FORKS — The Forks Spartans boys basketball team held off North Beach’s spirited fourth-quarter rally to win their nonleague season opener 66-58.
Forks went into the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game up 49-39, but the Hyaks swiftly rallied to close the gap to one point. Spartans coach Rick Gooding said Cole Baysinger then hit a critical 3-point shot for the Spartans to keep North Beach at bay.
Baysinger scored 11 points, none bigger than that fourth-quarter trey.
“He hit a huge three-pointer when they got it to within one. He hit three 3-pointers, but a huge one in the fourth. That was awesome,” Gooding said.
Senior guard Parker Browning scored 23 for the Spartans and post Marky Adams, who has grown from 6-foot-5 last year as a junior to 6-foot-9 this year as a senior, scored 21. Gooding said Adams tallied a bunch of rebounds and blocked shots, as well.
“He hung by the rim, they didn’t really have anyone to guard him” Gooding said.
Gooding also said Austin Flores had a good game.
“He did a good job. He got to the free throw line. He’s still learning the game, but he did a good job.”
Gooding said this was a typical opening game, with plenty of mistakes and lots of room to improve.
“We turned the ball over a ton. You could definitely tell it was the first game of the year. There were lots of fouls, lots of turnovers, a lot of lack of communication,” he said.
“That’s why they give us 20 games, so we can continue to get better. And we will,” Gooding said.
Forks (1-0) played Aberdeen last night (after press deadline). They will play at Chimacum at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Forks 66, North Beach 58
N. Beach 18 13 8 19— 58
Forks 20 15 14 17— 66
Individual Scoring
North Beach (58) — Tim Johnson 30, Ryan Turner 4, Steven Sotomish 3, Rodney Washington 4, Marcus Pope 4, Carlos Robles 1, Diego Gonzalez 6, Ben Poplin 5.
Forks (66) — Jeffrey Schumack 1, Cole Baysinger 11, Parker Browning 23, Cort Prose 1, Marky Adams 21, Austin Flores 8, Scott Archibald 1.
Girls Basketball North Beach 39, Forks 37
FORKS — The Spartans held the Hyaks to just 13 points in the second half, but their second-half comeback fell short in a close loss in their opening contest Tuesday.
“New coaching staff, a lot of new kids. The kids played hard, that’s what you ask of them. We had a chance to win at the end,” said incoming coach John DeMatties.
Freshman Rian Peters led the Spartans with 18 points, while senior point guard Skyler DeMatties scored 15.
With three freshman on the varsity team and a short period of time to get ready for the opening game, DeMatties said he liked his players’ effort.
“It will take time to get it together. They don’t lack anything as far as going hard,” he said.
The Spartans (0-1) played Class 2A Aberdeen at home last night (after press deadline), then will travel to Chimacum for a game at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
North Beach 39, Forks 37
N. Beach 11 15 9 4— 39
Forks 11 8 10 8— 37
Individual Scoring
North Beach (39) — Reilly Moore 24, Mariah Vogler 4, Helen Garman 8, Hannah Avery 1, Lorin Cox 2.
Forks (37) — Rian Peters 18, Skyler DeMatties 15, Jayden Olson 2, Amber Hoagland 2.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
Lonnie Archibald/for Peninsula Daily News Forks’ Rian Peters (13) challenges North Beach’s Lorin Cox (30) for a rebound Tuesday in Forks. Peters, a freshman, scored 18 points in her first-ever varsity game.
