OCEAN SHORES — The Forks boys basketball team was rudely awakened from its long winter’s nap with a 87-47 loss to Taholah on the opening day of the Holiday with the Hyaks tournament hosted by North Beach High School.
“We came out so sluggish. I know it’s tough to come back the day after Christmas and try to play,” Spartans coach Rick Gooding said of Friday’s game.
“They were definitely a lot more prepared to play. We came out and didn’t execute anything we truly wanted to.”
Forks stared hot in the third quarter, but Taholah’s Keanu Curleybear responded with three straight 3-pointers that halted the Spartans’ rally before it became a serious threat.
Parker Browning led Forks with 17 points, including 13 in the third quarter.
“Parker did a great job, especially in the third quarter,” Gooding said.
Colton Raben added nine for the Spartans.
Curleybear led all scorers with 27 points.
“It’s almost like we took a couple steps back, which is definitely a bummer because I really thought, with league play, we were starting to improve,” Gooding said.
“I still think we are. Hopefully it’s just one of those hiccups — playing a midday game the day after Christmas.
“Hopefully we can learn from this and get better.”
Taholah 87, Forks 47
Forks 6 13 22 6— 47
Taholah 16 24 28 17— 87
Individual scoring
Forks (47)
Schumack 2, Raben 9, Ramsey 4, Basinger 6, Pegram 2, Palmer 2, Browning 17, Adams 5, Rondeau, Tejano.
Taholah (87)
Orozco 14, Smith-Kramer 26, Jackson 11, Stewart 4, Jones 3, Northup 2, Curleybear 27.
Girls Basketball
Quilcene 57, Cedar Park Christian 52, OT
MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — The Rangers survived a tough back-to-back road trial this week.
Quilcene followed its win over Clallam Bay on Monday with a 57-52 overtime victory over Cedar Park Christian-Mountlake Terrace on Tuesday.
“This away series right before the Christmas holiday tested the girls’ mental and physical fortitude,” Quilcene coach Briana Weller said.
“The game was a really good one for us. Cedar Park Christian has a young but solid team. They pushed us and made us really work on our defensive skill sets.”
The Rangers opened Tuesday’s game in a zone defense, but halfway through the second quarter the Lions switched their offensive attack from the paint to the perimeter.
“The Lions had a guard [Sarah Dresler] that could hit 3-pointers from China. Seriously, she was shooting NBA 3s and draining them,” Weller said.
“She hurt us and we went into the locker room at halftime down by two points [17-19].”
Dresler finished with 22 points, including five 3-pointers.
Quilcene switched to man-to-man defense after halftime, but was unable to gain any ground and went into the fourth quarter down by five points.
The Rangers transitioned into a full-court press plus a zone defense.
“Our press did the trick and we were able to force several turnovers and convert and get back in the game,” Weller said.
The Lions tied the game at 47-47 in the final minute of regulation with a basket and free-throw to force overtime.
Quilcene continued to roll, though, outscoring Cedar Park Christian 10-5 in the extra frame to earn its second nonleague road win in two days.
Megan Weller led all scorers with 29 points.
“Megan Weller came through in the clutch offensively and did an incredible job of scoring off of the dribble drive,” Briana Weller said.
“She had some beautiful pull-up jumpers.”
Megan Weller shot 60 percent from the field. She also had six rebounds and four assists.
Sammy Rae pulled down 24 rebounds and scored 10 points. She narrowly missed a triple-double with eight assists.
Allison Jones had 11 points, five boards and three assists.
Those three double-figure scorers also led Quilcene on the other end of the court.
“Allison Jones, Megan Weller and Sammy Rae played tenacious defense,” Briana Weller said.
“The entire team stepped it up and played some tough basketball. They fought hard for this win, and I am extremely proud of them.”
Katie Love added five points and had nine rebounds and three steals for the Rangers.
Salome Yosef scored a team-high 23 points for Cedar Park Christian-Mountlake Terrace (3-5), 14 of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Quilcene (2-0, 7-2) hosts Crescent on Monday at 4 p.m.
Quilcene 57, Cedar Park Christian 52, OT
Quilcene 6 11 8 22 10— 57
Cedar Park Christian 5 14 11 17 5— 52
Individual scoring
Quilcene (57)
Weller 29, Rae 10, Love 5, Jones 11, Burnston 2, Williams 2.
Cedar Park Christian (52)
Dresler 22, Perekopskaya 2, Yosef 23, Copeland 5.
