MONTESANO — Rochester fought back and overcame Montesano in the second half, winning 51-44 here Friday in SWW 1A League Evergreen Division girls basketball action.
The win put Rochester at 8-4 in league play and tied with Hoquiam for second place, though the Warriors, via tiebreaker, will enter the District 4 1A Girls Basketball Tournament as the No. 3 seed.
"It was a combination of being tense this week and our chance at taking second place," Warrior coach A.J. Easley said. "We came out really flat at first."
Keeli Demers led Rochester with 19 points while Joni Lancaster had 14.
"Keeli came out strong in the second and third quarters which got us rolling," Easley said. "Lancaster had a great effort tonight as well."
Rochester trailed 20-15 at halftime after a rough 2-point first quarter, but tied the game after three frames.
"Montesano showed early on that they wanted it more than we did," Easley said. "But we talked about the adjustments we needed to make and we broke that seal. Once we did, we kept going."
The Warriors attempted a whopping 72 shots in the game, converting 25.
Easley thanked the strong support from a large visitor's section crowd that made the trip from Rochester.
Rochester (13-7, 8-4 in league) will host Kalama in a loser-out district tournament game on Tuesday.
Rockets Rock Toledo
CASTLE ROCK — The Indians had the unenviable task of finishing out their season as the opponent on third-ranked Castle Rock's Senior Night here Friday, as the Rockets rolled to a 62-30 SWW 1A League Trico Division win.
Tierney Uhlenkott scored 22 for the Rockets, while senior Kaelyn Whipp scored all 6 of her points in the first half of her final game for Toledo.
"She had a really good game for us," Toledo coach J.B. Ewers said.
Chaselin and Casee Rice each scored 11 points for Toledo. Castle Rock led 39-16 at halftime.
"They really went inside to Uhlenkott right off the bat, posting her up, and got our big girls into foul trouble," Ewers said. "They really pounded it inside, and that kind of shows, when they went to the line 26 times."
The Rockets hit 17 of their 26 free throws in the win.
Toledo finished the season with a 5-15 overall record and went 5-13 in Trico play.
Beavers Wrap Season in Rainier
RAINIER — Tenino wrapped up their season with a 56-28 Central 2B League loss to Rainier here on Friday night. The Mountaineers jumped out to a 15-0 lead in the first quarter and had a 32-6 halftime lead.
"The first half was very disappointing," Tenino coach Wanda Blanksma said. "These kids have at least always brought their best effort and best energy and we did not come out with much fight in us. At halftime it was kind of a gut check for us and we got to work."
The Beavers got their offense working much better in the second half, with Taylor Tibbetts scorings a team-high 11.
"I was pleased with how the kids worked in the second half," Blanksma said. "They can walk away with their heads up."
The game was the final for Tenino's Layci Morales, Bridgette Blosl, Nicole Huber, Amanda Burnham and Shanowa Bond.
Tenino finished the season 0-20.
At Montesano
WARRIORS 51, BULLDOGS 44
Rochester 2 13 21 15 —51
Montesano 12 8 16 8 —44
Rochester (51) — Lancaster 14, Justice 8, Seymour 2, Keeli Demers 19, Kessa Demers 4, Althauser 4
FG: 25 of 72 —.347 FT: 2 of 8 —.250 Reb. n/a
Montesano (44) — Floch 4, Nuckols 10, Choate 1, Fry 22, Ostwald 2, Malizia 5
FG: 21 of 60 —.350 FT: 5 of 11 —.454 Reb. n/a
At Castle Rock
ROCKETS 62, INDIANS 30
Toledo 4 12 10 4 —30
Castle Rock 15 24 12 11 —62
Toledo (30) — Kaelyn Whipp 6, Haley Tauscher 2, Chaselin Rice 11, Casee Rice 11
FG: 13 of 40 —.325 FT: 3 of 5 —.600 Reb. 19 (Casee Rice 6)
Castle Rock (30) — Kerbaugh 4, Maddi Siedl 11, Dahl 8, Nicole Seidl 2, Utecht 14, Uhlenkott 22, Williquette 1
FG: N/A FT: 17 of 26 —.654 Reb. N/A
At Rainier
MOUNTAINEERS 56, BEAVERS 28
Tenino 0 6 9 14 —28
Rainier 15 17 12 12 —56
Tenino (28) — Vens 2, Bronson 2, Morales 5, Tibbetts 11, Richardson 3, Blosl 5
FG: N/A FT: 6 of 12 Reb. N/A
Rainier (56) — Mortlock 15, Thomas 3, Turcot 2, Eygabroad 17, Honaker 3, Brown 10, Domncan 4, Justice 2
FG: N/A FT: 7 of 14 Reb. N/A
