FORKS — Forks held back North Beach’s attempt at a fourth-quarter rally and triumphed 48-41 in the Pacific League boys basketball opener for each squad.
“We won an ugly game, and sometimes you have to win the rough ones,” coach Keith Weekes said. “Nothing was really going right for us, didn’t shoot well, didn’t close out well and North Beach played tough. They were down big at the beginning and never stopped coming at us.”
Weekes said Bubba Hernandez provided a spark late.
“We put our freshman Bubba Hernandez in, and his fresh legs really helped us out. We were really lethargic and didn’t have our normal chemistry.”
Forks (1-0, 3-1) visits South Bend tonight.
Forks 48, North Beach 41
North B. 7 6 8 10— 41
Forks 13 12 11 10 — 48
Forks (48) — Davis 12, Hernandez 7, Lausche 6, Salazar 6, Rowley 6, Olson 4, Micheau 4, Gonzales 2, Lohrengel 1.
Girls Basketball
Neah Bay 67, Forks 26
NEAH BAY — Neah Bay clamped down defensively and bounced back from a tough loss with a 67-26 defeat of Forks on Wednesday night.
The Red Devils (2-1) fell against Rainier over the weekend, ending a 25-game winning streak for the Class 1B state champs dating back to the 2022 season opener against Sequim.
“We were more focused on our defense [than against Rainier],” Neah Bay coach Cherish Moss said. “If somebody was out of position, we were able to pull them, talk about it and correct it before they went back in. And we were able to get our young girls in and get them some time.”
Angel Halttunen led all scorers with 16 points for the Red Devils, while Ryana Moss added 14 and Ezra Ray 12.
“We took good shots in the flow of our offense,” Moss said. “Ryana, Amber [Swan] and Ez took their shots early. They were good shots, so overall it was good to see them come out more focused.”
Keira Johnson led Forks with 11 points.
“They are a premier program no matter the classification. They are the real deal and played great defense,” Spartans coach David Hurn said.
“We are still learning, and going through our offense and making adjustments against a team like that isn’t easy. We turned the ball over, and when there’s lots of transition basketball, it’s tough to defend.
“And we weren’t aggressive enough. But this is part of the lumps we are going to take, and our struggles now will pay off later. We will see them again, and hopefully we can give them a better matchup for our sake and theirs.”
Moss said she likes to play Forks.
“One of the things I love about playing Forks is they are always competitive. Even if we are up, they are always working. They played us hard, and that showed us a lot.”
Neah Bay 67, Forks 26
Forks 1 8 4 14— 26
Neah Bay 19 19 14 15— 67
Forks (26) — K. Johnson 11, B. Johnson 6, Neel 5, Dilley 2, Gaydeski 2.
Neah Bay (67) — D. Halttunen 2, A. Halttunen 16, Q. Greene 4, McGimpsey 3, C. Moss 5, Martin 2, Swan 8, Ray 12, R. Moss 14.
