GIRLS BASKETBALL: Forks’ defense tightens down in second half

JOYCE — After a high-scoring first half, the Forks girls basketball team tightened the defensive screws in the second half, outscoring Crescent 19-0 in the third, going on to win Wednesday 74-34.

Forks scored 42 points in the first half, but the Loggers stayed in the game by scoring 27 points. Forks was able to hold Crescent to just seven points the entire second half.

“They [Forks] got a talking to about their defense at halftime,” said Spartans coach David Hurn. “They weren’t doing what we needed them to do. They came out more fired up in second half.”

Hurn said the Spartans are going to have to continue to play tough defense like that when they re-enter Pacific 2B League play in January.

“Crescent played very tough in the first half, but got into foul trouble fast in the second half and Forks … ran away with it,” said Crescent coach Mike Hazelett. “Crescent shooting went dead.”

Keira Johnson and Kyra Neel had huge games for the Spartans with both girls going for double-doubles. Johnson scored 28 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. Neel had 24 points, her highest total of the year, to go with 10 rebounds. Janessa Ramos added seven points.

For the Loggers, Ciara Cargo-Acosta had nine points and Makiah Clark had eight. Kaylen Mason scored six points and JoCy Kazlauskas added five.

Forks (4-0, 6-3) next hosts Ocosta (3-2, 3-4) at 7 p.m. Jan. 6.

Crescent (1-2) played at Quilcene on Thursday after press deadline. The Loggers next play at Summit Classical Christian School on Tuesday.

Forks 74, Crescent 34

Forks 20 22 19 13 — 74

Cres. 15 12 0 7 — 34

Forks (74) — K. Johnson 28, Kyra Neel 24, Ramos 7, Gaydeski-St. John 4, Karee Neel 4, Wood 3, b. Johnson 2, Peters 2.

Crescent (34) — Cargo-Acosta 9, Clark 8, Mason 6, Kazlauskas 5, Gales 3, Ferro-May 2, Sprague 2.

Sehome 47, Port Angeles 35

LYNDEN — The Port Angeles girls got off to a rough start against Sehome but ended up outscoring the Mariners the rest of the game.

Sehome got off to a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter, going on to win 47-35. After that poor start, the Roughriders outscored the Mariners 35-26 for the rest of the game.

“Our zone defense caused some Sehome turnovers in the second half, and we were able to cut the margin to 10 twice in the second half,” said coach Michael Poindexter. “Ultimately the hole we found ourselves in early was too deep to dig our way out of.

“Our shooting in the second half was full of better choices and less tentative finishes at the basket. We shot 39 percent in the second half as opposed to 7 percent shooting in the first half,” Poindexter said.

“Paige Mason did a nice job in our zone defense of both rebounding [six] and getting steals [four],” Poindexter said. “Lexie Smith also had a solid overall game with four assists, a couple of steals, and she helped teammates get several defensive rebounds with her tipping the ball their direction.

“Anna Petty and Lindsay Smith played excellent defense at the top of our zone, and Piper Williams and Teanna Clark combined for six steals and seven rebounds between them with good defense along the baseline.”

Lindsay Smith and Petty led the Riders in scoring with 12 each.

Port Angeles (3-1, 3-6) is off until Tuesday when the Riders return to Olympic 2A League play to host North Kitsap (2-2, 5-4).

Sehome 47, Port Angeles 35

PA 0 7 18 10 — 35

Seh. 15 13 9 10 — 47

Port Angeles (35) — Lindsay Smith 12, Petty 12, Clark 6, Rognlien 4, Lexie Smith 1, Stevens, Moses, Mason, Williams.

Sehome (47) — Brewer 15, Mac Cooper 9, Madi Cooper 8, Watson 8, Hart 7.