PORT ANGELES — A seven-deep Forks boys team went off in the second half, scoring 43 of the team’s 61 points in a 61-43 victory over Class 2A Rochester in the third-place game at the Port Angeles Holiday Tournament on Saturday.
The Spartans trailed the Warriors 19-18 at halftime after Forks stuck to a 2-3 zone defense to avoid foul trouble with starters Seth Johnson and Joseph Reaume out with an injury and illness, respectively.
“Trey Baysinger at halftime asked if we can play man [defense],” Spartans coach Rick Gooding said. That was a headsy basketball thing for him to ask and we jumped in and didn’t look back.
“That allowed us to be a lot more aggressive and let us do what we do.”
Iziah Morton scored all eight of his points in the third quarter to boost Forks.
“I felt like we had an advantage in the post, so we wanted to get it down low.
“Iziah — he knows angles well, he hits shots. He has a nice jump shot. I love Ice.”
Cort Prose led the way with 24 points, 14 of those coming in the fourth quarter, including four 3s.
“He attacked the rack a couple of times and that opened things up for him,” Gooding said.
Tony Flores started for Johnson at point guard and had 12 points.
“Tony jumped out for us in the first quarter,” Gooding said. “If we can get him playing with some confidence he’ll be really tough for us.”
After not playing anywhere close to their best, Gooding was pleased with how his seven guys handled themselves Saturday.
“The seven guys that played, I’m super proud of them,” Gooding said. It’s a great way to get into the holiday season. And it was nice to grit one out when you don’t play your best and still win by 20.”
Forks (6-2) will visit Class 1A Cascade (Leavenworth) in the Cascade Holiday Tournament on Thursday.
Forks 61, Rochester 39
Rochester 7 12 7 13— 39
Forks 12 6 25 18— 61
Rochester (39) — Sanchez 17, Goldrick 9, Riley 5, May 5, Moen 3.
Forks (61) — Prose 24, Flores 12, Armas 11, Morton 8, Baysinger 4, Barr 2, Ness.
Port Angeles JV 62, Neah Bay 54
PORT ANGELES — Using a balanced scoring attack, the undefeated Port Angeles JV boys squad overcame 25 points and 15 rebounds from Neah Bay’s Sean Bitegeko to win their Port Angeles Holiday Tournament game 62-54.
The Port Angeles JV team used its depth, with six players with seven or more points to overcome Bitegeko’s huge game. The Roughriders JV was led by Xander Maeska with 13 points and Damen Ringgold with 11. Dru Clark scored nine, Nolan Hughes eights, and Wyatt Dunning and Drek Bowechop each scored seven.
For the Red Devils, Jay Brunk had 13 points and even rebounds, while David Martinez scored eight.
Neah Bay (3-4) will next play Charles Wright at the Crush in the Slush in Port Townsend at 1:45 p.m. Friday.
The Port Angeles JV (7-0) will next play North Mason’s JV at home at 5:45 p.m. Jan. 4.
Port Angeles JV 62, Neah Bay 54
Neah Bay 16 15 9 14 — 54
PAJV 16 14 13 19 — 62
Neah Bay (54) — Bitegeko 25, Brunk 13, Martinez 8, Soeneke 4, Engram 2, Shaw 2.
PAJV (62) — Maeska 13, Ringgold 11, Clark 9, Hughes 8, Bowechop 7, Dunning 7 , Felton 5, Price 2.
