FORKS — Forks’ seniors stepped up on senior night as the Spartans pounded Chief Leschi 76-25 to seal a share of the Pacific League girls basketball championship Wednesday night.
It’s the first girls basketball league title for Forks since 2008.
“It goes back to these seniors [Kyra Neel, Kadie Wood, Casadie Whorton],” Hurn said. “They came in as freshmen and just set the tone early on that they wouldn’t be outworked. I’ve never had any concern that these girls wouldn’t come in and work hard. They’ve changed the culture that way and I can’t be more proud or more thankful for them. They deserve this.”
Wednesday’s contest was far different from the first go-around with the Warriors back in January.
“It was 76-70 [Forks] the first time around against Chief Leschi,” Hurn said. “That whole game was a battle. This one was just different. Chief Leschi is a good team and it’s a testament to how well we played.”
Forks held a 19-18 lead with three minutes to go before halftime of this contest before the Spartans got rolling, rattling off a 17-0 run to close out the quarter.
“Senior night, the league championship is on the line and there’s no better story to write — our seniors took over and led the charge,” Hurn said.
Hurn said Neel sparked Forks’ huge second quarter with eight points and a bunch of hard work inside, cleaning up the offensive glass. Neel finished with 12 points, 14 rebounds and six steals.
Wood kept things going offensively for the Spartans in the third quarter.
“The big run continued in the third quarter when Kadie Wood stepped up on her senior night,” Hurn said. “She hit a couple of outside shots and played aggressively.”
Wood led Forks with 20 points and added 10 rebounds.
Spartans senior Casadie Whorton also played a role with six points in the win.
“Casadie Whorton hit some outside shots to extend the defense,” Hurn said.
Chief Leschi had no counter in the second half.
“We were too relentless defensively,” Hurn said. “Their shots weren’t falling and we didn’t give them an opportunity to get a second chance. We outrebounded them 54-29.”
Forks, Raymond and Ilwaco all finished 10-2 in Pacific League play.
“We are all co-champs because everybody won at home,” Hurn said. “There was a coin flip for seeding purposes and we were second, so we get a bye in the first round.”
Forks will await its district opponent, with the Spartans playing Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Montesano.
Forks 76, Chief Leschi 25
Chief Leschi 12 6 7 0— 25
Forks 10 26 23 17— 76
Forks (76) — Wood 20, K. Johnson 19, Neel 12, B. Johnson 10, Whorton 6, Gaydeski-St. John 5, Ramos 2, Wallerstedt 2.
Boys Basketball
Crescent 66, Chief Kitsap 14
JOYCE — The Loggers wrapped their home regular season slate with a big win over the Bears.
“We jumped out to a 20-point lead pretty quickly and the pace of the game slowed down,” coach Chris Ferrier said. “We were able to get a lot of playing time for a lot of guys and tried some guys out in some different roles.
“Our stalwarts only played very limited minutes and some of our younger guys got to show out. It was a nice night.”
Conner Ferro-May led the way with 20 points and Lukas Love added 15.
“Conner Ferro-May and Lukas Love were able to finish inside off of some good passing from our guards and each other and led us in points,” Ferrier said.
Crescent (3-2, 12-6) wraps the regular season at Clallam Bay tonight.
Crescent 66, Chief Kitsap 14
Chief Kitsap 3 7 2 5— 14
Crescent 26 18 15 7— 66
Crescent (66) — Ferro-May 20, L. Love 15, Bauers 7, White 7, L. Bourm 3, Sprague 3, Emery 3, Owens 2, Ka. Love 2. Ky. Love 2, Grooms 2, Watson, H. Bourm.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at mcarman@ peninsuladailynews.com.
