CENTRALIA — Port Angeles surrendered its 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and went down by one point against Centralia in the final minute, but got the winning basket from Liam Clark in the final seconds in a 48-47 nonleague road thriller.
Ben Janssan’s 3-pointer with 1 minute, 4 seconds left on the clock gave the Tigers their only lead of the second half, but the Roughriders’ Clark drove left and scored — but missed the free throw awarded with the foul that accompanied his bucket — to put the Roughriders up 48-47 with 13 seconds to go in Wednesday’s game.
“We ran a play that gives us two or three different options and Liam made a great read and made a very strong, aggressive move to the hoop that put us up by one,” Port Angeles coach Kasey Ulin said.
After a Centralia timeout, the Tigers found Tyler Ashmore on the wing. Ashmore drove to the hoop, drew contact and got a shot up, only to see it rattle around the rim and bounce out.
“We played some solid defense and forced a tough shot and Liam made an amazing move to jump on the ball,” Ulin said. “If he hadn’t have forced the jump ball their kid might have had an open shot. So they called jump ball, put 0.5 seconds on the clock and we forced a long, contested shot and the ball bounced around and off.”
“Any time you can win on the road against a good team like Centralia it’s a positive,” Ulin said.
“There’s a lot of history there and [Forks native and WIAA Hall of Fame coach] Ron [Brown] was there. It’s fun to take the kids in those kinds of gyms and play in that kind of atmosphere.”
Ulin said the Riders started slow but went on a big run in the second quarter to open the game up.
“We were a little sluggish to start but we went on a 15-2 run in the second quarter when our defensive intensity ramped up and we got some steals and made some plays in transition,” he said.
“In the fourth quarter we made a couple of turnovers and they hit some shots and next thing you know it’s a three-point game.”
The final portion of the fourth went back-and-forth between the teams, but after yielding the lead, Port Angeles forced a late turnover to set up Clark’s game-winning bucket.
“Easton [Joslin] was really good for us, he had seven points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals,” Ulin said. Kyle [Benedict] led us in scoring with 12. Liam had eight points, seven rebounds, five blocks, so he was all over the place.
“Every guy that played, scored, so our depth and versatility helped us.”
Ulin said the game offered his team a lesson going forward.
“We need to learn how to finish teams at the end,” Ulin said. “Become a little more fundamental in those situations, take high-percentage shots. But its always nice to be able to execute, stick together and win a close game.”
And the win helped take the sting out of a delayed trip home for the Riders. Port Angeles was sidelined for two hours waiting for a backup when their bus broke down near the Lucky Dog Casino on U.S. Highway 101.
Port Angeles (2-1, 5-2) will host Rochester in the Riders’ Port Angeles Holiday Tournament today at 7:15 p.m. Forks will play Sedro-Woolley at 5:45 p.m., with the winners of tonight’s games playing at 4:30 p.m. Saturday and the losers tipping off at 3 p.m.
Port Angeles 48, Centralia 47
Port Angeles 11 17 10 10— 48
Centralia 14 10 8 15— 47
Port Angeles (48) — Benedict 12, Clark 8, Joslin 7, Schmidt 6, Edwards 4, Borde 3, Long 2, Johnson 2, Kathol 2.
Centralia (47) — Ashmore 12, Janssan 11, Grimm 7, Emmons 4, Ajoge 4, Sharp 3.
*Information from the Centralia Chronicle was included in this report.
Forks 68, Neah Bay 29
FORKS — The Spartans attacked the hoop and outrebounded a short-handed Red Devils squad to sweep the season series.
“A couple of the guys had their best varsity games,” Forks coach Rick Gooding said of Wednesday’s game. “Seth Johnson led us with 17 points. Iziah Morton did a great job and rebounded the ball well. [Joseph] Reaume was 7 of 7 from the field, he attacked the rim and did a great job.
“Between Seth and Joe both, all their points were in the paint, which is a great indicator for us.”
The Red Devils again played without some starters because of injuries.
“Neah Bay had some guys hurt, they were outsized and outmanned, but their kids never give up, they played hard,” Gooding said. “I’m glad they came out and played us.”
Captain Claplanhoo led the Red Devils with 16 points. Michael Shaw added 10 for Neah Bay.
Reaume scored 14 for Forks and Braton Armas had 12.
“Everybody did something for us,” Gooding said. “It was kind of a strength in numbers thing for us.”
The Spartans (7-1) will play in the Port Angeles Holiday Tournament today at 5:45 p.m. against Class 2A Sedro-Woolley (4-2).
Neah Bay (1-5) will play the Port Angeles JV in the Port Angeles Holiday Tournament today at 5:45 p.m.
Forks 68, Neah Bay 29
Neah Bay 4 6 8 11— 29
Forks 12 21 19 16— 68
Neah Bay (29) — Claplanhoo 16, Shaw 10, Halttunen 2, Brunk 1, Croy, Kallappa.
Forks (68) — Johnson 17, Reaume 14, Armas 12, , Morton 8, Prose 5, T. Flores 3, Baar 3, Jacoby 3, C. Baysinger 3, T. Baysinger, Archibald, A. Flores.
Girls Basketball
Neah Bay 48, Forks 30
FORKS — Lalia Greene led the way with 16 points as the Red Devils picked up the season series sweep against the Spartans.
Neah Bay forced Forks into 22 turnovers, while only making six.
“I would have expected more,” Spartans coach David Hurn said.
“Our youth hurt us a little bit, we came out flat, and we just didn’t have a good start to the game. Not sure if it was because it’s Christmas break or what, but Neah Bay came out ready to play and you can’t afford to come out slow against a team like that.
Gina McCaulley scored 10 points with a team-high six assists and six steals for the Red Devils.
“She’s a great ball player, a senior leader on a team with so many freshmen,” Hurn said.
Ruth Moss added six points, six rebounds and five steals and Courtney Swan scored eight points with nine rebounds.
Jayden Olson had 16 to lead Forks, which was playing without one of its best players in sophomore Rian Peters (sprained ankle). Freshman Chloe Leverington had eight points and Kesia Rowley contributed six as just three Spartans scored.
“They run a zone and we had a hard time getting ball down to [Leverington in the post,” Hurn said.
“We made it difficult on ourselves trying to force entry passes against the good zone Neah Bay was running. “We need to be a little more patient.”
Neah Bay (5-1) will play Taholah in the Muckleshoot Holiday Classic at the ShoWare Center in Kent on Wednesday.
Forks (6-2) will play in the Holiday with the Hyaks Tournament at North Beach on Thursday and Friday.
Neah Bay 48, Forks 30
Neah Bay 11 10 10 17— 48
Forks 4 5 7 14— 30
Neah Bay (48) — Greene 16, McCaulley 10, C. Swan 8, Moss 6, P. Swan 4, Yallup 2, Winck 2.
Forks (30) — Olsen 16, Leverington 8, Rowley 6, Kratzer, Johnson, Kilmer, Rondeau, Hoagland, Baar.
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Compiled from team reports. Email scores to sports@peninsuladailynews.com or phone 360-417-3525.
Matt Baide/Centralia Chronicle Port Angeles’ Liam Clark, right, contests the shot of Centralia’s Michael Ajoge during the Roughriders’ 48-47 win over the Tigers.
Lonnie Archibald/for Peninsula Daily News Neah Bay ran into a tough Forks defense during a 68-29 loss to the Spartans on Wednesday night. From left, Forks’ Tony Flores, Scott Archibald and Joseph Reaume trap Neah Bay’s Captain Claplanhoo (center).
