BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
Elma 65, Tenino 48
The Elma Eagles are staking a claim that they are the second-best team in the 1A Evergreen League this season. And the Eagles are proving it on the court.
Elma put itself in prime position to wrap up the league’s No. 2 spot with a convincing 65-48 victory over Tenino on Thursday in Elma.
After trailing 11-3 to the Beavers early, Elma (10-8 overall, 4-3 Evergreen 1A) closed out the first quarter in style, outscoring Tenino (5-12, 0-6) 11-1 over the final 2:30 to take a 14-12 lead after eight minutes of play.
The game remained close through much of the second quarter as neither team could stretch a lead to more than one possession.
That changed when Elma’s Cobey Moore scored on a cut to the basket after receiving a nice feed from Brady Johnston, giving Elma a 25-20 lead with 1:58 to go until halftime.
After the teams traded baskets, Tenino closed the quarter with buckets by Takari Hickle and Logan Brewer to cut Elma’s lead to 27-26 at the half.
But the second half belonged to the Eagles. Elma opened the half with a 12-3 run, capped by a Sawyer Witt 3-pointer to give the Eagles their first double-digit lead of the game at 39-29 at the 4:50 mark.
After stretching the lead to 12 at 46-34 on a Brady Johnston score and subsequent foul shot, Tenino responded with four-point swing when Brewer hit a free throw, rebounded his own miss on the second foul shot, then scored on a 3-pointer to cut Elma’s lead to 46-38.
But the Eagles responded when Nick Church drove the lane and scored on a layup to close out the third-quarter scoring at 48-38.
Elma’s Nick Church, left, puts up a shot against Tenino’s Zack Russell (4) during the second half of the Eagles 65-48 victory on Thursday in Elma. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)
Elma, which used a tenacious trap defense, relentless rebounding and continuous ball movement to build its lead, did so in the fourth quarter to secure a victory.
The Eagles opened the quarter on a 6-0 run, highlighted when Moore returned the favor from earlier in the game and found a cutting Johnston, who scored from in close to open the frame. Moore and Raiden Aho hit two free throws each after that to push Elma’s lead to 16 points at 54-38.
Elma’s lead ballooned to as much as 19 points after Josiah Jones scored and and was fouled and a Tenino player was hit with a technical foul on the play. Jones hit his free throw followed by two makes from Jaedyn Edenstrom for the tech, giving Elma a 60-41 lead with 1:40 left on the clock, putting the game out of reach for the Beavers.
“We talked at halftime that (Tenino) out-scrapped us in the first half. They were getting to more loose balls than us and we told them that we got to turn that around,” Elma head coach Jeff Niemi said. “That was the big change. Our energy and tempo was better and that led to some easy baskets.”
Witt lead Elma with 17 points, including hitting four 3-pointers in the game.
Moore scored 12 points while Johnston added 11 for the Eagles, which shot 50% from the field (23-46) and had 15 assists as a team.
Tenino’s Logan Brewer, left, looks to get around the defense of Elma’s Cobey Moore and Sawyer Witt (13) during Thursday’s 1A Evergreen League game in Elma. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)
Defensively, Elma outrebounded Tenino 32-19 and held the Beavers to 34% field-goal shooting (15-44).
“The guys have kind of bought into rebounding more,” Niemi said. “We’ve been working on it and getting more physical in practice because the idea is practice should be tougher than the games. So rebounding has been a big emphasis lately and they kind of like to practice rebounding and it sure helps when we can dominate the glass like that.”
The win was a critical one for Elma regarding the Eagles standings in league. Elma sits a half-game ahead of idle Forks, which hosts first-place Montesano on Friday.
Elma has come a long way in resurrecting a program that had one win last season and three in 2017-18.
“We told the kids when you go from one win to 10 the next season, that’s pretty special and getting there is great,” Niemi said. “But the main thing it does for us is put us position to be top two in the league. That’s a goal we set in August and it has been on the front of our minds. … That’s the big feather in these seniors’ cap and if we can take care of business on Tuesday, we’ll put ourselves there.”
Elma hosts Forks at 7 p.m. Tuesday with a spot at second place at stake.
Tenino 12 14 12 5 — 43
Elma 14 13 21 17 — 65
Willapa Valley 67, Ocosta 37
Willapa Valley held Ocosta’s talented offense in check en route to a 67-37 victory on Thursday at Willapa Valley High School.
The Vikings (14-4, 13-2 Pacific 2B) held Ocosta (7-10, 7-8) to just three points in the first quarter in a defensive performance that drew accolades from Willapa Valley head coach Jay Pearson.
“We started with defense and I couldn’t ask for a better defensive effort than what I saw in the first half,” he said. “I’m very pleased with our defensive scheme of having Beau (Buchanan) guard the paint and having our guards extend out. … Defense is hard work and we represented that well.”
Willapa Valley’s defense held Ocosta top scorers — Cole Hatton, Omar Luque and Kobe Rudolph — to a combined 16 points in the contest.
Vikings junior standout Logan Walker led all scorers with 19 points.
Chad Flemetis scored 17 points and dished out eight assists with Allen Deniston scoring nine points and nine rebounds.
Buchanan was a force defensively, recording eight blocks and grabbing eight rebounds to go along with four points for Willapa Valley.
The Vikings travel to Tacoma to take on Life Christian at 7 p.m. on Friday, likely for the 2B Pacific League title.
Ocosta 3 16 7 11 — 37
Willapa Valley 14 15 16 22 — 67
Life Christian 101, Raymond 73
Tre’ Seydel had another double-double performance, but the league’s top team had too much for Raymond as the Seagulls fell to Life Christian 101-73 on Thursday at Life Christian Academy.
Raymond’s super sophomore scored 31 points and had 10 rebounds but the Eagles (14-3, 14-1 Pacific 2B) had five players score in double figures, led by Omari Maulana and Chae Haynes, who scored 28 and 21 points, respectively.
Brian Sida added 10 points for Raymond.
“Playing at LCA is tough task. They are very good on their home floor,” Raymond head coach Derek Rask said. “We really struggled with them defensively. They had an answer for everything we threw at them.”
Raymond 19 23 13 18 — 73
Life Christian 24 24 25 28 — 101
Other Scores
Girls Prep Basketball
WF West 71, Aberdeen 25
Boys Prep Basketball
Northwest Christian 75, Pe Ell 45
