PORT ANGELES — The Neah Bay girls basketball players are on a mission this year, and aren’t shy about letting everyone know that.
The Red Devils came within minutes of winning a state championship last year, losing a close, hard-fought battle with Mount Vernon Christian in the title game at the Spokane Arena. The girls badly want to get back to that game.
“We want revenge for last year,” said Ryana Moss.
“We want the Gold Ball [state championship] trophy,” said Amber Swan.
The Red Devils came in to Port Angeles on Saturday to play a good 2A team in the Roughriders. The Port Angeles girls are 9-2 in the Olympic 2A League, sit comfortably at second place in the league, nearly knocked off unbeaten Sequim at home and are ranked No. 17 among 2A teams in Ratings Percentage Index.
Neah Bay, ranked No. 1 among 1B schools, simply dominated the Riders on their home floor by the score of 60-41.
What message does handily beating a good 2A team send?
“Everyone should be afraid of us,” said Allie Greene, the Red Devils’ leading scorer and outside sniper.
Neah Bay’s (13-1) only loss this year, by a mere eight points, was to Sequim, which is 16-0 and ranked No. 2 among 2A schools.
“They just platy well together. This is a unique bunch,” said coach Cherise Moss, a former Peninsula College player who has two sisters on the team, Ryana and Cerise. “They’re all well-behaved. They all do great in school.”
“They [Neah Bay] played really well, that’s a good team,” said Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter. “I was pleased with our second half. They fought to make it game.”
In the second half, the Riders did start the third quarter on a 7-0 run and outscored the Red Devils 26-25, but Neah Bay’s 35-15 first-half lead was simply too big to overcome.
Moss said Neah Bay is trying to schedule more tough games against teams like Port Angeles and Sequim to get ready for the more difficult games in the postseason tournaments.
She said getting back to the championship game doesn’t necessarily come up every day, but was talked about the first day of practice.
“If we want to get back there, it will take everyone working together,” coach Moss said.
The Red Devils, despite not having a player taller than 5-foot-10, dominated the boards and were able to score both with outside shooting and inside passing on backdoor cuts in the key.
“Rebounding is a focus. We know we’re an undersized team,” Greene said.
Greene hit four 3-pointers in the first half and led the team with 16 points. Amber Swan scored 15 and Ryana Moss 12.
For the Riders, Anna Petty led all scorers with 21.
Poindexter said Petty had a good game, being aggressive and taking the ball inside. “I was impressed with her mental, emotional maturity. The team can learn a lot from Anna.”
Port Angeles (9-2, 9-8) next returns to league play with a game at home at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Kingston (0-12, 2-16).
Neah Bay (13-1) plays at Crescent at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Neah Bay 60, Port Angeles 41
NB 16 19 10 15 — 60
PA 7 8 11 15 — 41
Neah Bay (60) — A. Greene 16, Swan 15, R. Moss 12, Q. Greene 8, Halttunen 5, C. Moss 4.
Port Angeles (41) — Petty 21, Lexie Smith 6, Lindsey Smith 4, Clark 3, Tatum 3, Mason 2, Felton 2.
From left, Neah Bay’s Allie Greene, Ryana Moss and Amber Swan are three of the leaders on a team that is ranked No. 1 in RPI among 1B schools. (Pierre LaBossiere/Peninsula Daily News)
Forks 62, Onalaska 35
ONALASKA — The Forks girls basketball team got back on the winning track with a 62-35 win over Onalaska on Saturday.
The Spartans got off to an 18-2 start in the first quarter.
“It was their senior night, so it was good for us to take control of the game,” said coach David Hurn. He said the Spartans have been struggling to shoot lately but shot well against Onalaska.
Keira Johnson led Forks with 25 points while Kadie Wood had 20.
Forks (8-2, 13-5) plays at Ocosta (3-9, 5-12) today, looking to stay tied for first place in the Pacific 2B League. The Spartans finish their regular season at home against Chief Leschi (7-4, 10-7) at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Forks 62, Onalaska 35
Forks 18 13 21 10 — 62
Onal. 2 8 12 13 — 35
Forks (62) — K. Johnson 25, Wood 20, B. Johnson 4, Whorton 3, Ky. Neel 2, Wallerstedt 2, Peters 2, Dilley 2, Ka. Neel 2.
Boys game
Neah Bay 84, Port Angeles JV 60
PORT ANGELES — The high-scoring Neah Bay boys basketball team got five players in double figures in beating the Port Angeles JV 84-60 on Saturday.
Julian Carrick and Makyah chambers led the Red Devils with 18 points each, while Buddy Aguirre scored 17. Jodell Wimberley had 12 and Jaden Halttunen 11.
The Port Angeles JV was led by Keatyn Hoch, who scored 19. Blake Sohlberg added 15 points.
Neah Bay has won six out of its last seven games. The Red Devils (10-5) next play at Crescent at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday. Port Angeles JV and varsity travel to Kingston on Tuesday.
Neah Bay 84, Port Angeles JV 60
NB 20 24 17 23 — 84
PA JV 12 16 16 16 — 60
Neah Bay (84) — Carrick 18, Chambers 18, Aguirre 17, Wimberley 12, Swan 5, Lee-Moore 3.
PA JV (60) — Hoch 19, Sohlberg 15, Halberg 7, Gonzalez 6, Romero 5, Vail 4, Wheeler 3, Schmidt 1.
