PORT ANGELES — Hayden McCartney got the dunk he was looking for.
But as the senior’s puffed-up bloody lip illustrated, the Port Angeles boys basketball team’s 58-42 victory over North Kitsap on Tuesday was far from pretty.
McCartney sparked a shaky Rider offense with 22 points, eight rebounds, seven steals, five assists and one thunderous stuff, helping Port Angeles come up with enough bursts to get past the Vikings.
It was the sixth straight Olympic League win for Port Angeles (6-1 in league, 7-1), which played without 6-foot-8 senior post Easton Napiontek in the lineup for the first time this winter.
“It’s good for us to work with him not being in there,” Rider coach Wes Armstrong said. “At times we struggled a little bit, but I was really pleased with how we played in spurts.”
Napiontek tweaked his back last week in a win over Klahowya.
With the Riders starting a two-week stretch that includes only one league game — they host a holiday tournament next week — this was as good a time as any to rest him.
McCartney more than filled in the gaps, hitting 8 of 14 shots from the field and making plays on both ends of the court.
His final three baskets of the second quarter punctuated a 12-0 run that put Port Angeles ahead 27-18 going into the break.
That included a two-handed breakaway dunk that woke up a relatively sedate home crowd on winter break.
“I’ve kind of been waiting for an opportunity all season,” McCartney said. “I got the ball and just as I got it I heard one of my coaches yell out, ‘Dunk it!’
“I looked and I saw [teammate] Reggie [Burke] running in front of me, but I figured that I could make it for the dunk. I thought it would be pretty sweet.”
The slam followed McCartney’s second straight steal near the end of the second quarter, when the Rider press stirred an offense that hit just 2 of 15 shots to begin the game
With the Vikings scrambling in the final minute, the Riders followed it up with two offensive rebounds on their final first-half possession before McCartney buried a 3-point shot moments before the buzzer.
“I thought the first half we had so many opportunities to move out by 6, 8, 10 points,” North Kitsap coach Tony Chisholm said.
“We missed opportunities in the second quarter. We could have went in with a nice lead, and then you get that momentum swing and we’re all right. Well, it didn’t work out that way.”
Instead, the Riders took advantage of a North Kitsap (2-4, 2-5) team missing starting point guard Jacob Hill.
The Vikings turned the ball over 23 times without their lead ball handler — 10 in the second quarter alone — and never could find a comfort zone.
The Riders looked equally unstable without Napiontek in the middle against North Kitsap’s matchup zone. It wasn’t until midway through the third quarter that they began to hit their stride.
Senior Reggie Burke sank a coast-to-coast lay-in and Cole Uvila drained the first of two third-quarter 3-pointers to spark a 15-1 Rider run.
The ball moved and the Riders knocked down shots to surge ahead 43-24 going into the fourth.
“We didn’t have that confidence to start off the game,” McCartney said.
“We’ve got great shooters on the team, especially with our inside presence.
“We’ve really got to work the inside out and try and avoid the one pass and shoot. When we’re patient is when we really do our best.”
Burke scored eight of his 13 points in the third quarter, including a fastbreak lay-up at the buzzer off a long pass from McCartney.
McCartney opened the fourth quarter with a lay-in, fed Burke for a 3, and was then fouled hard on another fastbreak bucket, resulting in a bloody lip and a hasty trip to the locker room.
The Riders were ahead 52-24 at that point, and there was no reason to bring the senior back in.
“Hayden is such a great senior leader,” Armstrong said. “He plays with such heart and emotion.
“He was the catalyst defensively for us.”
Burke had a solid all-around game of his own for the Riders, adding eight rebounds and five assists to his 13-point night.
Port Angeles dished out 15 assists as a team, with point guard Cameron Braithwaite and Uvila each adding two apiece. Uvila also had 10 points.
Even with Napiontek out, the Riders out-rebounded North Kitsap 36-28, 20 coming on the offensive glass.
It still ended up being an incomplete performance for the Riders, however, as they turned the ball over 17 times and shot 33.8 percent from the field (22 of 65).
“I think our defense is what got us going,” Armstrong said. “That’s a good cure for a bad offense. Good defense gets transition buckets on the other end.
“I was pleased with that, but it was an ugly win.
“Overall we’re not that pleased with our effort, but we did just enough in spurts.”
Port Angeles 58, North Kitsap 42
North Kitsap 5 13 6 18 — 42
Port Angeles 6 21 16 15 — 56
Individual Scoring
North Kitsap (42)
Lindsey 5, Mitchell 4, Harrel 14, Gill 6, Waller 11, Urquhart 2.
Port Angeles (56)
Braithwaite 4, Walker 7, Burke 13, McCartney 22, Uvila 10, Elliott 2.
———
Forks 53, Tenino 43
TENINO — The Forks boys basketball team is going into winter break on a high note.
The Spartans remained unbeaten in SWL-Evergreen Division play after beating Tenino 53-43 on Tuesday night.
Braden Decker and Tyler Penn combined for 33 as the Spartans (3-0 in league, 5-1 overall) won their fourth in a row.
“This was a big win for us,” coach Scott Justus said.
“Anytime you can win at Tenino, it is a big win. This is a tough place to play.”
Decker canned a game-high 18 points while Tyler Penn added 15.
Brady Castellano brought down eight rebounds, while Tyler Penn had seven and Decker six.
Point guard Jonah Penn dished out a team-high six assists, and Decker, Tyler Penn and Jonah Penn earned four steals each.
Michael Dean, meanwhile, came off the bench to grab five important boards for the Spartans.
“Those were big rebounds for us because that’s something that Michael doesn’t normally do,” Justus said.
Forks hosts Neah Bay tonight in a nonleague rematch of their Dec. 10 game that the Spartans won 50-33.
The Spartans will then get a week off before heading to the North Beach Christmas Classic on Dec. 29 and 30.
Forks 53, Tenino 43
Forks 10 9 15 19 — 53
Tenino 10 6 11 16 — 43
Individual Scoring
Forks (53)
J. Penn 6, T. Penn 15, Castellano 8, Decker 18, Dean 2, Leons 4.
Tenino (43)
Love 10, Kaufman 2, Hammonds 3, Harris 9, Waterson 2, Peterson 10, Poundsley 7.
—————-
Clallam Bay 57, Quilcene 41
CLALLAM BAY — Jacob Portnoy swished in 24 points and Ryan Willis added 15 as the Bruins topped the Rangers in nonleague play Tuesday night.
The Bruins pulled away in the second half after leading 8-5 after one quarter and 22-18 at halftime.
Clallam Bay outscored the Rangers 35-23 in the second half to win by a comfortable margin.
“We played a good defensive game,” Clallam Bay coach Cal Ritter said. “The guys hustled and played their all. I’m really proud of them.”
Willis grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for a double-double while Kevin Hess had 12 boards for the Bruins.
Hess also scored nine points.
Mason Jordan had a team-high nine points for the Rangers.
Clallam Bay improved to 2-6 on the year with the win.
Clallam Bay 57, Quilcene 41
Quilcene 5 13 13 10 — 41
Clallam Bay 8 14 21 14 — 57
Individual Scoring
Quilcene (41)
M. Jordan 9, Smith 8, J. Jordan 6, Pleines 3, Perez 3, Seitz 3, Newman 5.
Clallam Bay (57)
Portnoy 24, Willis 15, Hess 9, Welever 4, Cheeka 2, Gregory 2.
—————
Port Townsend 47, North Mason 39
BELFAIR — The Redskins broke open a halftime tie with a 13-5 third quarter for their first win of the season Tuesday night.
Port Townsend had three scorers in double figures as Paul Spaltenstein scored 13, Kyle Kelly 11 and Chad Smith 10 in the Olympic League victory.
The Redskins (1-6 in league and overall) get a week off before hosting the Crush in the Slush tournament Dec. 28-29.
Port Townsend 47, North Mason 39
Port Townsend 7 17 13 10 — 47
North Mason 10 14 5 10 — 39
Individual Scoring
Port Townsend (47)
O’Brien 7, Russell 2, Kelly 11, King 2, Spaltenstein 13, LeMaster 2, Smith 10.
North Mason (39)
Price 14, Krummey 5, Sandquist 10, Henderson 8, Rowland 2.
———————–
Girls Basketball
Port Angeles 59, North Kitsap 30
POULSBO — Kiah Jones scorched the nets for 23 points as the Roughriders handed the Vikings their first loss of the season in Olympic League action Tuesday.
The Riders (5-2 in league, 5-3 overall) built up a 28-16 halftime lead and rolled to the victory, outscoring the Vikings (5-1, 6-1) 32-14 in the second half.
Part of the credit for the win goes to the defense of Madison Hinrichs and Kathryn Moseley on North Kitsap super freshman Rebecca Baugh.
Baugh had been scoring in the high teens and 20s all year but was held to just six points Tuesday.
“This was a really solid win for us,” Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter said. “We are starting to come together defensively.
“We have put together two good team efforts against Klahowya and North Kitsap in the last two games.”
Port Angeles next hosts South Kitsap in a nonleague game Dec. 27.
Port Angeles 59, North Kitsap 30
Port Angeles 14 14 16 15 — 59
North Kitsap 10 6 7 7 — 30
Individual Scoring
Port Angeles (59)
K. Jones 23, Frazier 7, Johnson 6, B. Jones 5, Rodocker 5, Moseley 4, Walker 3, Hinrichs 2, Cox 2, Northern 2.
North Kitsap (30)
Williams 8, Cardoza 6, Baugh 6, Brown 2, Mueller 2, Simmons 2, Nold 4.
————–
Port Townsend 42, North Mason, 37
PORT TOWNSEND — The Redskins clipped the Bulldogs in Olympic League play Tuesday night.
Port Townsend took a seven-point lead going into the half and never looked back.
“We could have closed them out sooner if we had hit our free throws in the fourth [quarter],” Redskins coach Randy Maag said. “But a win is a win and we’ll take it.”
Kiley Maag had the hot hand for the Redskins, finishing with 14 points for the night.
Port Townsend 42, North Mason 37
North Mason 6 7 13 11 — 37
Port Townsend 10 10 12 10 — 42
Individual Scoring
North Mason (37)
Q. Satman 3, Hicks 8, Schumacher 5, Martin 11, Nelson 1, E. Satman 9.
Port Townsend (42)
Maag 14, Johnson 6, Hossack 3, Hallinan 7, Gamble 2, Lyons 8, Meek 2.
————-
Tenino 59, Forks 24
TENINO — The Spartans were dealt their third straight SWL-Evergreen Division loss Tuesday night.
The undefeated Beavers (3-0, 6-0) limited the Spartans (0-3, 1-6) to 11 of 46 shooting from the field.
Terra Sheriff-Penn led Forks with nine points.
Tenino 59, Forks 24
Forks 4 8 6 6 — 24
Tenino 11 13 16 18 — 59
Individual Scoring
Forks (24)
Sheriff-Penn 9, Paul 2, Raben 2, Price 4, Collins 5, Christiansen 2.
Tenino (59)
Morales 4, Frasl 2, Mankowski 6, Young 9, Blosl 5, Huber 6, McClure 11, Forest 16.