ELMA — With a mixture of size, speed and a swarming defense, Montesano’s boys overwhelmed Elma as the Bulldogs came away with the 70-48 victory on Jan. 26.

Sam Winter scored 20 points and Donovan Albert 12 to lead the Bulldogs. Cody Vollan topped Elma with 18 points, while Sam Schneider had 13.

Montesano (5-1, 13-5) and Elma (2-4, 3-15) both came out looking to push the ball upcourt and get to the paint, but the Bulldogs imposed their will from the beginning.

Trevor Ridgway had a good all-around game and came away with nine points and 11 rebounds. The Bulldogs were dominant on the glass as a team, outrebounding Elma, 31-24.

Monte head coach Doug Galloway said he was hoping his team’s size advantage would lead to more boards.

“We were up by 14 or 15 on them in rebounds, so I was really pleased with our blocking out and owning the defensive boards,” he said. “There were a lot of guys who did a lot of great contributing tonight, so I’m really proud of that.”

On the other end of the court, Elma’s coaching staff seemed visibly upset at the lack of boxing out and used several timeouts in the first quarter hoping to correct the problem.

Elma head coach Jeff Niemi said he knew his team would have trouble handling Montesano’s size but would have liked to have seen a better effort on the glass.

“I just got on them about rebounding in the first quarter,” he said. “They were missing in the lane and getting it back, so I told them that we knew they were a good rebounding team and they pounded us on the glass last time. We had to do what we practiced.”

Elma’s Cobey Moore still snagged eight rebounds.

Even though the Eagles had a hard time getting things going, the long-range jumpers kept the game from getting too far out of hand.

Elma shot 9-19 from beyond the arc, including some deep threes fromVollan that temporarily gave the home team’s student section a reason to get loud.

Niemi said he was glad his team found a way to avoid a bigger blowout but still wants to see his team’s transition game improve before the start of postseason play.

“We weren’t able to as much as we wanted to,” he said. “It’s something to work on. We need to be able to get into the lane more easily against that type of pressure.”

Now tied for the league lead with Forks, Montesano hosted the Spartans on Tuesday. Elma visited Tenino on Wednesday.

Galloway said that Forks will be a challeneging matchup but thinks his team is capable of pulling off the victory.

“I liked that we were pushing the ball and trying to get a look,” he said. “I’d like us to be a little more patient on offense when we have to bring it down in the half court. It’s a work in progress, but 70 points is a lot in a high school game.”

Monte 17 26 14 13 — 70

Elma 11 9 13 15 — 48

Montesano (70) — Bates 3, Ridgway 9, Nicklas 6, Winter 20, Albert 12, Parker, Wyatt, Valley 11, Farmer 8, Dierkop 7, Iverson 2. FG — 29-58 (.500). FT— 13-16.

Elma (48) — Moore 4, Swint 3, Schnieder 13, Vollan 18, Billerbeck 4, Torres, Johnston, Jacobson 6. FG— 19-42 (.452. FT — 1-5.