CHIMACUM — The first two weeks of the Chimacum boys basketball team’s schedule looked grueling enough, with six games in 12 days.
The way the Cowboys are playing, however, they might not want to take a break.
Chimacum won its fourth game in eight days Wednesday night, holding off a late Forks rally to claim a 45-43 nonleague victory.
The Chimacum girls won, too, beating the Spartans 47-44 as the Cowboys swept the nonleague encounters.
Quinn Eldridge scored a team-high 15 points, all on 3-pointers, and Lucas Dukek added 12 points to boost the Cowboys to their best start in head coach Jim Eldridge’s three seasons.
“That’s awesome [starting 4-0],” said Jim Eldridge, whose team went 9-31 his first two years. “I think that’s a morale booster for them and they are getting a little more confident. It’s a good building block going into league play.
“We needed a tough game to try and pull out like this. Last year we wouldn’t have won a game like this.”
The Cowboys (4-0 overall) escaped with the win despite shooting just two free throws to Forks’ 28.
Chimacum made up for the disparity with some big shots from outside.
The team hit nine 3s total. Quinn Eldridge had five of those by himself, while Landon Cray had two and Dukek two.
“We’re shooting the ball pretty good this year,” Jim Eldridge said. “We’ve got some good shooters, and Lucas came through tonight. He shot the ball well.
“Everybody else is just playing looser, it seems like.”
Chimacum outscored Forks 15-4 in the third quarter to go up 34-27 and was ahead by nine points as late as 2:23 left in the fourth.
That’s when Forks (1-1) mounted one last rally that eventually ended with Tyler Penn at the free throw line with two seconds left and his team trailing 45-43.
The senior missed the front end, then after a timeout missed the second one on purpose, giving Shaquille Cress one last look at a desperation 3-pointer that was off the mark.
“I was really pleased with how we played tonight,” Forks coach Scott Justus said.
“At times we executed absolutely to perfection. We just missed so many easy shots. Defensively, I think we could have rebounded better, but that’s what kept us in the game.”
Forks struggled to sink anything Wednesday night.
Not only were the Spartans 13 of 59 from the field, they also hit just 14 of their 28 free throw attempts.
They were able to out-rebound Chimacum 40-24 on the game, with Tyler Penn submitting a great all-around game with 19 points, 11 rebounds and five steals.
Braden Decker added 12 points and nine rebounds, but Forks didn’t have any other scorers with more than six points.
“Defense usually keeps us in the game, but we’ve got to find a way to score,” Justus said.
Chimacum continues its season opening gauntlet with its first Class 1A Nisqually League game at Orting tonight.
The Cowboys will then travel to 2A Olympic on Saturday for its sixth game in less than two weeks.
“What I’m impressed with is what Jim’s done with them from the last two years to this year,” Justus said. “I think he’s done a good job turning the program around.
“It looks like those kids have bought in to whatever he’s doing.”
Forks will head to Neah Bay on Saturday for its next nonleague game.
Chimacum 45, Forks 43
Forks 11 11 5 16 — 43
Chimacum 11 9 14 11 — 45
Individual Scoring
Forks (43)
T. Penn 19, Castellano 6, Cress 2, Harris 1, Decker 12, Leons 3.
Chimacum (45)
Cray 10, Eldridge 15, Pagasian 4, Lucas Dukek 12, Downs 4.
Sequim 57, Peninsula 52
GIG HARBOR — Corbin Webb torched the 3A Seahawks for 32 points Tuesday night, leading the Wolves to their fourth straight win to begin the season.
The senior guard was the lone Sequim player in double digits. That ended up being just enough to top the Wolves’ former Olympic League rivals.
“He just about spread them out pretty evenly,” Wolves coach Greg Glasser said of Webb’s scoring outbursts. “He was tough to stop, that’s for sure.”
Sequim (2-0 in league, 4-0 overall) plays at North Mason tonight in an Olympic League battle.
Sequim 57, Peninsula 52
Sequim 13 13 14 17 — 57
Peninsula 13 12 10 17 — 52
Individual Scoring
Sequim (57)
Hill 4, Brocklesby 8, Guan 7, Catelli 2, Eekoff 4, Webb 32.
Peninsula (52)
Hennan 4, Siberman 2, Erickson 13, Winter 1, Olson 11, Hennessey 12, Shirley 9.
Girls Basketball
Chimacum 47, Forks 44
CHIMACUM — The Cowboys (1-3) held off a late Spartans (1-2) charge to earn their first win of the season Wednesday night.
Mallori Cossell drained six 3-pointers on the way to a game-high 23 points, Cydney Nelson had 11 points and five rebounds and freshman Ke Ke Snyder added nine points.
Forks’ Sassy Price led all Spartan scorers with 17 points.
The Spartans outscored Chimacum 17-8 in the fourth quarter but were never able to come all the way back from a 29-19 halftime deficit.
The Spartans next play at Neah Bay on Saturday.
Chimacum 47, Forks 44
Forks 10 9 8 17 — 44
Chimacum 14 15 10 8 — 47
Individual Scoring
Forks (44)
Sherrif-Penn 6, Paul 3, Raben 6, Price 17, Williams 5, Christiansen 5.
Chimacum (47)
Nelson 11, Thacker 2, Cossell 23, Snyder 9, Hathaway 2.
Wrestling
Port Angeles 39, Kingston 35
PORT ANGELES — The Roughriders claimed a critical early Olympic League dual against the fifth-ranked Buccaneers on Wednesday night.
Both teams could be battling for the league championship this year with the Riders claiming the early advantage.
“It was a tough and exciting opener for us,” Port Angeles coach Erik Gonzalez said.
Port Angeles (1-0 in league) scored five pin victories to escape with the win in its first home dual of the season.
Among those earning pins were Josh Basden at 106 pounds, Brady Anderson at 113, Ozzy Swaggerty at 120, Nick Lasorsa at 170 and Brian Cristion at 182.
Anderson and Cristion remain undefeated on the year after the pair won individual titles at the 14-team Cleveland Invitational last Saturday.
Kacee Garner also got a win at 152 with a 6-3 triumph over Kingston’s Sam English.
Kingston defending state champion Bobby Reece pinned Kody Steele at 1:08 in their match at 152 pounds.
The Riders next travel to the Fife Tournament on Saturday. Action starts at 9:30 a.m.
Klahowya 48, Sequim 30
SEQUIM — The Wolves dropped their first Olympic League dual of the season Wednesday night, with the Eagles claiming eight wins and seven pins.
Sequim was able to come away with victories in five matches, led by a pin from Luke Mooney at 145 pounds.
All four of the Wolves’ other wins came from forfeits.
Sequim next travels to Blaine for the Battle at the Border today and Saturday.