MONTESANO — Forks never trailed in earning its first boys basketball district victory in four seasons in a 68-56 win over Stevenson at Montesano High School.
The Spartans will play King’s Way Christian on Monday with a berth in the regional round of the Class 1A state tournament and the Southwest District 4 Championship on the line.
Forks coach Rick Gooding said that game is currently scheduled at the Vancouver school at 7:30 p.m., but he is trying to have the game moved to Elma and away from the Knights home court, or moved up to 5 p.m., so the Spartans can return home at an earlier hour.
Against the Bulldogs on Friday night, Forks wasted no time in running out to an early 7-0 lead against Stevenson’s man-to-man defense before the Bulldogs switched to zone pressure and clawed back into the contest to trail 13-9 after one quarter.
Forks pushed its lead to double-digits, 30-20 at halftime, and never looked back.
“The lead never got under 10 in the second half, and we got it up to 19 at one point,” Gooding said.
Gooding said he liked the defense his team played against Stevenson’s leading scorers Austin Brannan and Isaac Hoidel.
“The Brannan kid averages 23 points a game and he only had four points entering the fourth quarter,” Gooding said.
“We were keying on him. He hit three 3s in the fourth quarter, but kids can get lackadaisical with a 19-point lead.
“The Hoidel kid was averaging about 14 and we held him to six.
“I felt like our guys did a great job defensively. They scored on us in the fourth. But I don’t think it is an area of concern.
“We were a little fat, dumb and happy with the big lead.”
Marky Adams had another huge game for Forks, scoring 24 points, and grabbing 19 rebounds — nine offensive — to go along with four assists and three blocked shots.
Parker Browning added 17 points, four assists and five rebounds for the Spartans (15-6).
Gooding said his team celebrated in the locker room postgame, but didn’t overdo it.
“They were happy to get that first district win in four years,” Gooding said. “
“As their coach it was a good feeling because we were happy but they weren’t close to being satisfied. We know we have to do better, I didn’t have to calm them down and say we have bigger goals, they were aware we have more work to do and this was just step one of where we want to be. That was really cool to see as a coach because I think it speaks to the senior leadership of this team.”
Now comes a rematch of sorts with King’s Way Christian (12-9), a team that knocked off the Spartans 61-31 in the opening round of district play last year. Despite their mediocre won-loss record, King’s Way Christian is ranked No. 15 in the WIAA’s RPI ranking.
“If we go into that game strictly thinking about revenge for last year it won’t be enough,” Gooding said. “We have to focus on the goals on we set for ourselves. If we do it for anybody besides ourselves it won’t be enough. This group, more than any other group I’ve had, has really rallied around each and became a family.
“They were a better team than us last year, lets be a better team than them this year. We owe it to ourselves because nobody’s expectations are bigger than ours.”
Forks 68, Stevenson 56
Stevenson 9 11 12 24— 56
Forks 13 17 19 19— 68
Stevenson (56) — Fielding 7, Nichals 2, Krog 11, Brannan 17, Dillingham 2, Hoidel 6, Delarosa 4, Campbell 5, Pearson 2. –
Forks (68) — Johnson, Schumack 5, Ramsey, Baysinger 8, Tejano, Browning 17, Prose 11, Adams 24, Flores 3.
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Compiled from team reports. Email scores to sports@peninsuladailynews.com or phone 360-417-3525.
