BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Montesano 47, Forks 33

The Montesano Bulldogs seized control of first place in the 1A Evergreen League with a convincing 47-33 victory over the Forks Spartans on Thursday in Montesano.

Monte (10-4 overall, 3-0 Evergreen 1A) used a staunch defense and were never truly threatened after taking an early double-digit lead in the first quarter. Led by Cole Daniels’ six points in the frame, the Bulldogs took a 20-10 lead at the end of the first eight minutes of play, holding Forks (10-4, 1-1) to just 3-of-15 shooting from the field.

The Spartans cut the lead to five at 20-15 early in the second quarter, but a quick timeout by Monte head coach Doug Galloway quickly righted the ship as Monte followed with a quick 6-0 run, capped by a steal and layup by Braden Dohrmann, to stretch the Bulldogs’ lead back to 11 at 26-15.

Monte’s defense, which held Forks to 13-of-34 from the field in the first half, clamped down further in the second half. Forks got as close as seven points in the third quarter, trailing 23-30, but a Monte run to end the frame saw the Bulldogs once again holding a double-digit lead at 41-29 heading into the final quarter.

The Bulldogs, which held Forks to eight points in the third quarter, doubled that effort in the fourth, holding the Spartans to just four points in the frame to earn a 47-33 victory.

Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group Montesano’s Alex Mesquita (33) scores two points while being defended by Forks’ Trey Baysinger in Thursday in Montesano. Monte won 47-33 and is in sole possession of first place in the 1A Evergreen League.

“We came out with some intensity and worked hard. I didn’t feel as though there was a let-up all game long,” Galloway said of his team’s performance on Thursday. “That’s all you can hope for, is that you have kids that play hard for 32 minutes and I really felt we did play hard for 32 minutes. I’m really proud of them.”

Monte’s defense held Forks to 11-of-45 (24%) from the field and not a single Spartan scored in double figures.

A well-balanced Bulldogs offense had no such issues, however, as Montesano had six players score at least six points apiece. Daniels led the Bulldogs with 10 points followed by Dohrmann, who tallied eight points on the evening.

Ben Wills scored six points for Monte with Trace Ridgway, Carter Olsen and Colby Adams scoring six points each.

The win gives Monte a commanding lead in the race for a 1A Evergreen League title, as the Bulldogs are a game-and-a-half ahead of the Spartans and are the only undefeated team left in league play.

“(Forks) had been a very good basketball program the last few years. … They were 10-3 coming into the game and ranked 19th in the state. They continue to do things right so we are very pleased to come out with a W tonight,” Galloway said.

Forks 10 11 8 4 — 33

Montesano 20 10 11 6 — 47

North Beach 78, South Bend 53

Four North Beach players scored in double figures as the Hyaks earned a 78-53 victory over South Bend on Thursday in Ocean Shores.

Josh Bighead (19 points, 10 assists) and Kyle Fry (12 pts., 12 rebounds) each recorded a double-double in the game and the Hyaks (3-10, 3-8 Pacific 2B) also benefited from double-digit scoring games from Tre-Vaughn Greene (15 pts., 6 reb.) and Reagan Harnagy (13 pts., 7 reb.).

Daniel Casteneda came off the Hyaks bench to score eight points during a big third quarter that secured the victory for North Beach.

South Bend moves to 1-12 overall, 0-11 in Pacific League play with the loss.

GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL

Montesano 69, Forks 44

Backed by a hot-shooting first quarter, Montesano downed Forks 69-44 on Thursday in Montesano.

Led by McKynnlie Dalan and Zoe Hutchings, who scored 13 and nine points, respectively, Monte jumped out to a 30-4 lead after the first eight minutes of play.

Monte (8-6, 3-0 Evergreen 1A) was able to hold off the Spartans the rest of the way, holding a 38-16 lead at the half and outscoring the Spartans (5-6, 0-2) 22-12 in the third quarter.

Dalan led Monte with 22 points in the game.

Zoe Hutchings scored 16 points and Paige Lisherness added 11 for the Bulldogs.

Chloe Leverington scored 18 points and Rian Peters added 10 points for the Spartans.

“We came out and moved the ball well and hit some shots. It was nice to see after a couple days off,” Montesano head coach Mark Mansfield said. “Give Forks credit, they kept fighting and outplayed us in the second quarter and battled us the whole game. It was a good win for us.”

Forks 6 10 12 16 — 44

Montesano 30 8 22 9 — 69

PREP BOWLING

Black Hills 1636, Aberdeen 1507

Aberdeen fell short of pulling off an upset in a 1,636-1,507 loss to Black Hills on Thursday at Rainier Lanes in Aberdeen.

“I told the girls before the match that Black Hills would need to bowl about 40 pins less than any match this year and we would have to bowl about 40 pins more than any match this year to pull off the upset,” Aberdeen head coach Dave Bruncke said. “Black Hills did their part by bowling 87 pins less than any match this year. We did not quite hit our mark.”

Juli Villa led Aberdeen (6-7, 3-6 Evergreen 2A) with a series score of 296.

Black Hills (1,636) — Ryan Williamson (140, 123, 263); Zoey Theophilus (119, 109, 228); Keira Eggert (94, 166, 260); Hallie Stuart (165, 146, 311); Maranda Hall (156, 126, 282)

Aberdeen (1,507) — Sierra Hammond (142, 121, 263); Juli Villa (136, 160, 296); Victoria Judkins (104, 133, 237); Savannah Hendricks (112, 128, 240); Macy Cogburn (131, 122, 253)

Montesano’s McKynnlie Dalan (34) dribbles around a screen from teammate Jaiden King (5) during the Bulldogs’ 69-44 victory on Thursday at Montesano High School. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)