FORKS — North Olympic Peninsula neighbors Forks and Neah Bay put on a show in a nonleague boys basketball game that saw the Red Devils rally from a 17-point third quarter deficit to win 73-69.
Thursday’s game wasn’t the cleanest contest for either side.
Neah Bay opened the game with a made basket and then proceeded to miss 22 straight shots and trailed 20-7 after one quarter.
“We had a real tough game the other night [in a loss to Shorewood Christian] and I think we were lacking the intensity a little bit,” Red Devils coach Stan Claplanhoo said.
“We were a little down and not at their best to start.”
Marky Adams, the Spartans 6-foot-8-inch post, scored eight of his 14 points in the first quarter.
“At first I wanted to try to match up with him in man but he was just too strong down there on his own, way too dominant,” Claplanhoo said.
“So I told the guys we had to go to a 2-3 zone. “We’ve got to gang up on him.”
The Spartans, meanwhile, dealt with their own bugaboo, an inability to consistently break through pressure defense in the backcourt.
Forks committed 30 turnovers in the game.
“Yeah, it was like the Aberdeen game, their press bit us,” Spartans coach Rick Gooding said.
“We work on ball-handling every day but we definitely have to work a little bit harder on ball handling, after that.”
Forks also was faced with a difficult dilemma: play its starters all-out against a friendly rival; or try and stick to minute limits for its starters in advance of an Evergreen League game with Tenino on Friday (See game recap, page B3).
“We wanted to get Marky some extended breaks with the league game coming, and we did that, but the starters still played more than I wanted,” Gooding said.
“Once the game got going my competitive juices started flowing.”
Neah Bay went on a 21-10 run to pull within two, 30-28 with under two minutes to go until halftime.
“It took them a while to get warmed up,” Gooding said.
“And once they started hitting shots, it wasn’t like the defense was any different, they just started to make them when they counted.”
But the Spartans answered with an 8-0 run of their own, bookended by a monster two-hand slam dunk from Adams and a 3-pointer from freshman Cort Prose to head to halftime up 38-28.
Nine straight points from Forks’ leading scorer Parker Browning helped the Spartans take a 47-30 lead with 5:23 to go in the third period.
He led all scorers with 27 points.
But the Red Devils had another comeback left in them.
Neah Bay ratcheted up the pressure once more, forcing 10 third-quarter turnovers from Forks, and going on a 22-4 run capped by a 3 from Kenrick Doherty Jr. for a 52-51 lead with 21 seconds left in the third quarter.
“Defensively is what I was most impressed with,” Claplanhoo said.
“Last night was the first time we worked on the press and some of our half-court traps.”
Ryan Moss shook off a knee injury suffered earlier in the game to hit a 3 to open the final frame and give Neah Bay the lead for good.
Moss knocked down three 3s in the fourth quarter, and ended with a team-high 26 points.
One of his shots, a deep corner 3 from a tough angle, juked Adams to the ground.
“I was looking to hit a cutter with a pass, but that wasn’t open, so I faked a dribble left and went right and he fell and I hit it,” Moss said.
A 3 from Prose pulled Forks within two, at 71-69 with 1:56 to play.
Prose hit four 3s and scored 12 points for the Spartans.
“Marky and Parker have been pretty consistent all season but I told the other guys they have to shoot the ball,” Gooding said.
“If your not a threat we won’t be a threat as a team.
“Cort played well for us.”
The Spartans had a chance to tie the game with 30 seconds to play.
Browning lofted an entry pass to Adams on the left block, but Neah Bay’s Reggie Buttram anticipated the pass, tipping it away from Adams.
Adams tried to save the ball but it bounced on the end line.
Moss knocked down two free throws with 17 seconds left to ice the game.
“Ryan stepped up,” Claplanhood said.
“He muscled through a knee injury, and I didn’t know if he was going to play in the fourth quarter.”
Claplanhoo was happy with the energy his team brought to the floor after its slow start.
“They played with a little bit of heart, selling out and diving for loose balls and getting after it to get some good looks at the basket,” Claplanhoo said.
“We played together and that was nice to see.”
The two teams will meet again in Neah Bay on Wednesday, Jan. 27.
“It’s sure good practice for us,” Claplanhoo said.
“We always appreciate Forks letting us play them.
“That one will fill the bleachers for sure.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
