As far as statement games go, Montesano dotted this one with plenty of exclamation points.
The Bulldogs used a smothering defense and a standout offensive performance from McKynnlie Dalan to earn a 58-34 victory over the Tenino Beavers on Saturday in Tenino.
In the battle of two teams that both featured undefeated league records entering the game, Montesano (14-1 overall, 6-0 1A Evergreen) struck first, using its press defense to force Tenino turnovers en route to a 15-9 first-quarter lead.
Complicating matters further for Tenino was stellar Beavers forward Ashley Schow having to ride the bench for most of the second quarter due to early foul trouble.
Montesano capitalized on Schow’s absence, holding a 30-15 lead at halftime and turning what was expected to be a highly-competitive contest into a comfortable win.
The Bulldogs continued to put the pressure on Tenino (12-4, 3-1) after halftime, outrebounding the Beavers 39-26 in the game and outscoring the Beavers 28-19 in the second half.
ALEC DIETZ | THE CHRONICLE Montesano forward Mikayla Stanfield blocks a shot from Tenino’s Grace Vestal during the Bulldogs 58-34 win on Saturday in Tenino.
“Our defense did a really good job against a good team,” Montesano head coach Mark Mansfield said.
Montesano standout junior McKynnlie Dalan was in top form on Saturday, scoring a game high 32 points while pulling down 18 rebounds. Dalan also had five steals and three assists in a stellar performance.
“We did a nice job of taking care of the ball and McKynnlie really took over the game,” Mansfield said. “It was a solid team win on the road in a tough place to play.”
Montesano senior post Paige Lisherness scored 15 points and had four steals while guard Jaiden King had five points and five steals for the Bulldogs.
With the victory, Montesano controls its own destiny heading into the final week of the regular season.
The Bulldogs take on Hoquiam at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Hoquiam before a big showdown against Tenino at 6 p.m. on Friday in Montesano.
Montesano 15 15 15 13 — 58
Tenino 9 6 11 8 — 34
Montesano (58) — Dalan 32, Lisherness 15, King 5, Prom 4, O. Young 2
Tenino (34) — Severse 10, Schow 8, Jones 7, Letts 3, Vestal 2, Feltus 2, Hunter 2
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
Forks 67, Raymond 66
Raymond missed a golden opportunity to move into third place in the 2B Pacific League with a gut-wrenching 67-66 overtime loss to Forks on Saturday in Forks.
The Seagulls (10-5, 7-5 2B Pacific) got into overtime when senior guard Adrian Quintana hit a half-court shot to tie the game to send it into overtime.
Quintana scored 28 points in the game, including seven 3-pointers, five of which came in the first quarter.
Foul troubles and turnovers plagued the Seagulls.
“We were in foul trouble in the second half and three of our players fouled out at the end of the game, which really hurt us,” Raymond head coach Derek Rask said. “We also turned the ball over at critical times when we needed possessions, which hurt us as well.”
Tre’ Seydel led Raymond with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Morgan Anderson added 13 points for the Seagulls, which currently sit a game behind Forks for third place in league.
Raymond takes on rival South Bend at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
No further information was available for this game.
Chief Leschi 89, Ocosta 53
Ocosta couldn’t keep pace with the up-tempo play of Chief Leschi as the Wildcats suffered an 89-53 loss on Saturday in Westport.
Ocosta (6-10, 3-8 2B Pacific) had problems handling the Chief Leschi press defense, which forced the Wildcats into several turnovers as the Warriors took a 22-15 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
“Leschi was able to pressure us in the full court which sped us up on offense, forcing many turnovers or hurried shots,” said Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby, whose team was further hampered without the services of starting point guard Josh Figueroa on Saturday. “But our effort never wavered and we did some good things when we did run offense.”
One of those “good things” Quinby spoke of was the play of junior Mark Lewis, who had a monster game with 30 points and 20 rebounds.
“We tried to be more physical, and I felt we accomplished that,” Quinby said. “Just too many fast break points for Leschi was our undoing tonight.”
Chief Leschi (14-1, 9-1) had four players in double figures, led by junior guard Gaston Dillon’s 23 points.
Ocosta hosts Forks at 7 p.m. on Monday.
Chief Leschi 22 24 28 15 — 89
Ocosta 15 12 12 14 — 53
Chief Leschi (89) — G. Dillon 23, James 19, Brown 17, Lewis 10, Lara 9, T. Dillon 7, Spino 2
Ocosta (53) — M. Lewis 30, Barnum 9, K. Agramon 4, T. Lewis 4, X. Prigmore 3, Turner 3
PREP BOWLING
Aberdeen fails to advance past district meet
The Aberdeen Bobcats failed to advance after a sub-par performance at the 2A District IV Meet at Triangle Bowl on Friday in Longview.
“We did not bowl well,” Aberdeen head coach Dave Brunke said, who added the Bobcats “had one highlight” in Cameryn Micheau, who bowled above her average with a three-game series of 130, 140 and 148 to place 36th overall.
With the top four teams and top nine individual bowlers not on those teams moving on to state, it took an average of 157 to advance past the district meet.
Aberdeen placed 11th out of 12 district teams with a total score of 2,480 pins, beating Rochester by 59 pins.
Despite failing to advance, Brunke said the team enjoyed the experience.
“We had a fun day bowling in a very loud Triangle Bowl in Longview,” he said.
Columbia River took the district crown with a team total of 3,742.
WF West (2,532), RA Long (2,518) and Black Hills (2,552) also advanced to the state meet.
Aberdeen (2,480) — Cameryn Micheau (130, 140, 148, 418); Cha’Tara Green (120, 92, 127, 339); Karie Turner (112, 115, 96, 323); Joele Hyde (124, 101, 91, 316); Aliyah Burkett (107, 118, 76, 301)
