When Hoquiam needed one more late game stop, they got two blocked shots from Cameron Bumstead and Rayyon Dayton to seal the deal in the Grizzlies 57-56 victory over Montesano at Hoquiam Square Garden on Wednesday night.
Hoquiam looked to hang on to its one-point lead with 10 seconds left and secured the victory when Monte’s Sam Winter had his shot blocked by Bumstead with 10 second left.
Montesano’s Evan Bates secured the loose ball but his mid-range jumper was blocked by Dayton with about 7 seconds left, securing the Hoquiam victory.
In addition to his late-game block, Bumstead lifted Hoquiam (4-6, 1-0 Evergreen 1A) with 16 points and added four assists.
Bumstead said there’s no question where this win ranks for him.
“This ranks number one,” he said. “At halftime everyone in the locker room was down and I was like, ‘Come on boys, we can do this,’ and we pulled it off.”
Bumstead’s scoring played a big role in Hoquiam’s victory, but he said he was initially looking to pass the ball into the post early in the game.
“I was just trying to fit in and dish down low to the big men,” he said. “Once they got triple-teamed it opened things up for me.”
Bumstead’s performance helped lead a comeback after Monte had opened up a 34-25 lead by halftime.
The Bulldogs (6-6, 0-1) benefited from some solid shooting in the first half. Winter led Montesano with 22 points, 11 of which came in the first half.
Hoquiam switched from man-to-man to a 3-2 zone defense in the second half that slowed down a Bulldogs offense that thrived on perimeter ball movement and cuts to the basket in the first half.
Montesano head coach Doug Galloway said he was disappointed with the way his team executed the offense in the final two periods.
“We can shoot the ball pretty well but we couldn’t get them to fall in the second half. We were taking some off-balance shots in the second half,” he said. “We stopped moving, we stopped posting up and we stopped taking the ball to the hole.”
While Monte’s presence in the paint waned as the game continued, Hoquiam’s bigs began to pick up steam. Matt Brown put up 16 points and grabbed 11 boards while Dayton added another 14 points and seven rebounds for Hoquiam.
“They kept battling and I felt (in) a couple of our possessions getting offensive rebounds was key because we were ultimately fouled or scored. So those were some great possessions at the end,” Hoquiam head coach Curtis Eccles said.
Turnovers also helped turn the tied in favor of Hoquiam. The Grizzlies nabbed 11 steals to disrupt the Bulldogs offense.
Galloway said he’s still unclear why Monte struggled to take care of the ball.
“I don’t think we took care of the ball down the stretch and we became a little tentative. I’m not sure why it happened but you have to give credit to Hoquiam,” he said.
Montesano’s Sam Winter takes a contested mid-range jumper in the first quarter against Hoquiam on Wednesday. Winter scored a game-high 22 points in Montesano’s 57-56 loss to Hoquiam. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Monte will try to shake off its first league loss when they take on Tenino at home on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
Hoquiam will also be in action on Friday when they head up to Elma to take on the Eagles at 7 p.m.
Eccles said his team is in a good spot after beating one of the tougher teams in the league and is feeling confident in his team’s ability to score going forward.
“(Bumstead’s) always been a good shooter and we’re fortunate enough to have a team that has several scorers that can step up. Bumstead did a good job tonight,” he said.
Montesano 18 16 17 5 – 56
Hoquiam 13 12 18 14 – 57
Top Players: Hoquiam – Bumstead (16 pts., 4 asst), Brown (16 pts, 11 reb.), Dayton (14, 9 reb.); Montesano – Winter (22 pts.), Tanner Nicklas (10 pts.)
BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
Willapa Valley 70, Pe Ell 21
Willapa Valley continued to play well through the holiday break as the Vikings downed Pe Ell 70-21 on Wednesday at Willapa Valley High School.
Led by senior guard Matt Pearson’s 15 points, Willapa Valley (11-0 overall, 9-0 Central 2B) leaped out to a 24-2 lead after one quarter, allowing head coach Jay Pearson to rest his starters for much of the contest.
“The starters played maybe 10 minutes in the first half then about three minutes to start the third (quarter),” he said. “Everyone played, scored and contributed tonight. … I was pleased we played to our potential.”
Peter Hamilton had a double-double for the Vikings with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Logan Walker also had 11 points for Willapa Valley.
The Vikings also got some contributions from its bench, as Chad Flementis had five rebounds to go along with four assists and Carter Pearson scored four points and added a team-high six assists on the night.
Willapa Valley travels to Raymond to take on the Seagulls at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Pe Ell (0-10) hosts Ocosta on Friday. Tip off scheduled for 7 p.m.
Pe Ell 2 7 6 6 — 21
Willapa Valley 24 20 16 10 —70
Top Players: WV — M. Pearson (15 pts.), Walker (11 pts.), Hamilton (11 pts., 10 reb.), C. Pearson (4 pts., 6 asst.), Flementis (3 pts., 5 reb., 4 asst.).
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
Ilwaco 73, Ocosta 67 (OT)
Late-game breakdowns hurt Ocosta as the Wildcats lost 73-67 to Ilwaco in overtime on Wednesday in Westport.
The Wildcats (5-5, 5-4 Central 2B) held a three- to eight-point lead for much of the contest, but according to Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby, some mental breakdowns in the fourth quarter and overtime allowed Ilwaco (8-3, 7-2) to claim the victory.
“We didn’t execute on our end, both on offense and defense, in the last couple minutes of the fourth quarter. … In overtime, we got stagnant on defense,” Quinby said. “We just had some breakdowns on our end and that’s been our MO this year.”
Richard Dueber led Ocosta with a double-double, scoring 20 points to go along with 13 rebounds.
Cole Hatton and Kobe Beck also scored in double figures for Ocosta, whit 17 and 14 points, respectively.
Ilwaco forward Reese Tynkila scored a game-high 32 points to lead the Fisherman.
With the loss, Ocosta sits a game behind Life Christian Academy for the fourth spot in the 2B Central League at the halfway point of the league schedule.
“We’ve played the bottom of the league tight and the top of the league tight,” Quinby said. “We just need to get over the hump to be one of those top four league teams.”
Ocosta hosts Pe Ell at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Ilwaco 20 12 11 20 10 — 73
Ocosta 21 17 10 15 4 — 67
Top Players: Ocosta — Dueber (20 pts., 13 reb.), Hatton (17 pts.), Beck (14 pts.); Ilwaco — Tynkila (32 pts.).
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
Raymond 55, South Bend 45
Tre Seydel scored six of his team-best 12 points in the fourth quarter as Raymond defeated South Bend 55-45 on Wednesday at South Bend High School.
Raymond (3-8, 3-6 Central 2B) held a four-point lead at the half and extended it to eight after outscoring South Bend 15-11 in the third quarter.
McCartney Maden scored 11 points for Raymond with teammate Devine Souvannavanh chipping in with eight points for the Seagulls.
South Bend (2-8, 1-7) was led by senior Drew Rose, who scored 18 points, collected 11 rebounds and had three steals on the evening.
Nathon Ashley added 12 points and six rebounds for the Indians, which takes on Northwest Christian at 7 p.m. on Friday in Lacey.
Next up for Raymond will be league-leading Willapa Valley at 7 p.m. on Friday in Raymond.
Raymond 18 11 15 11 — 55
South Bend 11 14 11 9 — 45
Top Players: Raymond — Seydel (12 pts., 6 stl.), Maden (11 pts.), Souvannavanh (8 pts.); SB — Rose (18 pts., 11 reb. 3 stl.), Ashley (12 pts., 6 reb.).
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL
Elma 78, Eatonville 48
The Elma Eagles used an 18-0 game-opening run to cruise to a 78-48 victory over Eatonville on Wednesday at Elma High School.
The Eagles (11-0) were led by Kali Rambo, who scored 23 points while shooting 80 percent from the field.
Jalyn Sackrider had a double-double for the Eagles, scoring 18 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. The senior center also blocked three shots in the contest.
Elma’s offense showed no signs of slowdown on the night, leading by as many as 38 points and shooting 50 percent from the field as a team.
The Eagles also shared the ball well as a team with 25 assists on the evening.
Elma opens up 1A Evergreen League play against Hoquiam at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Hoquiam Square Garden.
No further information for this game was available at the time of this writing.
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
Montesano 57, Hoquiam 38
Montesano ran roughshod over Hoquiam in the second quarter on its way to a 57-38 win at Hoquiam Square Garden on Wednesday night.
Zoe Hutchings put up 17 points and brought down 17 rebounds on her way to a double-double that paced the Bulldogs (7-5, 1-0 Evergreen 1A) on their way to the league-opening win.
Monte’s Lexi Lovell also had a big game, contributing 15 points of her own.
Both teams got off to a slow start offensively with Hoquiam protecting a slim 9-8 lead after eight minutes of play.
Montesano tightened up on defense and got its transition game going to outscore Hoquiam 20-3 in the game’s second frame.
Bulldogs head coach Julie Graves said she hopes her team can build on the way they played in the second quarter and clean up their initial mistakes.
“The second quarter we came out and stepped it up defensively and that was the turning point for us,” she said. “It’s a typical first league game. We had some bright spots and there’s some things we need to work on and clean up over the next seven league games.”
The Bulldogs ran a 3-2 press and 2-3 zone on defense that made scoring difficult for the Grizzlies. Hoquiam head coach Denny Hinchen said he wants his players to be a little more patient on offense.
“Everybody got the ball tonight and got rid of it. We didn’t let the offense run itself,” he said. “When the girls don’t want to create, there are more passes going around, there are more deflections and that’s what (Montesano) wants.”
Montesano hits the court again on Friday when they host Tenino at 7 p.m.
Hoquiam (7-4, 0-1) will continue its search for its first league win with a matchup at Elma on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Montesano 8 20 9 20 – 57
Hoquiam 9 3 13 15 – 38
Top Players: Montesano – Hutchings (17 pts., 17 reb.), Lovell (15 pts, 5 asst.); Hoquiam — Rylee Vonhof (12pts.).
