OCEAN SHORES — The Forks boys basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Thursday at the North Beach Invitational, falling to 1B Taholah 62-59.
“I’ll give it to them, they shot the heck out of the ball,” Spartans coach Rick Gooding said of the Chitwins.
Particularly hot were Keanu Curleybear, who nailed five 3-pointers and scored 19 points, and Ronnie Tadios-Takheal, who finished with 21 points.
Forks’ offense, on the other hand, was cold until the final quarter when it racked up 23 points.
“Unfortunately, we waited until the fourth to do anything,” Gooding said.
“We couldn’t buy a shot. I don’t have the stat yet, but I’ll be happy if we shot 20 percent.
“We got all the shots we wanted, we just couldn’t put it in the ocean. I guess you have nights like that sometimes.”
Braden Decker was the only Forks player who was able to generate offense throughout the game.
He finished with 23 points, with 10 coming in the first half and 13 in the second.
“It would have been a 15-point loss if he didn’t step up,” Gooding said.
“He had 23 hard-earned points. He was the only one being consistent for us.”
Decker also had a nice defensive game. In the second half he guarded Curleybear and held him to just three points after halftime.
Nick Gilmore added 10 points for Forks and Mark Jacobson scored nine.
The Spartans face Mary M. Knight today at 1 p.m.
Taholah 62, Forks 59
Forks 15 8 13 23— 59
Taholah 14 12 18 18— 62
Individual scoring
Forks (59)
Gilmore 10, Harris 5, Decker 23, Hatch 4, Jacobson 9, Gonzales 4.
Taholah (62)
Jackson 4, Purdy 6, Steward 5, J. Curleybear 8, Tadios-Takheal 21, K. Curleybear 19, Markiskheam 1.
Girls Basketball
Neah Bay Alumni 55, Neah Bay 52
NEAH BAY — Alisha Kallappa and Kelli Shuffelen, names from the past, combined for 31 points to spark the Neah Bay Alumni team past the Red Devils girls basketball squad.
It was the first loss of the year for Neah Bay (5-1 overall), which was led by the game-high 21 points from Cierra Moss, making nine of 13 shots from the free-throw line.
Kallappa led the Alumni team with 16 points while Shuffelen was right behind with 15.
Cierra Moss’s sister, Cherish, netted eight points along with Desiree Buttram for the Alumni.
Kaela Tyler added 14 points for the Red Devils.
Cierra Moss led on the boards with 16 rebounds while Faye Chartraw had six rebounds for Neah Bay.
The teams tied 23-all at halftime with the Red Devils leading 12-9 at the end of the first quarter and Alumni taking a 14-11 advantage in the second period.
Alumni went up 37-33 at the end of three and held on for the win.
The Red Devils next host Forks on Jan. 8 at 6:30 p.m.
Neah Bay Alumni 55,
Neah Bay 52
Alumni 9 14 14 18— 55
Neah Bay 12 11 10 19— 52
Individual scoring
Alumni (55)
Alisha Kallappa 16, Kelli Shuffelen 15, Shayla Nagel 2, Cherish Moss 8, Rebecca Thompson 3, Lorraine Greene 3, Desiree Buttram 8.
Neah Bay (52)
Cierra Moss 21, Kaela Tyler 14, Holly Greene 6, Merrissa Murner 4, Faye Chartraw 5, Blaire Hill 2.
