OYEHUT — In a game so fast paced that it was barely conducive to blinking, Hoquiam outran North Beach 73-56 in a non-league game at the House of Pain on Saturday.
The Grizzlies (4-3) never trailed in the contest, but the Hyaks didn’t let them amble to a victory. North Beach pushed the pace from the opening tip and Hoquiam worked to speed the game up on its own end as well. Both teams utilized long passes early in the game to force their opponent to get back in transition quickly, but Hoquiam was able to force six Hyak turnovers and put up almost twice as many shots early and build a lead North Beach wouldn’t overcome.
“We knew going in that we a little more depth and experience and as long as we kept the tempo to our game it was in our favor,” Hoquiam coach Curtis Eccles said. “We did what we needed to do and the kids responded and we were pretty much in control of the game from the very beginning.”
Hoquiam put together a 10 to 2 run in the first quarter to create some separation, but the Grizzlies struggled shooting from the outside. After senior Jack Adams III hit the first 3-pointer for Hoquiam just about a minute into the game, the Grizzlies missed eight shots from behind the arch in the rest of the quarter.
In the second quarter, the Grizzlies began to work the ball inside with Adams pushing the ball up the floor and getting it to forward Jace Varner. Hoquiam went on a 16 to 1 run to start the second quarter, holding North Beach without a field goal until 2:21 left in the second. Varner capped the run with an old fashion 3-point play and scored nine of his 16 points in the second quarter.
“At times I felt like we were pretty competitive, but at other times it seemed like there were lapses defensively,” North Beach coach Larry Moore said. “We would score and then they would get a layin at the other end. We just need to do a better job in transition. Getting our rebounded hurt and not getting back in transition hurt.”
The Hyaks traded buckets with the Grizzlies through most of the third quarter and cut the lead to 10 points on back-to-back 3-pointers from Ryan Turner and Tim Johnson, but Hoquiam didn’t let North Beach get closer through the rest of the contest. Adams scored nine of his game high 22 points in the third quarter and helped Hoquiam stretch the lead back up to 23 at one point in the fourth.
Eccles cited Adams and Varner for their work offensively and Anthony Nash and Rayyon Dayton for their play off the bench. Varner added nine rebounds, four assists and three steals to go with his 16 points, while Nash grabbed eight rebounds. Adams finished with four assists and Zach Spradlin led the Grizzlies with four steals.
Moore cited Turner, Johnson and Diego Gonzalez. Johnson scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Hyaks, while Turner added nine points and Gonzalez pulled down eight rebounds.
Hoquiam travels to Castle Rock on Monday, while North Beach (1-5) travels to Ilwaco on Tuesday.
Hoquiam 18 18 20 17 — 73
North Beach 13 7 22 13 — 56
Hoquiam (73) — Spradlin 11, Steen 6, Adams 22, James 6, Varner 16, Espedal, Rivera 2, Eccles, Nash, Dayton 4, Folkers 2, Mazariegos, Brown 4. FG — 30-65. FT — 9-14.
North Beach (56) — Johnson 18, Turner 9, Sotomish 5, Washington 1, Gonzalez 5, You 6, Ewing 4, Robles 2, Poplin 6. FG — 21-48. FT — 9-16.
