BURLINGTON — Port Angeles freshman Nizhoni Wheeler nailed the go-ahead jumper with less than a minute to play and senior Kylee Jeffers hit to free throws to give the Roughriders a 43-40 nonleague road win over Burlington-Edison in girls basketball action.
Burlington-Edison led most of the game and held a 26-16 advantage at halftime.
“Early in the second quarter, we went to a 2-3 zone, as we weren’t defending cutters well in our man-to-man defense and picked up several fouls,” Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter said of Friday’s game.
“The zone turned out to be pretty effective, and we had solid rebounding out of it in the second half, especially from Kylee Jeffers, who led us with eight rebounds.”
The Riders held the Tigers to 14 second-half points, seven in each quarter.
Burlington-Edison still led 33-25 going into the fourth quarter, but Port Angeles rallied by outscoring the Tigers 18-7 in the final frame.
Krista Johnson helped the rally with some key steals and assists on the subsequent fast breaks to Maddy Hinrichs and Maddie Boe.
With less than a minute left in the game, Boe found Wheeler open for a 15-footer that put Port Angeles ahead 41-40.
Jeffers then grabbed a defensive rebound and was fouled with 13 seconds left to set up the free throws that iced the game for the Riders.
Those clutch free throws were Jeffers’ only points of the game to go along with her eight boards and four assists.
Hinrichs and Boe led Port Angeles in scoring with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Hinrichs also had five rebounds and four steals.
Johnson scored six points and had team-highs with five assists and four steals.
Wheeler finished with five points.
Port Angeles improves to 8-1 on the year, 6-0 in Olympic League. The Riders travel to play Class 3A Bonney Lake (5-2) on Monday.
Port Angeles 43, Burlington-Edison 40
Port Angeles 8 8 9 18— 43
Burlington-Edison 10 16 7 7— 40
Individual scoring
Port Angeles (8-1)
Maddy Hinrichs 12, Maddie Boe 11, Krista Johnson 6, Nizhoni Wheeler 5, Brittany Norberg 3, Hayley Baxley 2, Kylee Jeffers 2, Payton Lee 1, Lenora Hofer 1.
Burlington-Edison (4-4)
Olivia Capron 9, Emily Agen 7, Kylee Gunderson 6, Tyra Lopez 5, Edie Breckenridge 5, Ali Heynsten 5, Katie Rodriquez 3.
Boys Basketball
Tacoma Baptist 68, Forks 56
OCEAN SHORES — Forks’ Colton Raben scored 28 points in the Spartans’ loss to the Crusaders at the North Beach Invitational.
Raben’s big game was highlighted by five 3-pointers.
“Colton Raben had his best game of his high school career,” Forks coach Rick Gooding said after Friday’s game.
Leo Gonzales added 16 points for the Spartans, who fell to 2-6 on the season.
Dayton Pascua scored 23 points for Tacoma Baptist and Brandon Stoehr added 16, as both players reached their season averages, to the chagrin of Gooding. Pascua scored 10 of his points at the free-throw line.
Gooding said his team showed a marked improvement breaking the Crusaders’ press defense.
“You know what? We’re getting better. Our kids are definitely getting better,” Gooding said.
“We are handling the press a lot better. As soon as we get to the point where we can handle it all the time, I think we’re going to be all right.”
Tacoma Baptist 68, Forks 56
Forks 13 11 15 17— 56
Tacoma Baptist 14 20 10 24— 68
Individual scoring
Forks (2-6)
Colton Raben 28, Reis Lawson 3, Andrew Armas 2, Ish Greene 2, Keishaun Ramsey 1, Parker Browning 2, Leo Gonzales 16, Ollie Sampson 2
Tacoma Baptist (6-1)
Stoehr 23, Pascua 23, Brazile 6, Peterson 5, Cooksly 9, Besk 4, Smith 5.
Sequim drops two at tournament
SEATTLE — The Wolves opened the Tournament of Champions Holiday Classic at Franklin High School with losses to powers from larger classifications.
Sequim opened the tournament with a 88-53 setback to host Franklin on Thursday.
The Wolves shot 50 percent from the field, but committed 35 turnovers against the Class 3A Quakers.
Alex Barry led Sequim with 15 points, making 3 of 6 3-point attempts, and tied Josh McConnaughey for the team lead with three blocks.
Anthony Pinza added 12 points and six assists.
On Friday, the Wolves lost to Class 4A Union, which is coached by former Kingston coach Blake Conley.
Barry again led Sequim in scoring, tallying 16 points and hitting on 4 of 6 shots from 3-point range.
Kallappa added nine points and Eric Christensen scored seven. Vance Willis scored four points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Thursday’s Game
Franklin 88, Sequim 53
Sequim 13 8 13 19— 53
Franklin 21 23 22 22— 88
Individual scoring
Sequim (5-2)
Alex Barry 15, Anthony Pinza 12, Eric Christensen 4, Rory Kallappa 8, George Johnson 2, Vance Willis 2, McConnaughey 4, Rutherford 2, Cibene 4.
Friday’s Game
Union 67, Sequim 40
Sequim 8 18 9 5— 40
Union 15 19 15 18— 67
Individual scoring
Sequim (5-3)
Alex Barry 16, Anthony Pinza 2, Eric Christensen 7, Rory Kallappa 9, Vance Willis 4, Cibene 1.
