BOYS BASKETBALL: Forks beats Chief Leschi, but loses No. 2 seed to playoffs in coin flip

Published 1:30 am Friday, February 4, 2022

FORKS — Forks won the game, but lost out on an early morning coin flip Thursday and will take the Pacific League’s No. 3 seed to the Class 2B Southwest District boys basketball tournament.

The Spartans closed out Chief Leschi, ranked No. 11 in the WIAA RPI, 68-54 on Wednesday night, but will instead see the Warriors take the No. 2 seed when playoff basketball begins Saturday.

Forks is still scheduled to host a home district playoff doubleheader with both the Spartans boys and girls facing Central League foes at either 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. or 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Against Chief Leschi, Forks had balanced scoring with four players scoring nine or more points, led by Riley Pursley’s 18 and Logan Olson’s 16.

“We had lots of guys score, which was good,” Forks coach Rick Gooding said.

“Last time we played Riley had 38, so they wanted to have people underneath to try and take that away.”

The Spartans handled a different look defensively early.

“They came out and played zone on the first three possessions to give us a different look,” Gooding said.

“Aidan Salazar hit a 3-pointer right off the bat. We have zone offensive sets and they got back to their full court man pressure. We moved the ball well and got inside.”

Chief Leschi made a run in the third quarter to pull within one possession.

“We let them get back within three or so in the third, but we got a timeout, regroup and responded and broke the press.”

Gooding said Forks isn’t expected to know its playoff opponent until previously postponed Central League contests are completed tonight.

Forks 68, Chief Leschi 54

CL 11 13 17 13 — 54

F 18 17 11 22 — 68

Forks (68): Pursley 18, Olson 16, Salazar 12, Northcut 9, Lausche 4, Doyle 3, Rancourt 2.