Boys Basketball

Bearcats 70, Grizzlies 68

CHEHALIS — An inadvertent buzzer spoiled a last-second chance for Hoquiam in its season opener on the road on Tuesday night.

After host Chehalis scored with 1.1 seconds left to take the lead, the Grizzlies called timeout. On the inbounds play, a wide-open HHS player got the ball, but the scoreboard buzzer went off when he caught the ball. The officials reset the clock and the full-court situation for Hoquiam, but the last-second shot — on a different inbounds play because “they knew what we were going to do” — went over the backboard to end the game.

“We called timeout, set up the play and he was wide open with a great look at the basket,” HHS head coach Curtis Eccles said. “The clock was started when the inbounding player touched the ball, which it wasn’t supposed to. It was wrong and they fixed it. It was a great game.”

Jace Varner led all scorers with 22 points for Hoquiam (0-1), with Jack Adams III adding 18 points and eight rebounds and Victor James 11 points. Dakota Hawkins led Chehalis with 17 points and Brandon White added 16 points.

“Neither team held more than a four-point lead in the second half,” Eccles added. “We’re going to be all right. There are things we’ll take away from this game, because we know we’re going to be playing better basketball in February and March. We scheduled games like this for a reason — to prepare for league and the postseason.

“Chehalis brought it,” Eccles said. “They played well and got us by two. That says a lot. It also says we have to play better defense.”

On Thursday, Hoquiam will make its home debut against Black Hills.

Hoquiam 16 18 19 15 — 68 Chehalis 20 15 17 18 — 70

Hoquiam (68) — Varner 22, Adams III 18, James 11, Nash 9, Steen 4, Spradlin 4, Espedal. FG — 26-64. FT — 11-16.

Chehalis (70) — Hawkins 17, B. White 16, Dobyns 14, Cooper 10, Bull 5, Forgione 5, Yarter 2, C. White 1. FG — 26-51. FT — 11-17.

JV — Chehalis 54, Hoquiam 36.

Eagles 61, Hawks 51

DES MOINES — Trailing by nine at halftime, Elma came out with stifling defensive play to hold Mount Rainier Lutheran to three points in the third quarter as the Eagles came from behind for the victory in a non-league contest to open the season.

Elma’s two-top scorers on the night, brothers A.J. and Avery Brown, were in foul trouble early in the contest and both sat for the majority of the second quarter. With the Eagles’ primary offensive punch on the bench, a few bench players were able to step in and keep the score to a single-digit lead for the Hawks before halftime.

“We got some great play out of the reserves to keep it tight,” Elma coach Marvin Prince said. “We just went up and talked about a couple things we had to do and we relaxed and played a lot better defense in the second half. It just feels good to get the first one out of the way. We’ve got a long way to go but it was a good win.”

Avery Brown led all scorers with 22 points, while A.J. Brown finished with 13 points. Trace Thompson and Cody Vollan each scored 11 points for Elma.

Elma (1-0) travels to Shelton on Thursday.

Elma 14 14 15 18 — 61 Mount Rainier 17 20 3 11 — 51

Elma (61) — A.J. Brown 13, Tep 4, Thompson 11, Vollan 11, Spalding, Avery Brown 22, Horton.

Mount Rainier Lutheran (51) — Stidham 2, Bailey 13, Perry 14, Rodenbeck 4, Johnson 5, Gahan 11, Ogilvie 2.

JV — Elma 47, Mount Rainier Lutheran 16.

Wildcats 58, Trojans 53

WESTPORT — It was a back and forth game that showed plenty of signs of an early-season contest, but Ocosta prevailed over Pe Ell in a non-league game at Ocosta on Tuesday.

Ocosta (1-0) weathered a 9-0 run from the Trojans in the second half and finally took control for good with less than a minute on the clock. Aided by 14 points by Zach Allton in the second half, the Wildcats did just enough down the stretch to pull out the win.

“It was a very sloppy game on both sides,” Ocosta’s Jason Quinby said. “It was very physical, but clearly an early-season game defensively with guys slow in positioning. We just closed it out in the end. Our defense got better and we started forcing them to shoot from the outside.”

Allton finished with 19 points on the night, while Paul Bjornsgard added 15 points and 10 rebounds. Drake Mitby scored eight points and swiped four steals and Joe Wardlow added eight rebounds.

Ocosta hosts Winlock today.

Pe Ell 10 12 13 18 — 53 Ocosta 14 8 21 15 — 58

Pe Ell (53) — Duncan 4, Jurek 7, Gutierrez 2, McCalden 20, B. Prestegord 3, Shepherd 6, J. Prestegord 11. FT — 18-29.

Ocosta (58) — Bailey 3, Allton 19, C. Hatton 3, Beck 4, Smith 3, Bjornsgard 15, Mitby 8, H. Hatton, Wardlow 3. FT — 14-31.

Girls Basketball

Vikings 39, Comets 15

MENLO — Willapa Valley held Naselle scoreless in the first quarter and rolled to victory in a non-league game at Tenoski Gym on Tuesday.

The Vikings (1-0) outscored the Comets 9-0 in the first quarter and stretched their margin throughout to notch a victory in their first game. Valley was led by 16 points and eight rebounds from Hannah Cook.

“We figured out a lot of things we need to work on tonight,” Valley coach Colby Rogers said. “We rebounded better in the second half. Their kids fought hard to the end and we were fortunate to come out with a victory.”

Brooke Friese added six points and eight steals, while Bailee Betrozoff added six points for the Vikings.

Rogers cited Sidney Pollard and Kamryn Adkins for their defensive play.

Willapa Valley travels to Raymond on Thursday.

Naselle 0 3 6 6 — 15 Willapa Valley 9 7 13 10 — 39

Naselle (15) — Chapman 6, Glenn, Zimmerman, Harman 1, Ford 6, Tutu’u, Ridgeway 2, Jacot, Weston. FG — 7-36. FT — 1-8.

Willapa Valley (39) — Cook 16, Pollard 3, Friese 6, Betrozoff 6, Adkins, Huber 4, Hodel 4, Gray 2, Hoffman, Patrick. FG — 16-72. FT — 5-12.