FORKS — Forks ended its arduous slate of seven boys basketball games in 12 days with a statement victory over Stevenson, a potential district playoff opponent, 73-50 on Saturday.
“We were excited to finish off the tail end of this run,” Spartans coach Rick Gooding said.
Also on Saturday, the Port Angeles boys beat Blaine 77-35.
“I try to relate things we experience during the season to something we might, so I told them this is like our district tournament, play a 2A Whatcom County team on the road [Blaine in Port Angeles] on Friday night and turn around in a short time frame and play a district opponent the next day,” Gooding said.
The Spartans used a 24-7 second quarter to go up 22 points at halftime, 42-20.
“Stevenson traveled up today, early start for them, and we kind of blitzed them in that second quarter and they couldn’t recover.”
Gooding said Forks rebounded well and only allowed the Bulldogs one shot per possession.
“We pressured them, we got rebounds, Cole [Baysinger] had some baskets, we got a couple and-one’s and Cort hit a three.”
And the Spartans’ trend of team-oriented basketball continued.
“It’s nice when you don’t have to count on somebody,” Gooding said. “When everybody chips in and give you what they can give you. A kid will score four points, but when four of them do it, it adds up to 16 and that’s huge. Kids are bought in and committed right now. That’s easy to do when we are winning, but I’m excited, I like this group of guys. Winning helps with attitudes, the kids know their roles, have each others’ backs.
Prose had 17 points to lead Forks, while Seth Johnson added 11, Braton Armas 10 and Jake Jacoby and Cole Baysinger had nine points apiece.
Stevenson (2-2) came into the contest averaging 79 points per game.
The Bulldogs’ main scorer Isaac Hoidal hit for 31 in Saturday’s game, but 12 came in the fourth quarter.
“He’s just a good ballplayer, reminds me a little of [Forks’] Parker Browning a little bit from last year. He’s a junior, so we should see him again.”
Forks is off until a Dec. 20 home game against Neah Bay.
Forks 73, Stevenson 50
Stevenson 13 7 11 19— 50
Forks 18 24 16 15— 73
Stevenson (50) — Blackledge 3, Krog 7, Lowery 2, Hoidal 31, Lanz 3, Pat 2, Wright 2.
Forks (73) — Johnson 11, Reaume 4, Jacoby 9, C. Baysinger 9, T. Baysinger 2, Prose 17, T. Flores 2, Armas 10, A. Flores 4, Archibald 2, Morton 3.
Port Angeles 77, Blaine 35
PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles boys got a bit of revenge against a team that beat them on a last-second shot last year, taking out Blaine 77-35 in a nonleague game.
The Roughriders had great balance Saturday with every player on the team scoring and five players scoring at least nine points. Anton Kathol and Liam Clark led the team with 14 points apiece, while Garrett Edwards and Kyle Benedict had 10 each and Payton Schmidt scored nine.
Coach Casey Ulin said it was a good effort by his team. “It was great intensity for 32 minutes.”
Ulin said the Riders did a good job of hitting open players and compiled a total of 23 assists.
Defensively, the Roughriders forced 24 turnovers and outrebounded the Borderites by 18.
“It was a good bounceback win,” after Friday’s road loss to North Kitsap, Ulin said.
Ulin said the Riders (0-1, 2-2) must now prepare for a much improved undefeated Sequim (2-0, 3-0) squad that will visit Wednesday. The Wolves feature a Payton Glasser, averaging 28 points a game. That game will begin at 7:15 p.m.
Port Angeles 77, Blaine 35
Blaine 4 8 15 8 — 35
PA 17 17 25 18 — 77
Port Angeles (77) — Kathol 14, Clark 14, Edwards 10, Benedict 10, Schmidt 9, Borde 6, Johnson 5, Joslin 3, McGuffey 2, Long 2, Wood 2.
Mount Vernon Christian 62, Neah Bay 52
MOUNT VERNON — The Neah Bay boys roared back from a slow start with a huge second half, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a big hole in a 62-52 loss against Mount Vernon Christian.
The Red Devils gave up 24 points to Mount Vernon in the second quarter and were behind 35-16 at the half. They bounced back with a 36-point second half.
The Red Devils were led by Cameron Moore and Sean Bitegeko, who each scored 14 points. Keith Johnson Jr. scored 12 points and Jay Brunk eight.
Neah Bay (0-2) next plays at Sequim at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Mount Vernon Christian 62, Neah Bay 52
NB 9 7 16 20 — 52
MVC 11 24 13 14 — 62
NB (52) — Moore 14, Bitegeko 14, Johnson 12, Brunk 8, Halttunen 4.
MVC (62) — Phifer 13, Annema 14, Droog 12, McGlothin 11, DeVries 3, Norman 3, Wyatt 2, Lubbers 2.
