Friday's Boys Basketball: Hoquiam Leaves Beavs in the Dust

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TENINO — The Beavers came out ready to rip on the hardwood here Friday but still wound up holding the wrong end of the stick as Hoquiam absconded with a 63-49 victory in 1A Evergreen League boys basketball play.

Both teams came out intent to run the other squad out of the gym. The strategy paid early dividends for the Beavers. Tenino held a three point lead through most of the first quarter as Paxton Russell, Alex Bratton, Yngwie Dowies, and Logan Brewer all got their name in the scoring frame in the early going. Brewer’s line in that first quarter included a trio of on-point three pointers and the Beavers held an 18-16 advantage heading into the second frame.

Hoquiam tied the game up on their first possession of the second quarter and never looked back as turnovers and dissipating returns on their quick trigger attempts sank the Beavers. After Tenino managed just four points in the second frame their lead had morphed into an eight point deficit at the half and then devolved into a 14-point hole after three quarters.

“We wanted to try to get the ball up and feed the post a little bit before they could get back. They’ve got a lot of tough posts. That Matt Brown is a stud. Rayyon (Dayton) is a stud. So we were trying to get in and get a little early positioning but it just didn’t work out. They are good,” said Tenino coach Josef Chirhart.

The Beavers connected on just 18 of their shots on the night with those baskets evenly divided between old fashioned attempts and those launched from beyond the arc. However, they hit less than 40 percent of their attempts and connected on just four of 10 free throw attempts. When the Grizzlies switched to a box zone with the 6’5” Dayton patrolling the paint to start the second half Tenino wound up going the entire third quarter without hoisting a two-point attempt.

“We don’t want to settle for threes to be honest with you. We probably made more tonight than we have in any other game all season,” noted Chirhart. “We’d like to feed the post and try to get something inside. Threes lead to long rebounds and when we miss them we struggle.”

Still, Brewer knocked down five shots from downtown on the way to a game-high 21 points and Dowies hit four long balls, including three down the stretch as the Beavers tried in vain to mount a comeback.

“We got some open looks outside but once we get into the key we are not very focused with the ball. We turn the ball over a lot once we get in there,” said Chirhart. “It was a tough matchup but still, I’ve got a couple of senior guards who need to get better at taking care of the ball.”

In the end the height and reach of Hoquiam wore down the Beavers. Tenino coughed the ball up on offense 25 times and Hoquiam dominated the rebounding battle 38-17. The Grizzlies also managed to knock down 53 percent of their 55 field goal attempts.

“We need to get better at taking care of the rock. You’re just not going to win the game with 20-plus turnovers. This is a common theme for us. In all of our losses the common theme is turnovers, boxouts, and free throws,” added Chirhart. “We’re not good enough on offense to be giving up 65-70 points and thinking we can win. We’ve got to keep people in the 40s and 50s if we want to have a chance.”

Dowies finished with 16 points while Alex Bratton scored seven points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for Tenino.

Dayton scored 18 points for Hoquiam with a game-high 15 rebounds while Brown scored 16 points with seven boards. Cameron Bumstead added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Tenino (9-5, 1-3 league) will play at Three Rivers Christian on Thursday and then travel to Forks on Friday to resume league play.

Toledo Blows Past Mossyrock 69-21

MOSSYROCK — The Indians went 8 of 9 from behind the three-point arc in the first half and cruised past Mossyrock, 69-21, here Friday in Central 2B League boys hoops action.

Six different players converted a triple in the first half for Toledo, which led 28-3 after a quarter and 52-8 at the break.

“Toledo’s a good team. They are what their record shows that they should be,” Mossyrock coach Jordan Hunter said. “You’ve got to guard everybody, and they’ll let it fly, and tonight they knocked it down.”

Forward Westin Wallace led Toledo with 17 points, and seven other Indians scored at least five points.

Freshman Gunner Mulligan led Mossyrock with 12 points and Hunter commended his improvement and play at point guard.

“From where he was at two weeks ago, to where he’s at now, is just a night and day difference,” Hunter said.

Toledo recorded 24 assists on 28 field goals, with coach Grady Fallon noting the Indians were sharing the basketball and making the extra pass against the Mossyrock zone defense.

“I thought our bench players played great. They executed plays and the next guys got some work,” Fallon said. “They did a good job making shots, making the extra pass. I’m pretty happy.”

Mossyrock (0-13) plays at Chief Leschi on Monday in a non-league game. Toledo (12-2, 5-0 league) hosts Kalama on Saturday night.

Warriors Start Slow, Fall to Black Hills

ROCHESTER — The Wolves held Rochester to just 15 points over the first three quarters and pulled away in the second frame for a 51-36 win here Friday in an EvCo boys hoops contest.

Jackson Bauer led Black Hills with 13 points, and the Wolves outscored Rochester 19-4 in the second quarter to lead 28-9 at halftime.

The Warriors, though, only trailed 9-5 after a quarter, which coach Mark Goldrick took as a bright spot given that Black Hills came in averaging 75.5 points in league games.

“They pressure the ball really well, and we had a little trouble with that,” Goldrick said. “We didn’t get many good looks, and the looks we did get weren’t dropping.”

Rochester did put up 21 points in the fourth quarter, with sophomore Blake Moen hitting four three-pointers and finishing 4 of 7 from long range.

Patrick Riley added eight points for Rochester (2-11, 0-3 league), which plays at Centralia on Tuesday.



Tumwater Pulls Away in Second Half to Beat W.F. West

TUMWATER — The Thunderbirds poured in 50 points in the second half to top W.F. West, 79-56, here Friday night in Evergreen 2A Conference boys basketball action.

Peyton Peterson led Tumwater with 23 points, adding six rebounds and four blocked shots. Gunnar Fields chipped in 16 and Damon Gaither scored eight with a game-high 14 rebounds for the winners.

Colton Baker led four Bearcats in double figures with 16 points. Colby White added 12 points, and Tyler Speck and Leandre Gaines each chipped in 11.

Tumwater outscored the Bearcats 22-8 in the third quarter after a 29-29 halftime tie. The Thunderbirds (5-8, 3-0 league) went 9 of 17 from long range and 24 of 33 from the foul line.

W.F. West (5-8, 2-1 league) went just 3 of 14 from deep and was outrebounded 42-27. The Bearcats host Black Hills (6-6, 3-0 league) on Tuesday.

Ducks Hit Late Shot to Edge Onalaska

ONALASKA — Tied at 46 with 17 seconds to go, Toutle Lake hit a shot with three seconds left to lift the Ducks to a 48-46 win over Onalaska in a C2BL boys basketball game here on Friday.

Kayden Allison led Onalaska with 14 points and eight rebounds. Carter Whitehead chipped in 11 points for the Loggers.

Chase Hadaller scored 16 points to lead Toutle Lake and Broc Keeton added 10 points for the Ducks.

Onalaska shot 36 percent from the field compared to Toutle Lake’s 28 percent shooting, but the Ducks dominated the glass, 43-20.

“We were playing well. Second half, we still played hard, just didn't play as well,” Onalaska coach Wayne Nelson said. “Their first nine points were on putbacks in the first half. Our guys played really hard.”

Onalaska (7-7, 0-5) travels to Kalama on Wednesday for a league game.

Bobcats Sneak by Centralia

ABERDEEN — An early Centralia lead evaporated like harbor fog down the stretch here Friday night as the Bobcats eked out a 57-54 win in a 2A Evergreen Conference boys basketball showdown.

The Tigers ran out to an 18-9 lead after one quarter but then watched their advantage disappear altogether early in the final frame. With momentum on their side Aberdeen put some distance between themselves and the Tigers midway through the fourth but Centralia managed to claw back for a shot to tie at the buzzer that just rimmed out.

Michael Ajoge scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Centralia while William Brown added 13 points.

“Offensively we slowed the game down quite a bit and we felt like the flow of the game suited us better tonight,” Centralia coach Kyle Donahue noted. “Down the stretch it came down to free throws. We did not shoot the ball well in crucial situations and they did. That’s the difference in the game.”

Centralia hit just 7 of 17 free throw attempts in the game while Hoquiam knocked down 11 of 16 tries.

Javier Bojorge scored 20 points for Aberdeen.

Centralia (1-12, 0-3) will host Rochester on Tuesday.

MWP Edges Napavine in Overtime

RANDLE — Hayden Young’s three-pointer as time expired sent the game into overtime, and the Timberwolves were able to pull away in the extra period for a 73-65 Central 2B League boys hoops win here Friday.

Napavine took its first lead midway through the fourth quarter, sparked by a few big buckets from senior guard Dawson Stanley. The Tigers converted a pair of foul shots to go up three points in the final seconds, and Morton-White Pass wound up with the ball out of bounds with 2.6 seconds left.

Young then inbounded the ball, stepped inbounds, got the ball back and hit the game-tying three as time expired to force overtime.

“It was a pretty spectacular play, and the kids did a great job executing it,” MWP coach Chad Cramer said. “The kids made a great play.”

In overtime, the Timberwolves got a few early stops and hit their free throws late to secure the win. Kaleb Rashoff and Dylan Richards both hit late freebies, Cramer noted.

Young led MWP with 20 points. Rashoff and Richards both added 18, with Richards notching 13 rebounds to help MWP hold a 50-32 advantage on the glass.

Stanley led Napavine with 22 points, and Cade Evander and Keith Olson each added 18 for the Tigers.

Morton-White Pass (8-5, 2-3 league) plays a non-league game at Naselle on Saturday. Napavine (8-5, 3-1 league) plays at Kalama on Monday.