Ocosta girls turned up the defensive pressure to turn a close contest into a blowout in the Wildcats’ 65-27 win over Raymond on Friday in Ocosta
Ocosta (8-1, 8-0 Pacific 2B) and Raymond were locked in a tight one after the first quarter of play with the Wildcats protecting a 12-9 lead.
The Wildcats started a 13-3 run thanks in large part to four steals that Ocosta used to pull away in the first three minutes of the second quarter.
“I told the girls we needed to play really aggressive in the passing lanes,” Ocosta head coach Jason Barnum. “Our plan was to shut down their big scorer and we figured once Kyra Gardner got rid of the ball and we pinned her down we could make somebody else beat us.”
Gardner was held to five points in the contest. Izzy Silvernail ended up leading the Seagulls with six points.
Raymond’s Kyra Gardner, right, drives to the lane while defended by Ocosta’s Emily Snider on Friday. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Ocosta’s Kjirstin Hopfer scored a game-high 26 points and said she wasn’t expecting an easy matchup with Gardner on the floor.
“I thought it was going to be a tough game with Gardner,” she said. “I’ve been playing against her since fourth grade. I wasn’t too worried, but I haven’t played against her in a while so I was a little nervous.”
Hopfer was a big part of Ocosta’s 23-point second quarter as she scored 14 of her points in the second frame. Transition layups helped Hopfer and the rest of the Wildcats heat up while the Seagulls offense languished with 21 turnovers
“If you give them that many opportunities, they’re going to score eventually. You have to limit the possessions and not turn the ball over to have a chance,” said Ocosta head coach Jason Koski.
When the Wildcats did run their half-court sets, post player Kristi Raffelson created problems for the Seagulls on the interior with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Raymond (5-3, 4-2) didn’t fair too much better after halftime and failed to score in the third quarter while Ocosta continued to fill up the basket with another 21 points in the third.
Despite the lopsided loss, Koski still sees reasons for optimism. He said his team is still shooting for the fourth seed in the league and is hoping they can pull off some upsets to get there.
“I think we’ve proven that we can win the games we’re supposed to win, but you would like to see your team win a game that no one thinks you should win,” he said.
Kristi Raffelson puts up a close range shot against Raymond on Friday. Raffelson led the Wildcats in rebounds with 11. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
The Seagulls are currently holding on to the fourth seed and face the fifth-place South Bend Indians (4-5, 4-3) on Thursday in Raymond at 7 p.m.
Friday’s win will help Ocosta keep up with the Ilwaco Fishermen who are also a perfect 8-0 in league play. Barnum said Thursday’s trip to Ilwaco for a 7 p.m. contest will be one of the biggest challenges his team faces all season.
“It’s a tough place to play. It feels like you go into that building 10 points down,” he said. “They’re a great program, but we feel like we match up pretty well this year, so we’re going to go down there and give them hell.”
Raymond 9 6 0 12 – 27
Ocosta 12 23 21 9 – 65
Top Players: Ocosta – Hopfer (23 pts., 8 reb., 4 stl.), Raffelson (17 pts., 11 reb.), Kaylee Barnum (7 asst., 6 stl.); Raymond – Silvernail (6 pts.) Gardner (5 pts., 6 reb.), Hannah Miller ( 7 reb.)
Meridian 47, Montesano 39
Turnovers and rebounds were costly as Montesano lost to Meridian 47-39 at the Cloud 9 Christmas Classic on Friday at Lynden High School.
The Bulldogs (6-5) coughed up 25 turnovers and allowed 17 offensive rebounds in their second game in as many days.
“That really hurt us,” Monte head coach Julie Graves said of her team’s inability to take care of the ball. “But I thought our kids played with tremendous energy and effort.
Monte was led by Paige Lisherness, who had a double-double with 10 points and a team-best 13 rebounds.
Lexi Lovell had 10 points while Katie Granstrom and Sophia Reed scored eight and seven points, respectively, for Montesano.
The Bulldogs shot 17-for-44 from the field (39 percent) while 4A Meridian hit 25-of-60 shots (42 precent).
Montesano has a few days off before opening up 1A Evergreen League play against Hoquiam at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Hoquiam Square Garden.
Montesano 10 14 9 6 — 39
Meridian 14 13 12 8 — 47
Top Players: Lovell (10 pts.), Lisherness (10 pts., 13 reb.), Granstrom (8 pts., 6 reb., 3 stl.), Reed (7 pts.).
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
Willapa Valley 51, Adna 45
Hannah Cook had a game-high 21 points to lead Willapa Valley to a 51-45 victory over Adna at the Jack Q. Pearson Holiday Classic on Friday in Menlo.
In a matchup of two teams ranked in the top 20 in the 2B section, Willapa Valley (8-2) held Adna (6-3) to nine points in the first quarter and seven in the third.
“It was a very fast-paced game. They’re a good team and one of the best teams in the Central League,” Willapa Valley head coach John Peterson said. “Defensively, we did a good job on them. As a team, we really swarmed to the ball.”
Cook was productive against the Pirates. The senior shot 7-of-10 from the field and got to the free-throw line 14 times, hitting on six of her attempts.
In addtion to Cook’s high-scoring effort, the Vikings were led by Brooke Friese, who scored 16 points and dished out three assists.
Cami Swartz and Hallee Layman added five rebounds apiece for the Vikings.
Willapa Valley, which is ranked 14th in the state according to the Washington Intersholastic Activities Association, also took care of the ball, yielding just 10 turnovers in the game to 18th-ranked Adna.
“I was really proud of the kids,” Peterson said of his players. “To get a win against a program we really respect, that’s a nice win for us.”
Vikings athletes Cook, Friese and Katie Adkins were named to the All-Tournament Team, with Cook being named MVP.
Willapa Valley continues its league schedule at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Pe Ell High School.
Adna 9 18 7 11 — 45
Willapa Valley 12 16 10 13 — 51
Top Players: WV — Cook (21 pts.), Friese (16 pts., 3 asst.), Adkins (6 pts., 3 asst.), Swartz (1 pt., 5 reb.), Layman (5 reb.).
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
Parkrose 46, Aberdeen 25
Turnovers proved costly as the Bobcats lost to Parkrose 46-25 on Friday at the Fort Vancouver Holiday Tournament at Fort Vancouver High School.
Aliyah Tageant led Aberdeen (0-6) with nine points and nine rebounds, but the Bobcats had problems taking care of the basketball according to head coach Rachel Wenzel.
“We are playing better defense but we have to get better at taking care of the ball,” said Wenzel, whose team committed 44 turnovers in the contest.
Aberdeen continues play at the tournament on Saturday. Time and opponent not available at the time of this writing.
Aberdeen 7 6 6 6 — 25
Parkrose 9 12 13 12 — 46
Top Players: Aberdeen — Tageant (9 pts., 9 reb.).
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
Onalaska 44, South Bend 39
South Bend dropped its second game in as many days at the Pe Ell Tournament, losing 44-39 to Onalaska on Friday.
A day after losing a close game to Rainier, 52-47, the Indians (4-5) hit just 13-of-55 shots from the field (24 percent) in loss to Onalaska (7-3).
“We had opportunities to win this game,” South Bend head coach Gary Wilson said. “We just have to play harder. … Onalaska hit shots at the end and we didn’t. We had good looks, (we) just couldn’t finish. We will improve on that.”
Jessica Sanchez led South Bend with 14 points and eight rebounds.
Fellow South Bend senior Karley Reidinger had 13 points, eight boards and six steals a day after scoring 26 points against Rainier.
South Bend takes on Raymond in a 2B Pacific League matchup at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Raymond.
South Bend 9 13 11 6 — 39
Onalaska 13 7 12 12 — 14
Top Players: SB — Sanchez (14 pts., 8 reb.), Reidinger (13 pts., 8 reb., 6 stl.), Hannah Byington (5 pts.), Alise Rohr (5 pts.).
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
Hoquiam drops two games at Yakima tournament
Down a couple of starters, Hoquiam struggled to find consistency and dropped two games at the Sundome Shootout Tournament in Yakima on Thursday and Friday.
On Thursday, Hoquiam fell to Eisenhower 74-52 before dropping Friday’s game against La Salle by a score of 66-54.
Hoquiam played both games without leading-scorer Matt Brown and point guard Jackson Folkers.
The Grizzlies came out of halftime trailing Eisenhower 36-24 and made strides toward a comeback with a 22-point third quarter.
Hoquiam cut Eisenhower’s lead to seven at one point, but couldn’t keep up the scoring in the fourth and only scored six points in the final eight minutes of play.
The Cadets (2-9 overall) used the 3-point shot to put the game out of reach and shot 11-for-21 from beyond the arc. Bryson Eccles provided a big lift for his team in the losing effort, scoring 18 points.
Friday’s game was much the same story where the Grizzlies put together a solid quarter of basketball but could not close the gap.
Hoquiam went into the fourth quarter down 64-30, but a strong fourth quarter helped keep the result from being too lopsided.
Rayyon Dayton came up big in the loss with 24 points.
The Grizzlies outscored the Lightning 24-4 in the fourth quarter and Hoquiam head coach Curtis Eccles said he is still waiting for his team to put together a complete game.
“We need to work on playing for four quarters. We’re pretty inconsistent and Folkers being out with a wrist injury too so that didn’t help,” he said.
Eccles went on to say he expects Brown and Folkers to be back when on the floor when Hoquiam takes on the Hyaks at North Beach at 2:15 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
Eisenhower 15 21 20 18 – 74
Hoquiam 11 13 22 6 – 52
Top Players: Hoquiam — Eccles (18 pts.,), Cameron Bumstead (18 pts.), Dayton (10 reb.)
La Salle 24 11 28 4 — 66
Hoquiam 6 11 13 24 — 54
Top Players: Hoquiam — Dayton (24 pts., 11 reb.) Jose Juarez (6 pts.), Bumstead ( 9 pts.)
Willapa Valley 60, Adna 51
In one of its toughest test of the non-league schedule, the 2nd-ranked Willapa Valley Vikings used defense to earn a 60-51 victory over No. 6 Adna at the Jack Q. Pearson Holiday Classic on Friday at Willapa Valley High School.
“I think on any given night, either team could beat each other,” Willapa Valley head coach Jay Pearson said. “Tonight just happened to be our night.”
The Vikings (10-0) held a comfortable 18-point lead with four minutes left in the game when Adna (5-2) made a run, capitalizing on Vikings turnovers to trim the lead to nine just a minute later.
But sophomore center Beau Buchanan hit some clutch shots down the stretch and senior guard Matt Pearson went 6-for-7 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
Defensively, Willapa Valley held Adna below its season average (57.7 points per game).
The Vikings’ Logan Walker held Adna’s leading scorer, Lyle Metzenberg (14.7 ppg), to just seven points. Meanwhile, Matt Pearson smothered Pirates guard Trevor Minkoff (12 ppg) to just two points.
“Tonight what won the game for us was defense,” Coach Pearson said. “It was probably our best, most complete defensive game of the season.”
Matt Pearson led Willapa Valley with 18 points to go along with seven rebounds.
Walker had 17 points, four rebounds and hit 7-of-9 free throws.
Junior forward Chad Flementis scored seven points, grabbed five rebounds and had five assists.
“He played really well and made some nice passes to open our guys up,” Coach Pearson said of Flementis.
Buchanan, Walker and Pearson were all named to the All-Tournament Team, with Pearson earning MVP honors.
Willapa Valley resumes its league schedule with a contest against Pe Ell at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Menlo.
Adna 9 11 8 23 — 51
WV 11 16 17 16 — 60
Top Players: WV — Walker (18 pts., 7 reb.), Pearson (17 pts., 4 reb.), Flementis (7 pts., 5 asst., 5 reb.).
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
Tillamook 62, Elma 41
Elma is still looking for their shooting stroke after a 62-41 loss to Tillamook at the Seaside Holiday Classic in Astoria, Oregon on Friday.
Sam Schneider hit five 3-pointers to keep his team in the game but his effort wasn’t enough for the Eagles to overcome their slow start.
“It’s the same story as last night. Got more shots and turned it over less than opponent we just couldn’t get them to fall,” said Elma head coach Jeff Niemi. “They shot 30 foul shots which is way too many.”
Elma (1-9 overall) will get a break before hosting Hoquiam on Friday at 7 p.m. to open up 1A Evergreen League play
Tillamook 14 15 15 18 – 62
Elma 5 7 16 12 – 41
Top Players: Elma – Schneider (15 pts.)
Other scores
Onalaska 61, South Bend 38
