ELMA — Montesano’s offense came alive in the second quarter to propel the Bulldogs to victory over Elma 61-38 on Jan. 31.
Montesano (12-8, 6-2 Evergreen 1A) was locked in a close one early on as the Eagles (1-18, 0-7) hit a few jumpers to make it a one-possession game in the opening frame.
Elma hit two of its four 3-pointers in the first quarter and trailed 11-10 at the end of one period.
Monte turned it on offensively in the second frame and had success finding driving the lane. The Bulldogs aggressive style of play yielded free-throw attempts with Monte going 9-for-10 at the charity stripe in the second quarter.
Bulldogs head coach Doug Galloway was impressed with Elma’s shooting in the early going and was encouraged with the way his team stuck with its plan.
“Teams are going to hit threes. It is what it is,” he said. “You have to give Elma credit to hit those threes right off the bat, but we stuck with it and kept running our stuff.”
Elma’s Carter Jacobson takes a jump shot in the first quarter against Montesano on Jan. 31 in Elma. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Monte’s second-quarter push was enough to give the Bulldogs a 34-17 lead at halftime.
Though the Eagles couldn’t find a way to close the gap in the second half, Elma head coach Jeff Niemi said he felt as if this is one of the best games his team had played all year.
“If you would have told me we only turned the ball over ten times against Monte, I would have said, ‘I’ll take that,’ ” Niemi said. “We have never shown, until this day, that we can handle pressure that well. That’s one thing I thought we started to execute much better toward the end of the season.”
Montesano maintained its advantage throughout the third quarter, when Sam Winter scored five of his team-leading 12 points.
The Bulldogs opted to give their bench players some extra playing time in the second half while Elma elected to keep its seniors on the floor until late in the fourth quarter on Senior Night.
Junior guard Cody Vollan led the Eagles with 10 points and seven rebounds in Elma’s last game of the season.
Niemi said he appreciated the effort of his seniors and thinks their leadership will have a positive influence on the direction of the program.
“I’m really proud of my seniors. They accepted their roles and worked their hardest to be great in their roles,” he said. “They showed the younger guys that being on a team means accepting your role and doing what the team needs.”
Elma is looking forward to next season while the Bulldogs will be looking forward to the Class 1A District IV tournament.
Montesao’s Trace Ridgway, right, sinks a fadeaway jump shot in the third quarter Jan. 31 in Elma while defended by Elma’s Brady Johnston. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Raymond 60, South Bend 58
On Raymond’s Senior Night it was a freshman that stole the show.
Raymond ninth-grader Tre’ Seydel scored a game-high 26 points and came up clutch in the fourth quarter to lead the Seagulls to a 60-58 rivalry-game win over South Bend on Thursday in Raymond.
Of his 26 points, Seydel hit two 3-pointers and went 8-for-9 from the free-throw line over the final eight minutes of the game.
“Tre’ was huge for us offensively down the stretch,” said Raymond head coach Derek Rask, whose team outscored the Indians 21-14 in the fourth quarter.
South Bend (3-17, 2-16 Pacific 2B) led 31-25 at the half and by five points at the end of three, but the Indians couldn’t hold on as Raymond rallied late in the game.
“I thought we struggled to score for most of the game, but we kept fighting and never got away from our game plan,” Rask said.
In addition to Seydel, Raymond’s McCartney Maden scored in double digits with 16 points.
South Bend was led by Drew Rose and Nathon Ashley, who scored 18 and 15 points, respectively.
“Drew Rose and Nathon Ashley were handfuls tonight,” Rask said. “We struggled to keep those two from scoring.”
With the win, the Seagulls finish the regular season with a 7-13 overall record, 7-11 in the 2B Pacific League.
Raymond entered Thursday’s game with an outside shot at earning a spot in the district tournament.
At the time of this writing, no information is available on the final teams that will be playing in the district tournament.
Rask was complimentary of his seniors — Devine Souvannavanh, Cole Enslow, Cesar Delgado, Grey Johnson and James Robinett — for their leadership and effort after playing in their final home game.
“This was a great way for our seniors to finish the regular season on our home floor,” Rask said. “We appreciate all of their hard work and contributions to the program.”
Ilwaco 86, Ocosta 41
A fired-up Ilwaco Fishermen team dominated form start to finish as they handed the Ocosta Wildcats a, 86-41 loss on Thursday in Ilwaco.
Playing its Senior Night game, Ilwaco (15-5, 14-4 Pacific 2B) led 25-8 after the first quarter in cruising to the 40-plus point victory.
Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby stated his team didn’t play at the level it needed to against a tough opponent on the road.
“As the score indicates, we did not put forth our best effort,” he said. “(Ilwaco) came out amped and we didn’t match their intensity of the moment. We did have stretches of competitive basketball, but overall we got outworked by a very good, well-balanced team.”
Six Ilwaco players scored at least nine points in the contest, led by Alex Kaino and Tenyson Ramsey, each of whom scored 13 points in the game.
Ocosta (8-12, 8-10) was led by Kobe Beck, who scored 15 points, and Cole Hatton, who added 14.
Ocosta will begin play in the 2B District IV Tournament at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Their opponent has yet to be determined at the time of this writing.
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Men’s College Wrestling
Chokers men’s team competes at national dual tournament
The Grays Harbor Chokers men’s wrestling team competed at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association’s National Dual Tournament on Jan. 15-16 in Mesquite, Nevada.
The Chokers split their six duals over the two-day tournament, picking up three blowout victories while losing three duals by much closer margins.
GHC cruised to an opening-match victory 49-3 over Maine followed by a dominant win over Dixie State 63-0 in its second match.
On the final match of Day 1, the Chokers lost 25-19 to Springfield Tech, but the dual was highlighted by a 4-3 victory for Grays Harbor’s Caleb Smith over No. 3 Chris Vega in the 133-pound weight class.
But Smith and teammate Ryan Olivas (197 pounds) could not compete on Day 2 due to injuries, so the Chokers had to shuffle their lineup.
Grays Harbor lost 29-24 to No. 3 Grand Valley State followed by a 56-5 drubbing over Toledo.
In the tournament’s fifth/sixth place match, Grays Harbor’s Matt Alejandro (174 pounds) was challenged by Springfield Tech’s Jacob Berry to move up a weight class to “get a real match.”
Alejandro accepted Berry’s offer and subsequently defeated the heavier wrestler 3-1 on a takedown in the final 10 seconds of the match.
Grays Harbor lost the dual 32-23 to place sixth in the tournament.
“The team wrestled well,” Grays Harbor head coach Phillip Pine said. “Even in the close dual losses, we lose close decisions that could have gone either way. We are wrestling tough with the top teams in our division.”
Other Chokers grapplers picking up tournament wins were 2nd-ranked David Campbell (125), Octavio Alejandre (235) and Josh Felder (235).
Grays Harbor will compete at the NCWA state tournament on Feb. 10 at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake.
The Chokers then host the Northwest Conference Tournament on March 2, with the top four in each weight class earning a trip to the national championship tournament.
Montesano’s Sam Winter, left, hits a layup while Elma’s Ray Billerback contests the shot. Winter led the Bulldogs with 12 points in Montesano’s 61-38 win Jan. 31 at Elma. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
