ABERDEEN — Aberdeen’s offense struggled to find its shooting touch as the Bobcats osted their lowest point total of the season in a 50-35 loss at home to Black Hills on Wednesday.
Aberdeen (12-3, 3-3 Evergreen 2A) seemed to be headed toward a high-scoring a offensive night with the Bobcats jumping out to a 10-2 lead over the Wolves (9-6, 6-0) in the first two minutes of the game.
However, Aberdeen soon lost its shooting touch which allowed Black Hills to go on a 10-0 run to take the lead before the end of the first quarter.
The Bobcats weren’t scoring at their normal rate yet weren’t completely out of the game, only trailing 30-21 by halftime.
Aberdeen head coach Mark Buckman said his team had trouble dealing with some of Black Hills’ ball pressure.
“I’ll take a lot of ownership for the loss. I didn’t have our guys offensively prepared for some of the pressure they applied on us,” he said. “It was nice to get our full team back after some injuries, but we just weren’t together from the get-go.”
Aberdeen had trouble hitting outside shots as it attempted to climb back into the game in the second half. The Bobcats shot 3-for-15 on 3-point attempts and only had one player reach double figures with Javier Bojorge scoring 14 points.
Aberdeen’s Javier Bojorge, left, drives down the baseline in the third quarter against Black Hills on Wednesday at Sam Benn Gym. Bojorge led the Bobcats with 14 points in a 50-35 loss to Black Hills.(Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Black Hills’ length inside also made it difficult for the Bobcats to finish in the paint as Aberdeen’s bigs shot 4-for-18 from the field.
Buckman attributed some of the missed shots in the paint to a lack of focus.
“We did have some good looks down low tonight but our focus level from the start wasn’t there. They came in excited, but when they hit the floor they had this flat attitude,” he said. “The focus wasn’t there tonight and when you’re not focused you’re not going to hit some of those easy shots that are given to you down low.”
On the other end of the court, Wolves post player Gabe Wright found a lot of success finishing at the rim, with 21 points and a 8-for-10 performance at the line.
The Bobcats continued to look for jump shots with limited success heading into the fourth quarter and Aberdeen never drew closer than nine points down the stretch
Despite the loss, Aberdeen is still in the thick of the playoff picture and is holding on to the fourth and final playoff seed in the league standings.
Buckman acknowledged that the loss is a step back for his team but he is confident the Bobcats can still qualify for the postseason.
“We’re still battling for that playoff spot and we have that belief that we can get there, but we took a little bit of a hit tonight,” he said. “I know we can overcome it and we’re just going to get back to working hard to get ready for WF West.”
Aberdeen’s Wyatt Johnson, left, attempts a mid-range jumper while Black Hills’ Zach Crumley defends. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Aberdeen head to Chehalis on Friday at 7 p.m. for their next league game against the WF West Bearcats.
WF West sits in third place and is up on the Bobcats by a half game. Aberdeen lost to the Bearcats 75-63 in the Bobcat’s first league game of the season.
Aberdeen had trouble keeping Colby White in check last time the teams squared off as the power forward put up 17 points at Sam Benn Gym on Jan. 3.
“WF West is athletic and they have some big guards and Colby White can jump our of the gym,” Buckman said. “We just hope that we can go down to Chehalis and get off to a good start to avenge the loss we took in the first game of league.”
Black Hills 14 16 8 12 — 50
Aberdeen 10 11 6 8 — 35
Top Players: Aberdeen — Bojorge (14 pts.), Wyatt Johnson (4 pts., 6 reb.), Ben Dublanko (9 pts.); Wright (21 pts.), Avery Armin (16 pts.)
Hoquiam 56, Elma 40
Hoquiam got another double-double performance from Rayyon Dayton in a 56-40 home win over Elma on Wednesday.
Dayton gave Hoquiam (8-9, 4-2 Evergreen 1A) a lift with 17 points and 12 rebounds while Cameron Bumstead added another 14 points to go along with eight steals.
Both teams were looking to get the ball inside, but the Grizzlies’ size was a bit too much for the Eagles to handle as Elma (1-15, 0-5) looked to drive into the paint.
Hoquiam head coach Curtis Eccles gave Elma credit for finding lanes to drive to the hoop, but was ultimately pleased with how his interior defensed held up.
“Elma did a better job of getting it inside and getting layups against us than they did last time,” he said. “One of our goals was to hold them under 40 coming into the game and we accomplished that.”
Hoquiam will take a break from its league schedule to take on Onalaska in its next matchup on the road at 7 p.m on Monday.
Elma will still be looking for its first league victory in its next game when they host Tenino at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Hoquiam 19 16 9 12 — 50
Elma 10 10 9 11 — 40
Top Players: Hoquiam – Dayton (17 pts., 12 reb) Bumstead (14 pts., 8 stl), Matt Brown (12 pts. 7 reb); Cobey Moore (12 pts.), Josiah Jones-Wyeth (8 pts., 9 reb)
South Bend 76, Chief Leschi 67
South Bend’s Drew Rose scored a season-high 33 points to lead the Indians to a 76-67 victory on Wednesday in South Bend.
Thanks to an aggressive offense that got to the free-throw line and excellent rebounding, South Bend (2-14, 2-13 Pacific 2B) built a 26-point lead midway through the third quarter.
Rose fouled out with approximately four minutes to go in the game and finished with 33 points and 12 rebounds. The senior forward got to the free-throw line a prolific 29 times, draining an impressive 23 from the foul line (79 percent).
Chief Leschi (8-9, 6-9 Pacific 2B) cut the deficit to 73-67 with Rose on the bench, but South Bend — which finished 31-of-44 from the charity stripe as a team — hit free throws down the stretch to earn the win.
South Bend’s Logan Stamos finished with 17 points on a perfect 8-for-8 shooting night while teammate Nathon Ashley recorded a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
The Indians outrebounded the Warriors, 50-32.
“We did really well defensively in terms of trying to keep them in check and keep the shooter in front of you,” South Bend head coach Manual Rangel said of his team’s defensive strategy before turning his attention toward the foul-line numbers. “When I look at the free-throw line stat (31-of-44), I’m just really dumbfounded. We did really well.”
When asked if this was his team’s best game of the year, Rangel responded: “Absolutely. … Chief Leschi has always been a very good team and we were able to come out on top.”
South Bend will celebrate its Senior Night with a game at 7 p.m. on Saturday against Pe Ell.
Chief Leschi 11 8 14 34 — 67
South Bend 19 11 21 25 — 76
Top Players: South Bend — Rose (33 pts., 12 reb.), Stamos (17 pts.), Ashley (15 pts., 16 reb.), Cody Jones (5 reb.); Chief Leschi — Kiah Baker (10 pts.).
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Grays Harbor 66, Tacoma 55
Grays Harbor’s defense came up big when the Chokers struggled to find consistency in other areas of their game in a 66-58 road win over Tacoma on Wednesday.
Grays Harbor (10-8, 3-2 NWAC) forced 25 turnovers to disrupt the Titans offense, but also committed 22 fouls while shooting 32.4 percent from the field.
Sandin Kidder shot 4-of-7 from 3-point range and led the Chokers with game-high 21 points. Charleea Armstrong also helped pace the offense with nine assists.
The Chokers found ways to score, but had trouble containing the Titans (4-15, 1-4) on the glass and were out-rebounded 41-31.
Grays Harbor head coach Chad Allan was happy to escape with a road win, but wants his team to show more effort next time.
“If we decide to stop being lazy and fouling and give more effort, we have a chance to be pretty good,” he said. “Until then, we will have to hope the other team struggles more than us.”
Grays Harbor will be back in action on Saturday in a home game against Green River at 2 p.m.
Grays Harbor 11 17 17 21 – 66
Tacoma 11 12 21 14 – 58
Top Players: Grays Harbor – Kidder (21 pts.,4 stl.) Armstrong (12 pts., 9 ast., 6 stl., 3 blk), Isabel Hernandez (10 pts., 7 reb); Shawn Brown (17 pts., 6 reb.), Aevery Campbell (17 pts., 5 reb.), Sophie Wicker (13 pts., 17 reb.)
GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL
Oakville 50, Wishkah Valley 36
Oakville’s shooting touch gave it the edge in a face-paced game as the Acorns defeated Wishkah 50-36 on Wednesday in Oakville.
Oakville got off to a quick start and found itself up 17-7 after the first quarter of play while the Loggers struggled from the field.
Wishkah (1-6 overall) had trouble getting jumpers to fall and shot 12-of-61 from the field.
Oakville (4-9, 2-4 1B Coastal) made a big step towards putting the game out of reach in the second quarter, putting up 21 points to take a 38-16 lead into the locker room at halftime.
“Wishkah battled defensively, but had difficulty with Oakville’s 3-point shooters and quick drive to the basket, playing both inside and outside,” Wishkah head coach Stefanie Baltzell said.
Samuel Starr-Wright scored a game-high 15 points for the Acorns while Nathan Boyd added another 12 points.
Wishkah was lead by Hunter Baltzell, who posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Loggers’ next game will be at Mary M. Knight at 7 p.m on Friday.
Wishkah 7 9 6 8 — 30
Oakville 17 21 9 9 — 56
Top Players: Wishkah – Baltzell (12 pts., 10 reb.), Joey Brenneman (9 pts., 11 reb.); Oaklville – Starr-Wright (15 pts.)
South Bend 50, Chief Leschi 36
After a sluggish first half, South Bend controlled the third quarter en route to a 50-36 win over Chief Leschi on Wednesday in South Bend.
Led by senior Karley Reidinger’s 14 points, South Bend’s offense scored nearly as many points in the third quarter (18) as they did the entire first half (23).
“We did not play well defensively the first half. Chief Leschi played very physical and we did not handle it very well,” South Bend head coach Gary Wilson said. “The second half we settled down and played stronger. … How our defense goes is how our offense goes … though we struggled at times we stayed in control.”
In addition to Reidinger, three additional South Bend players scored in double figures. Alise Rohr scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds while seniors Jessica Sanchez and Hanna Byington scored 11 points apiece.
The Indians hit 16-of-44 shots from the field (36 percent) and 13-of-27 from the free-throw line (48 percent).
South Bend (9-8, 9-6 Pacific 2B) sits a half-game behind Raymond for fourth place in the 2B Pacific League and takes on Pe Ell at 7 p.m. on Friday.
South Bend 11 12 18 9 — 50
Chief Leschi 12 11 4 9 — 36
Top Players: South Bend — Reidinger (14 pts., 8 reb.), Rohr (12 pts., 9 reb.), Sanchez (11 pts., 5 reb.), Byington (11 pts.).
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
BOYS PREP WRESTLING
Aberdeen beats Tumwater, Black Hills to take second in league
For the first time in a decade, the Aberdeen Bobcats cracked the top two in the 2A Evergreen League, beating both Tumwater and Black Hills in a duel meet on Wednesday, claiming the league’s No. 2 spot in the process.
Aberdeen (6-2, 4-1 Evergreen 2A) defeated Black Hills 46-36 and Tumwater 36-30 to lock up the Aberdeen’s first two-two finish in 10 seasons.
Bobcats 126-pounder Korey Fitzpatrick pinned Black Hills’ Marcos Elliot in the final match of the duel meet to secure the victory. Aberdeen’s Bodie Wharton (152 pounds) won both his matches on Wednesday and the Bobcats got pinfall wins from Jeremy Roberts (120), Kaleb Lock (113), Seth Brown (182), Joseph Bercier (195) and Enrique Ontiveros (285).
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
