FORKS — Forks put in the necessary work defensively, but struggled to shoot well from the floor and the free-throw line in two Evergreen League boys basketball losses to Montesano and Elma.
The Spartans fell 49-42 at home Friday to the Elma Eagles on the heels of a 47-33 defeat on the road at Montesano on Thursday.
“Two snow days followed by back-to-back games, that’s tough,” Forks coach Rick Gooding said. “But to act like season is over is crazy. “We have to get back after it and the great thing about having a bunch of juniors and sophomores is I know if we work hard we are going to get better.”
Friday against Elma, Forks held a one-point lead heading to the final quarter, but couldn’t consistently put the ball in the basket late.
“Just a matter of making buckets,” Gooding said.
“We went 3 for 11 from free-throw line and they went 19 for 22 from the free-throw line. We hit one three-point shot on the night.”
Aho 3-pointer key
Gooding said a late stretch sealed it for the Eagles.
“It was a two-point game, we missed a shot and fouled and they hit both free throws,” Gooding said. “Then [Raiden] Aho hit a big-time 3 that really stretched it out to seven points.”
Trey Baysinger led Forks with 24 points. Tony Flores added 12 for the Spartans.
“Trey had 24, he did what he needed to do and you can’t ask for more than that.”
“Defensively, allowing 49 points is pretty solid. And seven of their 18 in the fourth quarter came from free throws when we were trying to extend the game.”
Gooding said the Forks Booster Club ended up raising $1,500 for Elma senior Jesus Torres, an Eagles football and basketball player fighting leukemia.
“Elma’s fans and coaches were really grateful,” Gooding said.
Forks (1-2, 10-5) hosts Hoquiam (1-1, 5-6) on Tuesday.
Elma 49, Forks 42
Elma 12 15 4 18— 49
Forks 12 10 10 10— 42
Elma (42) — Seaberg 4, Moore 8, Church 12, Witt 8, Huttula 4, Johnston 4, Edenstrom, Jones 3, Aho 6.
Forks (49) — Baysinger 24, Flores 12, Olson 2, Steffen 2, Gonzalez 2, Windle, Farias, Pursley, Davis, Pugh.
Montesano 47, Forks 33
MONTESANO — The Spartans had trouble shooting and allowed the Bulldogs too many second-chances in an Evergreen League loss Thursday.
“We gave them too many second, third and fourth-opportunities and they are too well-coached to give them more chances,” Gooding said.
Forks limited Montesano’s leading scorer Trace Ridgway to six points and 6-foot-4 freshman Wesley Bjornsgard to two points, but a number of Bulldogs found the net.
“If you told me that Ridgway only had six and Monte only scored 47, I’d have thought we would have had a good chance to come out on top, but we missed too many shots,” Gooding said.
Skyler Steffen started and led the Spartans with nine points.
“He’s the hardest-working kid and he really deserved that start,” Gooding said. “As soon as his experience matches up with his work ethic he’s going to be tough to handle.”
Montesano 47, Forks 33
Forks 10 11 8 4— 33
Montesano 20 10 11 6— 47
Forks (33) — Pursley 2, R. Davis, Gonzalez 8, Windle 1, Baysinger 6, Flores 2, Olson 5, Steffen 9.
Montesano (47) — Dohrmann 8, Tyler, Ridgway 6, Bjornsgard 2, Olsen 6, Daniels 10, Adams 6, Mesquita 2, Willis 7.
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Compiled from team reports. Email scores to sports@peninsuladailynews.com or phone 360-417-3525.
