POULSBO — The Port Angeles girls basketball team gained an early upper hand in the Olympic League with a 51-34 road win over North Kitsap.
Krista Johnson scored 19 of her game-high 21 points in the first half for the Roughriders, and Port Angeles pulled away in the second half by limiting the Vikings to 10 points after halftime.
Maddy Hinrichs and Maddie Boe, along with the help defense of Johnson, combined to hold Rebekah Baugh, North Kitsap’s top scorer, to three points on the night.
Another of the Vikings’ top players, Kristin Brown, was limited in the first half due to foul trouble.
“We controlled the pace of the game on both ends, with our full-court pressure defense slowing North Kitsap down, and our patient offense making them work hard on defense,” Riders coach Mike Poindexter said after Wednesday’s game.
With the win, Port Angeles (5-0, 6-1) now has sole possession of the top spot in the league. North Kitsap and Sequim are tied for second at 3-1 in league play.
Hinrichs scored 10 of her 12 points in the second quarter. She also had team-highs of six assists and four steals.
Bailee Jones led a strong rebounding effort for the Riders with 11 boards, and Kylee Jeffers pulled down eight.
“We gave up only five offensive rebounds in the game,” Poindexter said.
Boe, a sophomore, didn’t score, but she had seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Molly Lemmon led the Vikings with 11 points. Melissa Hamblet and Brown had seven each.
Port Angeles hosts Bremerton (2-2, 3-3) which is led by scoring leader Sawyer Kluge, tonight.
Sequim 46, North Mason 26
BELFAIR — The Wolves picked up another Olympic League win behind 16 points from Caitlin Stofferahn.
Sequim held the Bulldogs to one point in the first quarter and led 29-8 at halftime.
North Mason closed the gap in the third quarter before the Wolves pulled away in the fourth.
Hailey Lester added eight points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals for Sequim, and McKenzie Bentz scored seven points and pulled down five rebounds.
With the win and North Kitsap’s loss to Port Angeles, the Wolves (3-1, 3-3) remain one game back of league-leading Port Angeles in the league standings.
Sequim hosts Klahowya (0-4, 2-5) tonight.
Neah Bay 57, Forks 32
FORKS — Cierra Moss, Faye Chartraw and Tristin Johnson combined to score 54 of the Red Devils’ 57 points to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Moss led all scorers with 21 points to go along with 10 rebounds, four steals and four assists.
Chartraw scored 19 and pulled down 14 rebounds, including seven that came off the offensive glass, and Williams scored 14, making 4 of 10 3-pointers.
Holly Greene scored Neah Bay’s other three points and Haily Greene dished out three assists and had three steals.
The Spartans were led by Courtnie Paul with 11 points and Alexis Leons scored 10. Erin Weekes had six points and Mercedes Flores finished with five.
Forks (0-2, 2-3) returns to league competition today at Hoquiam (1-3).
Port Townsend 44, Klahowya 33
SILVERDALE — The Redskins won their second Olympic League game of the week by holding the Eagles to 13 first-half points.
Jayde Richardson paced Port Townsend with 14 points, Jewel Johnson and Trish Reeves scored nine apiece and Rilke Rutenbeck scored eight.
The Redskins (2-3, 3-3) host North Kitsap (3-1, 5-2) tonight.
Gymnastics
Roughriders take third
FEDERAL WAY — Port Angeles earned its second third-place finish of the season at Todd Beamer High School on Wednesday.
Madylan Coventon was third in the beam with a score of 8.9, fifth in the floor exercise with an 8.5, fifth on the vault with an 8.4 and sixth on the bars with a 7.0.
Alysa Martinez earned seventh place in the floor even with an 8.3.
The Roughriders finished with 147.80 points. Decatur won the meet with 163.25 points, Mount Rainier was second with 150.25 and Todd Beamer was fourth with 145.75 points.
