FORKS — The Forks basketball girls got 21 points from Rian Peters, who returned from injury, and overcame a big King’s Way Christian third quarter to win a close one at home 57-54.
“We took their best punch in the third quarter,” said coach David Hurn. “We were able to put together a good fourth quarter.
“That game was a little more stressful than I would’ve liked,” Hurn said.
The Spartans had a big first half, taking a 28-18 lead into the break. The Knights got right back in it with a 22-14 third quarter as Forks held on to a 42-40 lead entering the fourth. The Spartans bounced back, outscoring King’s Way Christian 15-14 in the fourth to get the win.
It was Peters’ first game in a few weeks. In addition to her big game, Chloe Leverington scored 12, Kadie Wood 11 and Jayden Olson 9.
With the win, Forks (0-0, 4-4) got back to .500. The Spartans are off for a week and then start their final season of Evergreen 1A League play at 7 p.m. Jan. 7 against Tenino (0-0, 1-6).
“We’re getting healthy. We’re getting better. Our best basketball is ahead of us,” Hurn said.
Forks 57, King’s Way Christian 54
KWC 9 9 22 14 — 54
Forks 17 11 14 15 — 57
Forks (57) — Peters 21, Leverington 12, Wood 11, Olson 9, Hoston 2, Neel 2.
Seattle Prep 58, Port Angeles 39
LYNDEN — The Port Angeles girls were close at halftime against 3A Seattle Prep, but the Panthers pulled away in the second half in a 58-39 win over the Roughriders.
“Seattle Prep was a great test for us, our most challenging opponent thus far this season. Overall, I was impressed with our effort and execution in our 2-3 zone,” said coach Michael Poindexter.
“The final margin was the result of a few too many turnovers on our part, plus some inside misses over the course of the game. Seattle Prep was an outstanding defensive team and they shot the ball well,” Poindexter said.
Seattle Prep was ahead 29-22 at the half in Saturday’s, but outscored the Riders by 12 points in the second half to stretch their lead.
Millie Long and Eve Burke led the Riders with 13 points each.
“Overall, we were pleased with our girls’ resilience in the two Cloud 9 Classic games [Port Angeles also beat Ferndale 60-53 at the tournament]. We learned some valuable things that will pay off in the second half of the season,” Poindexter said.
Port Angeles (3-0, 6-3) will next play at 3A Bellevue (1-3, 1-6) on Saturday.
Seattle Prep 58, Port Angeles 39
PA 14 8 8 9 — 39
SP 18 11 14 15 — 58
Port Angeles (39) Millie Long 13, Eve Burke 13, Jaida Wood 5, Bailee Larson 4, Kia Noel 4, Mikkiah Brady, Myra Walker, Camille Stensgard, Catie Brown, Anna Petty, Jayde Gedelman.
Lynden Christian 85, Sequim 53
LYNDEN — The Sequim girls lost their first game of the year, but it took a powerhouse Lynden Christian team to finally knock off the Wolves.
Lynden Christian, which played for the 1A state championship last year and has only lost to 4A Woodinville this year, shot lights out in an 85-53 win over the Wolves at Saturday’s Cloud 9 Classic game in the Lyncs’ hometown.
“We played well in the first half but could not stop the 3-point shot in the second half,” said coach Linsay Rapelje.
Hope Glasser led the Wolves with 16 points, while Jessica Dietzman had nine and Jayla Julmist had eight. Hannah Bates, Kalli Wiker and Melissa Porter all had five points.
Sequim (3-0, 7-1) next plays at Edmonds-Woodway (2-0, 3-4) on Thursday.
Boys basketball
Forks 49, Klahowya 48
BELFAIR — For the second straight game, the Forks basketball boys won a clutch game.
And for the second straight game, it was Logan Olson in the middle of the drama at the end.
A day after beating North Mason 60-58 at the North Mason Invitational, the Spartans won another close one, 49-48 over Klahowya on Saturday at the same tournament.
Forks was up 10 points in the second half, but Klahowya fought back to make it a game in the final moments. With the Spartans hanging on to a 47-45 lead, Olson was fouled and made a couple of free throws to give Forks a four-point lead in the final seconds.
Coach Rick Gooding said the Spartans backed off defensively to avoid fouling and Klahowya was able to hit a 3-point shot with two seconds left. However, that was the Eagles’ last gasp as Forks simply ran out the last couple of seconds.
In the North Mason win Friday, Olson had a game-winning basket in the final seconds.
“They played gritty. This was a good tournament to be a part of,” said Gooding.
Gooding said many of the kids on this year’s team don’t necessarily specialize in basketball — several are also baseball and soccer players. But they are fighters.
“This is kind of a gritty team. We graduated eight kids last year and graduated a lot of basketball players. These kids are finding each other and have each others’ backs. I like coaching gritty kids,” Gooding said.
Including a 62-58 win over Toledo, the Spartans have won three games in a row by a combined margin of seven points.
Oscar Gonzalez had a career-high 11 points in the win, while Olson and Tony Hernandez-Flores each had 10 points.
Forks (0-0, 7-2) has a game at 1 p.m. today in Joyce against Crescent (2-2), then the Spartans take a one-week break over the New Year’s holiday and play at Onalaska at Jan. 6.
