RAINIER — Morton-White Pass held Rainier to 20 percent shooting to earn a 44-25 win in a non-league boys basketball game here on Tuesday.
Hayden Young led MWP with 18 points. Mason Higdon scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds in his first career start. Kaleb Rashoff led the T-Wolves with 10 rebounds.
The team’s combined to shoot 28 of 110. Rainier won the rebounding battle, 53-44, but the Mountaineers shot just 26 percent from the free throw line.
It was an offensive struggle in the first half, with MWP leading 16-15. The T-Wolves figured it out in the third quarter and held Rainier to two points to take a 31-17 lead after three and cruise in the fourth quarter to the win.
Mason Higdon scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half.
“We were short handed tonight, down a starter. It hurt us a little in scoring and rebounding. They ran a gimmick defense and it stymied us in the first half,” MWP coach Chad Cramer said. “We figured it out in the second half. Mason Higdon, first career start on short notice, really provided us with solid minutes. It was nice to get some scoring and rebounding from a different place.”
MWP (4-1) hosts Mossyrock on Thursday in Morton in a non-league game.
Ilwaco Shoots Past Pe Ell
PE ELL — Ilwaco scored 47 points in the first half to cruise to a 67-46 win over Pe Ell in a Pacific 2B League boys basketball game here on Tuesday.
Max Smith and Dana Isham each scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Smith added five steals.
Joe Nisbett led all scorers with 21 points and Reese Tynkila added 13 points for the Fishermen.
The Fishermen needed just the first half to earn the win, knocking down seven 3-pointers to pull away from the Trojans early.
“We didn’t get out on the shooters in the first half. We don’t match very well. We miss and they seem to make and before you know it, they’re up 12,” Pe Ell coach Chris Fitzgerald said. “They’re a good ball club. Our effort was pretty dang good. I thought Max and Isham both played very well.”
Pe Ell (0-4) travels to Lacey to face Northwest Christian on Friday in a P2BL game.
Ducks Squeak Past Indians
TOUTLE — Toledo made a comeback attempt in the fourth quarter, but the Ducks were able to keep their head above water and hang on for a 50-46 win in a non-league boys basketball game here on Tuesday.
Andreas Malunat led all scorers with 17 points. Fano Arceo-Hansen added 10 points and Westin Wallace grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Mike Adams scored 13 points and Logan Grabenhorst and Ridge Moss each added 10 points.
Neither team shot the ball well, with the Ducks shooting 37 percent while the Indians shot 31 percent.
Toledo’s offense started slow as the Indians trailed 12-6 after one quarter. The Indians got it going in the second quarter and led 24-22 at halftime.
Toledo maintained a lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Toutle Lake scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, including a banked 3-pointer by Adams late to help the Ducks win.
“We clawed back, we just couldn’t get over the hump. We couldn’t get in the groove, get things going,” Toledo coach Grady Fallon said. “They played well, I think they outplayed us, muscled us around and made shots. We did a good job on defense, that kept us in it but our offense was out of whack tonight.”
Toledo (4-1) heads to Napavine on Thursday for a non-league game.
Eagles Get Over on Rochester
ROCHESTER — Despite what Warriors coach Mark Goldrick described as a lackluster effort during the first three quarters here Tuesday night his team still found themselves in a position to win in the final moments.
After falling behind Elma 13-3 in the opening quarter Rochester slowly battled back to cut their deficit to just five points at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Warriors then outscored the Eagles 20-17 in the final eight minutes only to see a last second shot that would have tied the game fall off the rim
“We just flat didn't play good for three quarters but then we decided to play well and make it close. We actually had a shot at the end that just rolled out,” said Goldrick. “We had a chance to at least go into overtime there but we didn’t play good enough throughout the game.”
Goldrick cited turnovers as his team’s achilles heal on the night, noting that many of those lost possessions came on unforced errors.
“There were just a lot of facets of the game where we are not in midseason form yet and we don’t know what to do,” said Goldrick.
Free throws were one fundamental areas where Rochester outplayed their opponents as they connected on 16 of 24 freebies compared to Elma’s 6 of 15 mark. That disparity helped the Warriors make a game of it late.
Elma’s Cody Vollan led all players with 24 points. Patrick Riley led all Rochester players with 14 points while Keegan Goldrick added 10 points. Enrique Sanchez dumped in eight points and a team-high six rebounds.
Rochester (0-4) will play at R.A. Long on Thursday.
Winlock Finds a Way Against Napavine
WINLOCK — The Cardinals showed their mettle here in the second half on Tuesday as they completed a 52-48 come from behind victory over Napavine in non-league boys basketball action.
Winlock fell behind by nine points in the first frame and found themselves trailing by 14 at the intermission as Napavine looked to run away with things. However, in the third quarter Winlock outpaced the Tigers 21-7 in order to erase their deficit for good.
“It was a massive quarter. We came out hot. I just asked them at halftime to compete a little bit more,” said Winlock coach Nick Bamer.
Bamer noted that his team had close to 20 turnovers in the first half but only fumbled the ball away a couple of times in the second half.
Winlock’s Bryce Cline notched a game-high 21 points and Noah Patching added 13 points. Nathan Suhrbier added a dozen points on a perfect six for six shooting night.
Trailing by three points in the final moments Napavine needed a long ball but Winlock was able to shackle up the Tigers best scoring option, Dawson Stanley. Stanley cornered a pair of long-shot attempts that missed the rim entirely and Patching gathered up the rebound before hitting a free throw to ice the game.
“We played so bad in that first half. We just got lucky,” said Bamer.
Stanley finished the game with 19 points while Cade Evander added nine points.
Winlock (2-4) travels to Adna on Thursday. Napavine (0-2) will host Toledo on Thursday.
