WESTPORT — The game was closer than the final score would indicate. But a red-hot Ocosta offense scored on all but one of its possessions in the fourth quarter to pull away and come away with a 57-39 Pacific 2B League girls basketball win over South Bend on Tuesday.
With the win, Ocosta’s girls (8-4, 11-4) are solidly in third place over South Bend (6-5, 10-5) in the league standings.
The loss will likely leave the Indians battling for fourth place with rivals Willapa Valley and Raymond.
The Wildcats demonstrated exceptional balance. Erika Snider and Kjirstin Hopfer scored 14 points apiece, while Kaylee Barnum and Kristi Raffelson added 13 apiece.
Ocosta started out the game on a 7-0 run but the Indians wouldn’t let the Wildcats put the game away early and worked the score to 13-12 by the end of the opening quarter.
Down by one entering the second quarter, the Indians found their shooting touch while the Wildcats failed to hit open looks. South Bend led 26-21 at the half.
The Indians looked particularly good when the Wildcats failed to rotate in their man-to-man defense and left shooters open on the wing.
Jessica Sanchez had a particularly good first half and finished with a team-leading 15 points. Alise Rohr added 12 points for the Indians.
Ocosta head coach Jason Barnum said he emphasized to his team the importance of trusting their triangle offense to get open looks in the second half.
“When you reverse the ball you break down the 2-3 defense and then we got mismatches down below,” he said. “When we didn’t get the mismatch we were able to kick it outside and get some wide-open shots.”
South Bend’s defense looked a bit more fallible in the third quarter as Raffelson began getting some easier looks inside and drew fouls.
Raffelson did work on the inside and scored 13 points.
Meanwhile, Snider and Barnum took advantage of looks from the outside.
Hopfer’s last-second shot tied the game at 33 heading into the fourth quarter and the Wildcats offense caught fire in the fourth, scoring on every possession in the quarter except for the last one when the game was no longer in doubt.
“We had 17 possessions in a row where we put the ball in the hoop and that’s hard to come by,” Coach Barnum said. “I’ve been waiting for this team all year and they showed up tonight in a huge game. I couldn’t be prouder.”
The battle on the boards was also a big factor in Ocosta second-hlaf dominance. The Wildcats and Indians were almost even in defensive boards but Ocosta outrebounded South Bend 12-7.
“This is the best game we’ve played all year,” he added. “If we’re going to peak, this is the time to peak so we can ride it into the postseason.”
South Bend head coach Gary Wilson said turnovers did his team in when the Indians attempted to regain control of the game.
“They’re a good team and we controlled them most of the game until the final minutes,” Wilson said. “We just had some unforced turnovers. We were getting ready to go up 10 a couple of times and shot ourselves in the foot.”
The Wildcats will get a little time off before facing Forks on the road on Saturday while the Indians will also be on the road to face Chief Leschi that day.
S. Bend 12 14 7 6 — 39
Ocosta 13 8 12 24 — 57
South Bend (39) — Byington 6, Markwell, Sanchez 15, Reidinger 6, Rohr 12, Doyle, Loza, Baker. FG — 17-40 (.425). FT — 1-3.
Ocosta (57) — Denny 2, Er. Snider 14, Martin 1, Emily Snider, Hopfer 14, Marsh, K. Barnum 13, Raffelson 13. FG — 32-55 (.415) FT— 5-11.
