There’s an old adage that best describes the Montesano girls basketball team’s 64-60 loss to Rochester on Tuesday: It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.
The Bulldogs stormed back from a deflating double-digit deficit to take the lead before eventually falling to the Warriors in overtime at Montesano High School.
In a woeful first half for Montesano (2-1 overall), the Bulldogs took a quick 4-0 lead before the Warriors caught fire, specifically sophomore Maddix Schneider. The 5-foot-8 forward had 12 of her 19 points in the first quarter on 4-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were plagued by turnovers and missed shots, resulting in a 16-0 Warriors run. Monte was able to stop the bleeding when freshman Paige Lisherness scored off an inbound play and eventually entered the second quarter down 20-13.
Monte’s fortunes went from bad to worse in the second quarter as the Bulldogs’ offense continued to sputter. Rochester’s Emily Elkins scored after an offensive rebound with just under two minutes left until halftime, giving the Warriors a commanding 36-15 lead. Monte entered the break down a near-insurmountable 18 points.
“Rochester came out and hit some shots and we kind of played a little more timid when our shots weren’t falling,” Monte head coach Julie Graves said. “We needed to get out and extend on their 3-points shooters a little more and we had some miscommunication and those are things we need to clean up.”
Graves’ plan to get back in the game centered on getting back to basics.
“We just talked about going out and playing our game and not being so shellshocked,” she said. “We really believed we could come back from that deficit and the defense needed to lead the charge. We really stepped up the defense and got out on the shooters.”
With the score 37-19 in Rochester’s favor, Monte went on a 18-0 run sparked by their full-court press to get back in the game. Monte senior guard Glory Grubb and center Zoe Hutchings led Monte’s comeback, with Grubb scoring seven consecutive points during the streak and Hutchings dominating in the paint with seven points off of offensive rebounds.
Montesano senior guard Glory Grubb, middle, defends Rochester’s Lexi Jones-Sederberg during the Bulldogs’ 64-60 overtime loss on Tuesday in Montesano. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)
The Bulldogs completed the comeback when Paige Lisherness tied the game at 37-37, scoring off another Bulldogs offensive rebound, with 43.2 seconds left in the third quarter.
Monte’s momentum carried through into the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs took a six point lead at 45-39 on a free throw from Lexi Lovell.
But Rochester hit back-to-back threes to tie the game and took a 51-49 lead with under a minute left in the game.
Monte tied the game at 51-all on a Lisherness layup and, after both teams missed chances to end the game in regulation, they headed to overtime, where the game became a foul-filled free-throw contest.
Without Hutchings, Monte’s leading-scorer who fouled out in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs offense in the overtime period came from the free-throw line, going 7-for-10 from the charity stripe. Senior guard Katie Granstrom went 5-of-8 from the line in the extra period.
Montesano’s Zoe Hutchings, left, grabs a rebound against Rochester’s Lexi Jones-Sederberg on Tuesday in Montesano. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)
But it wasn’t enough as though they got to the line, Monte only scored one field goal in overtime, a Lovell bank shot that cut the Warriors’ lead to 58-56.
Rochester went 6-of-10 from the line in extra time, but hit three field goals, including a 3-pointer from Megan Elkins, her only basket of the game.
Monte had one last chance to tie the game with 8.1 seconds left, but Lovell missed a corner three and Sand, who collected the rebound, hit 1-of-2 free throws at the other end to seal the Warriors’ 64-60 victory.
“Everyone that was on the court tonight played some good minutes for us in the second half,” Graves said. “That’s what we need. … We have to know we got each other’s backs. Even with (Hutchings) on the bench we’ve got some confidence in the kids that can go out there and play.”
Grubb scored a team-high 16 points to pace Monte. Granstrom (15 points), Hutchings (13 pts.) and Lisherness (11 pts.) also scored in double figures for the Bulldogs.
Paige Winter led Rochester with 25 points, including three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to keep her team in the game.
Rochester hit 10 three’s in the game, which Graves stated was “the difference in the game.”
Monte hosts Castle Rock at 7 p.m. today.
Ilwaco 54, South Bend 39
South Bend fell behind by 14 after one quarter and never recovered as the Indians fell to the Ilwaco Fishermen 54-39 on Tuesday in Ilwaco.
“We got hit in the face and didn’t respond very well,” South Bend head coach Gary Wilson said. “Ilwaco’s quickness and strength was just too much for us. We did settle down and had some positive possessions as the game went on. This is what we needed to prepare for and expect out of the tougher teams in the league.”
South Bend senior Jessica Sanchez led the Indians with 16 points and added eight rebounds and four assists to her stat line.
Alise Rohr was the only other Indians player in double digits with 10 points.
South Bend (2-1) shot 12-for-39 (.310) from the field and 14-for-22 (.636) from the foul line.
Ilwaco (3-0) held a large advantage in the amount of shots taken. The Fishermen shot 19-for-69 (.275) from the field.
The Indians take on Life Christian at 5:45 p.m. on Friday at South Bend High School.
Willapa Valley 64, North Beach 16
Willapa Valley’s high-pressure defense overwhelmed a young North Beach squad as the Vikings eased into a 64-16 win on the road on Tuesday.
Willapa Valley (3-0) used its press to get the transition game going and got a number of high-percentage shots to fall with Brooke Friese pacing the offense with 20 points.
Despite the lopsided victory, the Vikings got off to a bit of a slow start and found themselves tied with the Hyaks at 6-6 early on.
Vikings head coach John Peterson said he’s happy with the win but still wants to fine tune some things.
“We were able to get in transition and press and we played very solidly. ‘We’ve got some work to do in the half-court offense, but generally I’m pretty pleased,” he said.
The loss drops North Beach to 1-2 on the season.
Willapa Valley will take on Chief Leschi at the Puyallup Tribe Youth Center at 7 p.m. on Friday.
North Beach will also face Ocosta at 7 p.m. on the road on Friday.
— Hasani Grayson, Grays Harbor News Group
Ocosta 57, Northwest Christian 18
The Wildcats got 23 points from Kjirsten Hopfer in a dominant 57-18 win over Northwest Christian in Ocosta on Tuesday.
The Wildcats (2-1) forced 25 turnovers in the game and relied on the fast break to get transition layups. Ocosta shot 25 of 37 from the field and got a strong rebounding effort from Kristi Raffelson who grabbed eight rebounds.
“I knew if we came out aggressive we would have success with our full-court press,” Ocosta head coach Jason Barnum said. “We wanted to work on basics tonight and we got that done tonight.”
Northwest Christian (1-3) also had trouble containing Kaylee Barnum who dropped 14 points and picked up eight assists.
The Wildcats will now set their sights on North Beach for a home game that is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Northwest Christian 5 2 6 5 — 18
Ocosta 26 12 13 6 — 57
Top Players: Ocosta — Hopfer (23 pts.), Banrum (14 pts., 8 assts.), Raffelson (8 rebs.)
— Hasani Grayson, Grays Harbor News Group
— Hasani Grayson, Grays Harbor News Group
Raymond 47, Chief Leschi 35
In a rough game where the teams combined for 40 fouls, the Seagulls got an 18-point performance from freshman Kyra Gardner to earn a 47-35 win over Chief Leschi, Raymond’s first victory of the young season.
Though each team shot an identical 20 percent from the field and possessed a high volume of fouls (Chief Leschi 25, Raymond 15), the Seagulls (2-1 overall, 1-1 Pacific 2B) converted 21-of-34 free-throw attempts to just 4-for-9 for the Warriors (1-2, 1-2).
The game was close until the fourth quarter, when a Raymond 7-0 run gave the Seagulls some breathing room.
In addition to Gardner, who led Raymond in scoring with 18 points and 6-for-7 free-throw shooting, Anna Silva scored 16 points on 8-for-12 shooting and head coach Jason Koski noted Isabel Mora’s leadership and Sadie Warnstadt’s defense as being keys to Raymond’s first league victory of the season.
The Seagulls play at Pe Ell at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Raymond 10 10 12 15 —47
Chief Leschi 10 10 8 7 —35
Top Players: Raymond — Gardner (18 pts., 12 rebs.), Silva (16 pts.)
Tenino 59, Aberdeen 16
The Aberdeen Bobcats were held scoreless in the first quarter and totalled eight points through the first three frames in a 59-16 loss on Tuesday at Tenino High School.
“The game was rough,” Aberdeen head coach Rachel Wenzel said. “We have a lot to improve on but the effort is there. We will keep making the adjustments until someone steps up on offense.”
Randi Stewart led Aberdeen (0-3) with seven points.
Skylar Taylor added four points for the Bobcats.
Aberdeen faces cross-town rival Hoquiam at 7 p.m. today in Hoquiam.
Aberdeen 0 6 2 8 —16
Tenino 23 8 13 15 —59
Top Players: Aberdeen — Stewart (7 pts.), Taylor (4 pts.)
Taholah 57, Clallam Bay 50
Denise Curley Bear scored 20 points and Nettie Mail added 15 to lead the Taholah Lady Chitwhins to a 57-50 victory over Clallam Bay in Taholah on Tuesday.
Cllallam Bay took an early 17-10 advantage after the first quarter of play, but Taholah pounded the ball inside and used a stifling defense to pick up the 7-point victory.
Nakeah McCrory had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Chitwhins.
“I felt that we came out a little tight and were making mistakes early in the game,” Taholah head coach Fred Pope said. “Clallam Bay came out with high energy, but we were able to clamp down on defense in the final three quarters. Our inside game on offense was the difference. They weren’t able to stop our bigs down low and we moved the ball around really well and knocked down some open shots.”
Pope noted Taholah’s Celisha Ralston as being a factor in limiting Clallam Bay to one-and-done on the offensive end.
