By Michael Carman
and Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
FORKS — Forks held back an improving Tenino 69-53 in an Evergreen League contest that was a closer game than the score indicated, according to Spartans coach Rick Gooding.
“Tenino has gotten a lot better than when we first played them,” Gooding said. “It was a back and forth game, a 1-point game in the third quarter at one point.”
Seth Johnson led Forks with 18 points, 15 of them coming in the first half.
Braton Armas scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime and Cort Prose got going to put in 10 of his 12 points in the second half.
“Not the greatest of shooting nights for us, we only shot 5 for a lot on 3s. But hey, it’s a league win, there was a huge home crowd out tonight to honor Ron Bagby and see us, hopefully.
Forks (4-1, 12-4) and Montesano (4-1, 10-7) are now tied for the Evergreen League lead with three league games remaining. The Spartans fell 67-63 to the Bulldogs the first time around, so a win at Montesano is a must next Friday for the top seed to district play.
Before that big game, however, Forks visits Chimacum on Tuesday.
Forks 69, Tenino 53
Tenino 14 11 11 17— 53
Forks 14 17 14 24— 69
Tenino (53) — Zillah 4, Russell 2, Dowies 18, Deoskey 3, Bratton 11, Brewer 15.
Forks (69) — Johnson 18, Reaume 7, Baar 5, Ness 2, Baysinger 6, Flores 1, Armas 14, Prose 12, Morton, Eastman.
Sequim 55, Bremerton 43
BREMERTON — The Sequim boys hit a flurry of 3-pointers to clinch a playoff spot in the Olympic League 2A Division with their third straight league win, 55-43 over Bremerton.
The Wolves were led by Nate Despain, who hit three 3-pointers and scored 23 points in Friday’s win.
No one else for Sequim had more than seven points, but nine different Wolves scored. Sequim hit nine 3-p0inters as a team with six different players scoring from beyond the arc.
“We have a lot of guys who can shoot, the question is who has it going the most,” said coach Greg Glasser.
“Nate Despain had a great overall game. He did a great job of making the extra pass and knocking down shots,” Glasser said. He also said Sequim played well defensively keeping Bremerton’s scorers in check.
The win keeps the Wolves (6-3, 10-6) in third place, a half-game ahead of fourth-place Olympic (5-3, 9-7). They next play a nonleague game at Port Townsend (2-2, 7-6) at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, then the Wolves play league leaders North Kitsap and Port Angeles and Olympic to finish out the year.
While that schedule looks tough for the Wolves, Olympic must also play North Kitsap, Port Angeles and Sequim down the stretch, so it isn’t any easier for the Trojans.
“It’s going to be a fun battle down the stretch. The good thing [about the schedule] is that it prepares us for postseason,” Glasser said.
Sequim 55, Bremerton 43
Sequim 18 10 11 16 — 55
Brem. 11 6 11 15 — 43
Sequim (55) — N. Despain 23, Christiansen 7, Rollness 6, Langston 6, Duver 3, Young 3, Cowan 3, Wiker 3, D. Despian 1.
Bremerton (43) — Moore 11, Wilson 8, Laguana 8, M. Retome 6, K. Retome 6,Taylor 2, Jackmon 2.
Neah Bay 75, Chief Kitsap 20
NEAH BAY — The Red Devils built up a 31-7 lead after the first quarter and cruised the rest of the way in a 75-20 win over Chief Kitsap to remain undefeated in North Olympic 1B play.
Cameron Moore scored 16 points, while Sean Bitegeko had 15 points and 14 rebounds. Mike Shaw had 11 points, while Jay Brunk scored 10.
Neah Bay (5-0, 9-6) will next play at Crescent (3-2, 6-6) at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday. Both teams are hot. The Red Devils have won six out of seven, while Crescent has won three out of four.
Neah Bay 75, Chief Kitsap 20
CK 7 3 4 6 — 20
NB 31 21 11 12 — 75
Neah Bay (75) — Moore 16, Bitegeko 15, Shaw 11, Brunk 10, Johnson 8, Soeneke 7, Horeji 4, Engram 4.
Bear Creek 61, Port Townsend 47
REDMOND — The Redhawk boys got blitzed by nine 3-pointers and 33 points from Bear Creek’s Jace Blankenbeckler in a 61-47 nonleague road loss.
Bear Creek is a private 1A school in the Emerald City League. They are 11-4, so the Redhawks ran into a good team.
Still, it took a huge effort from Blankenbeckler for the Grizzlies to win.
“He was hitting pulls ups, he was hitting parking lot jobs, you name it,” said Port Townsend coach Tom Webster. “We ran as many kids as we could at him.
“We did a lot of good things. These games will make us a better team. These are playoff teams,” Webster said.
Noa Montoya led the Redhawks with 16, while Cole Crawford and Jaden Watkins each scored 10.
Port Townsend (2-2, 7-6) will next play Sequim (6-3, 10-6) at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday in a nonleague game.
Bear Creek 61, Port Townsend 47
PT11 10 9 11 — 47
BC 19 15 14 13 — 61
Port Townsend (47) — Montoya 16, Watkins 10, Crawford 10, Winegar 4, Baabahar 3, Johnston 2, Harris 2.
Crescent 48, Clallam Bay 34
JOYCE — Crescent outscored Clallam Bay 20-11 in the fourth quarter to break open a close game, winning 48-34.
Brendan Bergstrom led the Loggers with 13 points, while eighth-grader Brenten Dalton had 10 points and Eric Emery eight. Ryan McCoy led the Bruins with 17 points, while Caiton Smith had nine points.
The win keeps Crescent (3-2, 6-6) in second place in the North Olympic 1B League. The Loggers will next host Neah Bay (5-0, 9-6) at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday.
Clallam Bay (2-3, 4-7) will host Chief Kitsap (0-5, 2-10) at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday.
Crescent 48, Clallam Bay 34
Clallam Bay 8 7 8 11 — 34
Crescent 10 10 8 20 — 48
Crescent (48) — Bergstrom 13, Dalton 10, E. Emery 8, B. Emery 6, Leonard 6, Owens 5.
Clallam Bay (34) — Smith 9, Bykerk 3, Strid 5, McCoy 17.
