44
Willapa Valley couldn’t overcome a turnover-filled second quarter as the Vikings fell to St. George’s School 79-44 in a 2B Regional Playoff game on Saturday at West Valley High School.
Down 10-9 at the end of the first quarter, No. 6 Willapa Valley (19-6) saw the game get away quickly after ball-security issues led to No. 3 St. George’s outscoring the Vikings 32-13 in the period.
Willapa Valley head coach Jay Pearson said he noticed something wasn’t right with his team before tip-off.
“At the start of the game, I thought our mental focus and sharpness didn’t seem to be there,” he said. “In the second quarter, they ramped the pressure up. … I think we played scared and had some self-doubt in some of our players and we kind of regressed. And when you are playing a team at that level, if you hesitate, they take advantage of it and it was just too many turnovers.”
Defensively, the Vikings did well to limit the Dragons’ leading scorer, senior guard Erik Farias, to just 11 points on the afternoon.
But the real damage came from St. George’s center Zander Werkman, who had 17 points in the game, including three 3-pointers in the Dragons’ second-quarter run.
Willapa Valley was unable to muster enough offense to make a comeback attempt, being outscored by 13 points in the second half.
Logan Walker led Willapa Valley with 14 points.
Matt Pearson, who had the defensive responsibility of guarding Farias, scored nine points for the Vikings.
Willapa Valley advances to the 2B State Tournament, where it will face No. 11 Oroville at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
Pearson offered sage advice for his team after the loss.
“Let it hurt today and we’ll start over tomorrow,” he said. “I think, most importantly, what I tried to tell them is that now we got that experience and we played a state-contending team again. (St. George’s) has been here many times, so you know what you need to bring to be competitive at this level. If you doubt yourself and hesitate, they’re going to make you pay. You can’t think. You’ve just got to react and play basketball. You just have to believe in yourself , then we’re going to be OK.”
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Grays Harbor 81, Green River 43
Grays Harbor bounced back from a home loss in its last game with a dominant 81-43 road win over Green River on Saturday.
It wasn’t just a bounce-back game for the Chokers (14-11, 8-5 NWAC West), it was also a return to form for Sandin Kidder.
An ankle injury limited Kidder to 11 minutes in Wednesday’s loss to Pierce, but the sophomore guard scored a team-leading 29 points in 28 minutes of play on Saturday.
Green River (0-19, 0-12) had trouble against the Chokers’ defense and shot 16.9 percent from the field.
Grays Harbor head coach Chad Allan said his team came out with a lot of energy from the start.
“It was a great defensive effort to hold a team to 43 points,” he said. “Teccona Dyer really came out with energy and was a force on the court today.”
Dyer ended the night with 15 points and six rebounds as one of three Chokers in double figures.
Grays Harbor will try to climb into third place in the conference standings when it heads to Olympia to take on South Puget Sound at 6 p.m on Wednesday.
