YAKIMA — The Port Angeles basketball boys have purposely put a lot of challenges before them this season to prepare for the postseason.
They discovered that playing two basketball games in 12 hours against two good teams is too big of a challenge to overcome.
The Roughriders split a pair of games at the SunDome Shootout this weekend, beating 2A White River 76-64 Friday and losing 54-41 to Cashmere on Saturday.
The Riders had a strange schedule. They played the White River game at 9 p.m. Friday and the Cashmere game at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Coach Kasey Ulin said his players became mentally and physically fatigued late in that second game. The Riders actually had a fourth-quarter lead of seven points over Cashmere but couldn’t hold it down the stretch.
“We don’t want to have any excuses. With adversity, you get better,” Ulin said. “There was a lack of energy and focus in that second half. Physically, we were fine, but the mental approach was a whole another side.”
Cashmere isn’t just any 1A team. The Bulldogs are 4-2 with two of those losses to 4A Eastmont — by one point — and Ephrata, a 6-2 2A team.
Anton Kathol and Gary Johnson III each scored 10 points to lead the Riders.
Friday’s game was nearly polar opposite, with the Riders holding off a 7-3 White River team out of the 2A South Puget Sound League thanks to a huge 27-point fourth quarter. Port Angeles made 14 out of 16 free throws in the fourth to keep the Hornets at bay.
Johnson led the Riders with 19 points, while Chase Cobb had 15 and Kathol 13.
Ulin said Port Angeles had good passing with 22 assists on the night. “The kids shared the ball well,” he said. Ulin also said the bench played well with Lucas Jarnigan and John Vaara filling in for Damen Ringgold, who missed the tournament.
“Nolan Hughes gave us a huge spark with eight points and six boards,” he said.
Port Angeles (3-0, 6-2) has the rest of the week off. The Riders play again at home at 7 p.m. Friday in a nonleague game against a good 6-1 1A team from La Center.
Port Angeles 76, White River 64
WR 20 11 10 23 — 64
PA 17 21 11 27 — 76
White River (64) — Waldron 24, White 16, Johnson 15, Argo 5, Dahl 3.
Port Angeles (76) — Johnson 19, Cobb 15, Kathol 13, Hughes 8, Methner 7, Clark 5, Nickerson 4, Jarnigan 3, Bowechop 2.
Cashmere 54, Port Angeles 41
PA 11 5 14 11 — 41
C’mere 8 6 19 21 — 54
Port Angeles (54) — Johnson 10, Kathol 10, Nickerson 7, Vaara 4, Methner 4, Hughes 2, Jarnigan 2, Bowechop 2, Cobb 1.
Forks 60, North Mason 58
BELFAIR — The Spartans couldn’t hit a 3-pointer all night — except when it really mattered.
Forks had a spectacular come-from-behind victory over North Mason on Friday night, with four 3-point possessions in the final 2 minutes to win 60-58 at the North Mason Holiday Invite.
“It was awesome, it was a fun game to be a part of,” said coach Rick Gooding.
The Spartans were behind by nine points to the Bulldogs with just 2 minutes left. Gooding said at this point of the game, Forks hadn’t hit a 3-pointer the entire game.
But their comeback began with Logan Olson hitting a 3-pointer. Then Trey Baysinger lived up to his name when he hit back-to-back 3-pointers.
Olson ended up winning the game in the final seconds with the Spartans still down 58-57. He scored on a layup and was fouled. He converted an old-fashioned three-point play when he hit his free throw to make it 60-58.
Forks (5-2) played Klahowya (4-4) Saturday night at the North Mason tournament after press deadline.
Girls’ Basketball Port Angeles 60, Ferndale 53
LYNDEN — Stifling defense down the stretch helped the Port Angeles girls come from behind to beat Ferndale 60-53 in the Roughriders’ opening game of the Cloud 9 Christmas Classic on Friday.
“We struggled to establish a consistent offensive approach in the first half. Ferndale’s defense forced us into too many turnovers and contested shots. We showed better patience and decision-making in the second half,” said coach Michael Poindexter.
“Nothing we did defensively was particularly effective until the last four minutes, when our full-court pressure improved from earlier play, and our greater depth wore Ferndale down,” Poindexter said.
With under 3 minutes left, Ferndale held a 53-50 lead. Two free throws from Jaida Wood cut the lead to 53-52, then Eve Burke took over. Burke grabbed a defensive rebound and went the length of the floor for a layup to give the Riders a 54-53 lead with 1:59 left. She followed that up with a putback basket on an offensive rebound. Millie Long, who led Port Angeles with 23 points, also went coast-to-coast after a rebound for a layup in the final minutes.
The Roughriders’ defense caused three straight Ferndale turnovers and five missed shots in the final two minutes.
“Myra Walker had key contributions defensively and on the boards, plus scoring six points in the third quarter to help keep us close. Jenna McGoff also helped us hang close with two three-pointers in a solid outing,” said Poindexter.
Bailee Larson had nine points, while Mikkiah Brady, McGoff, Walker and Burke all had six.
Port Angeles (3-0, 6-2) played late Saturday afternoon against Seattle Prep (4-4).
Port Angeles 60, Ferndale 53
Ferndale 10 11 20 12 — 53
PA 12 10 17 21 — 60
Ferndale (53) — Johnson 14, Byrnes 12, Bungard 10, Thomas 8, Barlean 5, LaPlante 4.
Port Angeles (60) — Long 23, Larson 9, Brady 6, McGoff 6, Walker 6, Burke 6, Stensgard 2, Wood 2, Brown, Petty, Noel, Gedelman.
Sequim 63, Sehome 60
LYNDEN — The Sequim basketball girls remained perfect on the season, overcoming foul trouble and making some clutch baskets down the stretch to hold off Sehome 63-60 at the Cloud 9 Christmas Classic.
“We were able to pull out the win with some clutch free-throw‘s by Hope Glasser, Kalli Wiker and Melissa Porter … Sehome was a good test for us physically and mentally,” said coach Linsay Rapelje.
The Wolves were led by Jayla Julmist, who had 21 points, 14 rebounds and five steals. Wiker hit three 3-pointers and scored nine points in the fourth quarter en route to her 15 points total. She also shot 4 for 4 from the free-throw line in the fourth.
Jessica Dietzman had 10 points and Porter nine. Glasser had six points and four steals.
Dietzman, Julmist and Glasser all had to carry four fouls in the fourth quarter. Glasser ended up fouling out.
Sequim (7-0) played Lynden Christian (6-1) Saturday night after press deadline with a huge challenge to keep its record perfect. The Lyncs have beaten three 3A schools this year and were second in the 1A state tournament last year.
