Onalaska didn’t play its best basketball at times on Monday against Hoquiam, but the Loggers did just enough to come away with a 44-38 win.
Sophomore star Emalie Jacoby again led the way for the Loggers, scoring 28 points, including nine in the final frame. Jacoby was Onalaksa’s leading scorer in its first win of the season as well, as she scored 32 against Forks last Thursday.
“She’s a phenomenal player,” Onalaska coach Alana Olson said. “She is absolutely our leader. Anytime we needed a bucket tonight, she stepped up and she was there … She bailed us out of some sticky spots tonight.”
Jacoby kept Onalaska in front throughout the second half, but inconsistency and misfires elsewhere in the offense kept the Loggers from pulling away. They turned the ball over 21 times and had just three assists on the night.
Olson attributed some of that to it being early in the season, especially with some new faces. Renzy and Delaney Marshall both just transferred in from Mossyrock, while Leighton Underhill and Leah Hamilton are two freshmen who played 15 and nine minutes, respectively.
“I just think a lot of it is timing and getting more comfortable on the court,” Olson said. “We kind of got away from some of the things we like to do movement wise … We’re looking to continue to improve offensively where we can all be in sync and get the ball moving a lot more.”
Defensively, Onalaska had success most of the night, but a flurry of fouls in the fourth quarter gave the Grizzlies 13 free throw attempts in the final frame. Ten of those attempts came in a span of just 90 seconds.
“We definitely were leaving our feet more often than I’d like to see,” Olson said. “Our half-court defense has to get more disciplined.”
Hoquiam made enough free throws to get within two points during that span, but a pair of lane violations wiped two points off the board, and the Grizzlies never got closer than four.
Despite being within a few scores, Hoquiam never pushed the tempo offensively. Even in the final 45 seconds, the Grizzlies used nearly all of the 30-second shot clock before missing a layup that would have only gotten them within four.
Onalaska, on the other hand, kept moving quickly despite holding onto a late lead.
“We’ll be working on our clock management,” Olson said with a laugh.
In addition to her 28 points, Jacoby added six steals and five rebounds, while Randi Haight came away with five steals and Renzy Marshall grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
The Loggers (2-0) will begin league play at home on Wednesday against Winlock before heading to White Pass to face Morton-White Pass on Friday.
“We’re just looking to continue the process,” Olson said. “It’s just more about us at this point than the teams we are playing. It’s just getting in sync and getting to play at the pace we want to play.”
