The Elma girls basketball team overcame foul troubles and injuries to pick up its first win of the 2019-20 season, defeating Toledo 48-40 on Monday at Elma High School.
Elma (1-1 overall), which was without the services of injured starters Kayli Johnson and Quin Mikel, hit on seven field goals in the first quarter and held a substantial 18-9 lead at the end of the frame.
But the game slowed in the second quarter as foul trouble relegated Elma’s standout center Jalyn Sackrider to the bench as the game turned into a foul-shooting contest. Elma struggled from the line in the quarter, going 2-for-12 and scoring just six points in the frame, allowing Toledo to cut into what was once a double-digit deficit as the Indians hit four field goals and went 5-for-10 from the line in the quarter..
Toledo’s Kal Schaplow hit a jump shot from the top of the key to tie the game at 22-22 with 2:52 left in the first half.
Elma’s Ella Moore scored on a putback after grabbing an offensive rebound to give the Eagles a slim 24-22 heading into the halftime break.
Pick photo
“When we went into the locker room, (the coaches) told us ‘don’t foul, but if you are going to foul, don’t let it be an easy foul.’ said Sackrider, who played a bulk of the final quarter with four fouls. “We just needed to be more disciplined.”
Though the first half was anything but pretty, the Eagles cleaned things up in the third quarter to reclaim a sizable lead. Elma guard Jillian Bieker opened the half with a steal and layup followed by Kali Rambo —who scored a game-high 13 points in the contest —who scored on a Euro-step drive and layup to give Elma a 28-22 lead with less than two minutes elapsed in the quarter.
Later in the third, Rambo struck again, hitting a 3-pointer from the elbow to extend the Eagles’ lead to 33-25.
With less than a minute to go in the quarter, Rambo hit a baseline jumper followed by Moore scoring on a putback to give Elma a 40-31 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
The Eagles took a 42-31 early in the fourth quarter when Moore scored in the low block off a quick pass from Sackrider, giving Elma a double-digit lead at 42-31.
Moore scores video
The Eagles defense didn’t allow the Indians to get closer than six points the rest of the way as Elma took the 48-40 victory.
“With the injuries and people getting into foul trouble, kids have to step up and show what they can do,” Elma head coach Lisa Johnson said. “You just kind of go through each kid and see what they can provide.”
Elma limited its turnovers in the final 24 minutes of the game, committing just four giveaways compared to 10 in the first half. The Eagles also cleaned up their first-half foul problems, committing five fouls in the second half compared to 13 in the first half.
“We talked about how we needed to convert those layups we were missing and just take care of the ball and be more disciplined on defense,” Johnson said of her halftime locker room discussion. “
In addition to scoring a game-high 13 points, Rambo finished with five steals and three blocks.
Moore also finished in double digits, scoring 10 points to go along with five rebounds for the Eagles.
“Obviously a win is always good,” Sackrider said. “But I’m glad that we have younger players that can step up and fill those roles when we have starters on the bench. It feels good to know that we can rely on them.”
Elma plays at Centralia at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Toledo 9 13 9 9 — 40
Elma 18 6 16 8 — 48
Top Players: Elma — Rambo (13 pts., 5 stl., 3 blk.); Moore (10 pts., 5 reb.); Sackrider (8 pts., 13 reb., 4 asst., 6 blk.); Bieker (7 pts., 5 reb., 3 asst., 4 stl,); Kaelyn Burgher (7 pts.). Toledo — Schaplow (10 pts.); Stacie Spahr (10 pts.).
Montesano 56, Centralia 37
Montesano got 22 points from freshman McKynnlie Dalan en route to a 56-37 victory on Friday in Montesano.
Monte (1-1) jumped out to an 18-4 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back as the Bulldogs played much better than their season-opening loss to Fife on Tuesday, according to new head coach Mark Mansfield.
“They played much better with much more intensity,” Mansfield said. “It was a nice night for us. The girls played well.”
Zoe Hutchings added 12 points for Monte, which had nine players score on the evening.
Montesano hosted Black Hills on Monday, but information was not available when this paper went to print..
Centralia 4 11 15 7 — 37
Montesano 18 11 18 9 — 56
Top Players: Montesano — Dalan (22 pts.); Hutchings (12 pts.); Centralia — Jadyn Hawley (10 pts.); Kylie Sharp (10 pts.)
Fife 66, Montesano 34
After an off-season filled with turmoil and an abrupt coaching change, the Montesano Bulldogs opened the season with a 66-34 loss to Fife on Dec. 3 at Fife High School.
Montesano struggled to score against Fife, failing to crack double-digits in any quarter of the game.
Senior center Zoe Hutchings led Montesano with 14 points. Paige Lisherness scored nine points and McKynnlie Dalan added eight points for the Bulldogs.
Fife’s Aliya Hunter and Breanna Hernandez led the way for Fife, scoring 19 and 16 points, respectively.
Montesano 9 9 7 9 — 34
Fife 13 18 18 17 — 66
Top Players: Montesano — Hutchings 14 pts., P. Lisherness 9 pts., Dalan 8 pts. Fife — Hunter (19 pts.), Hernandez (16 pts.)
Raymond 49, Elma 47
Raymond’s freshman phenom is now a super sophomore, and in the first game of the season, the super sophomore showed Elma that she hasn’t missed a beat.
Raymond standout guard Kyra Gardner scored 13 of her game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Seagulls to a furious 49-47 comeback victory over Class 1A state power Elma last week in Raymond.
Last season’s Class 2B Pacific All-League first-teamer and AP 2B All-State Honorable Mention, Gardner led Raymond down the stretch, giving the Seagulls their first lead of the game at 48-47 when she buried a three with 1:13 left.
Moments later, Gardner came up with her 12th steal of the game and was fouled on the break. She converted 1-of-2 free throws with six seconds left to secure Raymond’s rousing upset of an Elma team that placed sixth in the state in Class 1A last season.
“Gardner took over in the fourth,” Raymond head coach Jason Koski said. “She is special and deserves every accolade she gets.”
Gardner’s work completed a comeback attempt that Raymond had faced the entire game after Elma opened the game on an 8-0 run.
But Gardner caught fire, scoring six points as Raymond tied the game at 8-8 after the first period.
Led by their own All-State standout in senior center Jalyn Sackrider, Elma responded to take a 21-18 lead at the break. Sackrider scored 11 of her team-high 16 points in the first half, as Raymond got into foul trouble with four players picking up two fouls each.
Elma extended its lead to nine points in the third quarter as Sackrider and company looked to open the season with an impressive victory on the road.
But Raymond’s Izzy Silvernail kept Raymond close, scoring all of her seven points in the quarter as the Seagulls were down 37-31 heading to the fourth.
Gardner’s killer instinct did the rest, hitting two 3-pointers, two field goals and going 3-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final frame.
Raymond outscored Elma 18-10 in the fourth quarter as Ana Silva hit a 3-pointer and Sidney Swogger scored a bucket in addition to Gardner’s stellar performance.
Kaelyn Burgher scored nine points while Ella Moore and Kali Rambo added eight points each for Elma, which went 13-of-21 from the charity stripe in a game that saw the two teams combine for 35 fouls and 42 free-throw attempts.
Elma 8 13 16 10 — 47
Raymond 8 10 13 18 — 49
Top Players: Raymond — Gardner (30 pts., 12 stl., 9 reb.); Silvernail (7 pts.); Silva (7 pts.). Elma — Sackrider (16 pts.); Burgher (9 pts.); Rambo (8 pts.); Rambo (8 pts.)
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Olympic 67, Grays Harbor 30
Grays Harbor remained winless on the season after suffering a 67-30 loss to Olympic on Saturday at Olympic College.
Grays Harbor (0-4) fell behind 19-9 after the first quarter and scored a paltry 12 points in the first half en route to the loss.
Kamimi Papp led Grays Harbor with 14 points and Armonnie Byrd scored 10 points for the Chokers, which scored no more than 13 points in any quarter of the game.
Grays Harbor 9 3 13 5 — 30
Elma’s Janessa Sample (5) drives around a screen by teammate Ella Moore (12) during Elma’s 48-40 victory over Toledo on Monday in Elma. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)
Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group Elma’s Jillian Bieker (4) drives to the basket while being defended by Toledo’s Kal Schaplow during Monday’s game at Elma High School.
