ELMA — Forks remained undefeated in league and all alone in first place in the Evergreen 1A League with a 65-46 win on the road against Elma.
Though the final score looks lopsided, Friday’s game was not an easy win for the Spartans as the Eagles had cut a big Forks lead down to four points in the final frame.
“They kind of kicked our butt in the third quarter. We responded big time in the fourth. You like those games [when] kids gotta respond on the road,” said coach Rick Gooding.
Cole Baysinger scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth as the Spartans outscored the Eagles 18-5 in the final quarter. Braton Armas had one of his best games of the year with 21 points. Joseph Reaume scored 11, including four on free throws in the fourth and Cort Prose hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored nine. Seth Johnson scored eight.
“Everyone contributed, man. It was a total win for us,” Gooding said.
For Elma, the Eagles got 33 of their 46 points from Cody Vollan.
Forks (5-0, 13-2), a game-and-half ahead of second-place Montesano, gets a week off and plays its next game at home at 5:45 p.m. Friday against Hoquiam (1-3, 4-11).
Forks 65, Elma 46
Forks 19 19 9 18 — 65
Elma 9 17 15 5 — 46
Forks (65) — Armas 21, Baysinger 12, Reaume 11, Prose 9, Johnson 8, Baar 2, Jacoby 2.
Elma (46) — Vollan 33, Jacobsen 5, Johnston 3.
Port Angeles 60, North Mason 43
BELFAIR — The Roughriders are finding out that as a first-place team, they have a huge bulls-eye on their back in the Olympic League 2A Division.
North Mason got off to a big start Friday against them, hitting five 3-pointers in the first quarter and taking a 28-21 lead into the half. Port Angeles responded with a huge 23-3 third quarter to blow the game open.
“We were a bit flat. Our intensity picked up in the third,” said coach Kasey Ulin. “We’re in uncharted waters [as a first-place team]. We’re getting everyone’s best shot every night.”
As part of the Riders’ 23-3 third, the team went on an 8-0 run in 25 seconds, with 3-pointers made by Payton Schmidt and Kyle Benedict and a steal and a bucket.
Benedict led the Riders with 17 points, while Liam Clark had 14 points. Ulin said Clark had a “monster game on the boards” with 17 rebounds. He also had a two-handed dunk during that huge third quarter.
Colton McGuffey added six points and eight rebounds, while Gary Johnson III came off the bench to give the Riders a big spark.
It was the team’s sixth-straight win. Port Angeles (8-1, 12-5) gets a week off and next plays at Kingston (2-6, 3-13) at 7 p.m. Friday. After that, they have two monster games against North Kitsap (7-1 in Olympic 2A) and Olympic (6-2). Ulin says the Riders are aware those games are out there, but they are not thinking about that yet.
“We focus on the day-by-day, drill-by-drill. We try to focus on what we can control,” said Ulin. “Right now our biggest game of the year is Kingston.”
Port Angeles 60, North Mason 43
PA 13 8 23 15 — 60
NM 17 11 3 12 — 43
Port Angeles (60) — Wood 1, Johnson 5, McGuffey 6, Joslin 7, Schmidt 3, Benedict 17, Methner 2, Edwards 5, Clark 14.
North Mason (43) — McGanney 1, Fisher 12, Pearson 3, Campbell 10, R. Williams 3, A. Williams 2, Knight 2, McCormick 3, Brown 3, Wood 2, Crooks 2.
Sequim 53, Bremerton 40
BREMERTON — The Wolves stayed in playoff position by beating the Knights on the road 53-40.
Sequim got out in front 29-7 at the half in Friday’s game and cruised the rest of the way, though Bremerton cut into the lead somewhat with a 17-7 third quarter.
Nate Despain and Payton Glasser led the Wolves with 19 points each. Despain added three steals while Glasser had six boards. Riley Cowan had six boards and five assists, while Cole Williams had a solid all-around game with seven points, six rebounds and five steals.
Sequim (5-4, 8-8) has a three-and-half game lead on Kingston for fourth place and a playoff slot out of the Olympic League 2A Division. The Wolves next play North Mason (2-7, 5-11) at home at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Sequim 53, Bremerton 40
Sequim 12 17 7 17 — 53
Bremerton 4 3 17 16 — 40
Sequim (53) — Glasser 19, Despain 19, Williams 7, Rollness 2, Cowan 4.
Bremerton (40) — Jackmon 21, Retome 10, King 2, WAshington 2, Logova 2.
Neah Bay 65, Crescent 21
Neah Bay 80, Forks JV 39
CRESCENT — The Red Devils won their seventh game in a row and remained undefeated in North Olympic 1B League play witha 65-31 win over the Loggers.
Neah Bay was led by Keith Johnson Jr. with 18 points and Sean Bitegeko’s 17 in Friday’s game. Captain Claplanhoo chipped in eight and Malcom Lovik scored six.
Brendan Bergstrom scored six for Crescent, while Timmy Ward and Noah Leonard each scored four.
Neah Bay started the season 1-7 but with their recent winning streak have pushed their record to 8-7 (5-0 in league).
The Red Devils next play at Crescent (0-5, 5-10) again at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday.
On Thursday, Neah Bay also beat the Forks JV 80-39. Bitegeko had 34 points while Johnson scored 18 and Jay Brunk 15 points.
Gabriel Terrones led Forks with 10 points while Iziah Morton scored eight.
Neah Bay 65, Crescent 21
Crescent 5 5 5 6 — 21
NB 23 21 14 7 — 65
Crescent (21) — Bergstrom 6, Ward 4, Leonard 4, Emery 2, Morris 2, Spncer 2, Buchanan 1.
Neah Bay (65) — Johnson 18, Bitegeko 17, Claplanhoo 8, Lovik 6, Engram 5, Kallappa 4, Halttunen 3, Shaw 2.
Neah Bay 80, Forks JV 39
Forks JV 10 9 11 9 — 39
Neah Bay 20 16 16 28 — 80
Forks JV (39) — Terrones 10, Morton 8, Flores 6, Ness 4, Eastman 3, T. Baysinger 3, Davis 3.
Neah Bay (80) — Bitegeko 34, Johnson 18, Brunk 15, Shaw 5, Claplanhoo 4, Kallappa 4.
Girls Basketball
Port Angeles 55, North Mason 31
PORT ANGELES — The Roughriders remained within a game of first with a big 15-5 second quarter to help beat North Mason 55-31.
Emilia Long shot 5 for 6 from 3-point range and ended up with 17 points in Friday’s game, while Mikkiah Brady scored nine points on three 3-pointers. Madison Cooke added nine and Devin Edwards six.
“We struggled in the first half with our ball movement against North Mason’s zone, which was pretty effective. In the second half, we moved the ball better, creating gaps and more open shots,” said coach Michael Poindexter.
Fortunately for Port Angeles, North Mason did not shoot well from the free-throw line.
“Our effort was fine defensively, but sometimes we gambled and tried to do too much, causing us to leave openings inside for North Mason and causing us to foul a bit too often, sending [North Mason] to the line 18 times, where they made just [6 of 18],” Poindexter said.
The win was the Riders’ sixth in a row. Port Angeles (8-1, 12-3, No. 13 in RPI rankings) firmly in second place in the Olympic League 2A Division, next plays a nonleague game at Port Townsend at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday. The Roughriders next play in league against third-place Kingston (5-3, 11-5) at home at 7:15 p.m. Friday.
Port Angeles 55, North Mason 31
NM 7 5 14 5 — 31
PA 9 15 17 14 — 55
North Mason (31) — Young 8, Carstensen 7, Simonson 6, Mathews 5, Griffey 3, Maring 2.
Port Angeles (55) — E. Long 17, Brady 9, Cooke 9, Edwards 6, Politika 5, Wheller 4, Wood 4, G. Long 1, Wenzl, Gray, Steinman.
Coupeville 33, Chimacum 30
CHIMACUM — The Cowboys lost an Olympic League 1A Division game in heartbreaking fashion as a 3-pointer in the final 30 seconds by Grace Yaley went for naught when Coupeville came back with a trey of its own at the buzzer to win 33-30.
“Coupeville got real confident against our pressure,” said coach Trevor Huntingford.
Chimacum got down about five points, but rallied at the end of the fourth, with Yaley hitting a clutch 3-pointer with 34 seconds left to tie the game at 30-30.
On Coupeville’s next possession, Chimacum nearly got a steal. The Cowboys’ Mia McNair got her knees buckled by a Coupeville player and the girl she was defending, Kyla Briscoe, was left wide open for a game-winning three in the final two seconds. Huntingford said McNair was fortunately not injured but was pretty upset afterward.
McNair led the Cowboys with 11 points, while Yaley scored nine.
The win drops Chimacum (3-3, 6-9) from a share of first down to third place in the Olympic 1A League, with three league games left. The Cowboys are only one game out of first behind 4-2 Port Townsend, so the league title and a first-round playoff bye are still in range.
Chimacum next hosts Klahowya (1-4, 3-12) at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Coupeville 33, Chimacum 30
Chimacum 8 10 5 7 — 30
Coupeville 6 5 10 12 — 33
Chimacum (30) — McNair 11, Yaley 9, Dowling 5, Nordberg 3, Clark 2.
Coupeville (33) — Wright 13, Roberts 9, Briscoe 6, Smith 3, Prescott 2.
Port Townsend 33, Klahowya 28
SILVERDALE — The Port Townsend girls maintained their hold on first place in the Olympic League 1A Division with a tough 33-28 road win over an improved Klahowya squad.
The Redhawks got off to a 18-6 lead after the first quarter but only managed 15 points for the rest of the game.
“Klahowya has gotten much better, they clamped down on us defensively,” said coach Scott Wilson. It didn’t help the Redhawks’ cause that they only shot 3 for 9 on their free throws in the fourth quarter.
Kaitlyn Meek led the team with 12 points, while Izzy Hammett scored seven and Karlee Kellogg scored five.
The Redhawks won without one of their better players, Jaz Apker-Montoya, who has been out for over a week with a concussion. Wilson said the good news is Apker-Montoya is improving and while doctors are being careful with her, she may be able to return to the Redhawks’ roster late this week.
Port Townsend (4-2, 6-9) next hosts 2A Port Angeles (8-1, 12-3) at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Port Townsend 33, Klahowya 28
Klahowya 6 7 3 12 — 28
PT 18 4 3 8 — 33
Port Townsend (33) — Meek 12, Hammett 7, Kellogg 5, Lake 4, Nielsen 3, King 2.
Klahowya (28) — Bumbalough 6, Lueck 6, James 5, Cooper 4, Smith 4, Eberhard 3.
Neah Bay 63, Crescent 20
NEAH BAY — The Red Devils got off to a 23-2 start in the first quarter and cruised the rest of the way, remaining undefeated in North Olympic 1B League play with a 63-20 win over Crescent.
Cheyanna Svec led a balanced Red Devils attack with 10 points as 11 Neah Bay girls scored. Jazzlyn Yallup and Lalia Greene each scored nine, Ruth Moss scored eight, while Lashia McCarty-Corpuz and Josie Balderson each scored six.
Grace Baillargeon led Crescent with nine points, while Hannah Lee scored four points.
Neah Bay (5-0, 13-1, No. 3 in RPI rankings) next plays at Crescent (2-3, 2-11) again at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday.
Neah Bay 63, Crescent 20
Crescent 2 6 3 9 — 20
NB 23 15 16 9 — 63
Crescent (20) — Baillargeon 9, Lee 4, Strean 3, Westfall 2, Conat 2.
Neah Bay (63) — Svec 10, Greene 9, Moss 8, Yallup 9, McCarty-Corpuz 6, Balderson 6, Woodruff 5, P. Swan 4, C. Swan 2, McCaulley 2, Pilatti 2.
Elma 69, Forks 23
ELMA — The Forks girls struggled against first place Elma on the road, as the 16-1 Eagles won 69-23.
Rian Peters led the Spartans with 10 points.
Forks (0-5, 8-8) played Saturday in a nonleague game against Ocosta (after press deadline). The Spartans next play at 7 p.m. at home Friday against Hoquiam 3-2, 9-8).
Jalyn Sackrider led Elma’s scoring with 16 points. Kali Rambo was the only other Eagle to reach double figures with 10, but Kassedy Olson, Kaelyn Burgher and Brooke Sutherby each scored eight points.
Olson, who dished out five assists, was cited by Elma coach Lisa Johnson for her play off the bench.
“Our defense was spot on from the first minute of the game until the (end),” Johnson observed.
Rambo had five steals for the Eagles (4-1, 16-1).
Elma travels to Hoquiam on Tuesday.
Elma 69, Forks 23
Forks 4 6 4 9 — 23
Elma 19 16 17 17 — 69
Forks (23) — Johnson 3, Olson 5, Kratzer, Baar, Hoaglund 3, Peters 10, Rowley, Rondeau, Kilmer.
Elma (69) — Sackrider 16, Bieker 6, Burgher 8, Sutherby 8, Olson 8, Bol 2, Johnson, Mikel 6, Johnston 5, Rambo 10.
