PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend junior Noa Montoya led all scorers with 28 points, but it was his rebounding effort that impressed head coach Tom Webster even more in the Redhawks’ 52-44 win over Kingston on Friday.
“Noa hit four 3s, rebounded the ball well and got out in transition,” Webster said.
“The 28 points is awesome, but the rebounding was huge.”
Port Townsend took a 1-point lead into the locker room at halftime and came out energized defensively in the third quarter to take a nine-point lead, 39-30 after three quarters.
“They caught up in the fourth and were down by three, but Cole [Crawford] hit 6 of 8 free throws down the stretch to really help us out,” Webster said.
Webster also praised the defense of senior Nico Winegar, who gets the honors of guarding each team’s best offensive player, and Polish exchange student Kuba Krol.
“Nico played really solid defense for us and Kuba came off the bench and led the team in the third and foruth quarters. He played a lot of positions for us and was active.
“It was a great win on Friday night at Bruce Blevins [Gymnaisum].”
Port Townsend (1-1) visits Bremerton (1-1) on Monday.
Port Townsend 52, Kingston 44
Kingston 13 9 8 14— 44
Port Townsend 11 12 16 13— 52
Port Townsend (52) — Montoya 28, Crawford 12, Krol 4, Winegar 3, Coggins 3, Baahabar 2, Watkins 2
Cascade Christian 55, Port Townsend 43
PORT TOWNSEND — The Redhawks fell behind in the early going of their season opener and couldn’t complete the comeback.
“We came out and were cruising right along it was 8 to 7 and they started pressing us,” Port Townsend coach Tom Webster said.
“We played better in the second, really well in the third and outscored them and in the fourth quarter we were down by four points with three minutes left.
“We didn’t step on their neck, and they made some shots at the end to close us out.”
Jaden Watkins and Noa Montoya each had 11 points to lead the Redhawks.
Cascade Christian 55, Port Townsend 43
Cascade Christian 20 10 10 15— 55
Port Townsend 7 8 17 11— 43
Port Townsend (43) — Watkins 11, Montoya 11, Crawford 8, Kesem Coggins 5, Baabahar 4, Winegar 4.
Aberdeen 56, Forks 45
FORKS — The Spartans put themselves in a deep hole down 21 points in the first half, but showed some promising signs while whittling down the Bobcats’ lead to six in the final frame.
“To fight back showed me some great things,” Forks coach Rick Gooding said. “I absolutely loved that.”
The Spartans struggled to keep hold of the ball Friday night, turning the ball over 24 times and giving up 20 offensive rebounds to Aberdeen.
“They didn’t press … A lot of it was getting the ball at our hip and getting it poked away or not catching the basketball and looking it all the way in our hands,” Gooding said.
“And we shot 3 for 16 on 3-point shots, so they figured out they could sit back in the [2-3] zone. We didn’t force many 3s, but we only got to free throw line 10 times.”
The Spartans were without the services of post Braton Armas for much of the game after he twisted an ankle at practice earlier this week.
“We aren’t big already, so we had to play bigger than we are,” Gooding said.
Seth Johnson scored 14 to lead the Spartans. Gooding said Joe Reaume, who scored seven points, “was a sparkplug off the bench.”
Forks also inducted 2000 graduate Kurt Olson into the Forks High School Athletics Hall of Fame last night.
Olson scored 1,145 points in his career, second only to teammate Kasey Ulin, who was inducted last season.
“Kurt really deserved the standing ovation the crowd gave him,” Gooding said.
“He could shoot from anywhere on the court. I love bringing guys back and showing our kids the character that he developed while playing basketball.
“I think its important to show our guys we have had some great people and great athletes play here and we have a strong Spartan tradition to uphold.”
Aberdeen 56, Forks 45
Aberdeen 18 14 16 8— 56
Forks 6 16 17 6— 45
Forks (45) — Johnson 14, Reaume 7, Baar 2, Baysinger 4, Prose 2, Flores 3, Armas 5, Eastman 6, Morton 2.
Bainbridge 82, Sequim 57
BAINBRIDGE — The hot-shooting Spartans sank the Wolves in Sequim’s season opener on Thursday.
Bainbridge hit on 27 of 55 shots on the night, including 14 of 32 3-point attempts, and outrebounded Sequim 31-21.
Erik Christiansen led the Wolves with 13 points, Nate Despain added 12 and Riley Cowan and Dallin Despain each scored eight.
Sequim (0-1) played Steilacoom late Saturday and visit Kingston in the Wolves’ Olympic League 2A opener on Wednesday.
Bainbridge 82, Sequim 57
Sequim 15 14 12 16— 57
Bainbridge 24 20 22 16— 82
Sequim (57) — Christiansen 13, N. Despain 12, Cowan 8, D. Despain 8, Rollness 5, Oliver 5, Young 3, Whitney 2, Trujillo 1, Wiker, Lewis, Langston.
Bainbridge (82) — Ward 19, La Placa 13, McMahon 13, Taylor 9, O’Rourke 9, Patterson 8, Treskin 2, Kirsch 2, Ulin 2, Nicholas 2.
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Compiled from team reports. Email scores to sports@peninsuladailynews.com or phone 360-417-3525.
Lonnie Archibald/for Peninsula Daily News Forks’ Braton Armas (23) challenges Aberdeen’s Derrell Shale and Wyatt Johnson for the rebound Friday in Forks.
