NEAH BAY — Neah Bay executed its halfcourt offense and got numerous good looks inside in blowing past Forks 71-40 in a nonleague girls basketball game Tuesday night.
“What makes Neah Bay such a good team is they are fundamentally sound and you can’t have a weakness or a letdown on defense,” Spartans coach David Hurn said.
“In the first half we struggled with our defensive assignments. And you can’t have breakdowns when they have five kids who, on any night they can lead the team in scoring.”
The Red Devils’ offense worked the ball down low to senior Wiinuk Martin successfully, producing high-percentage close-up baskets. Martin had 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
Angel Halttunen led the way for Neah Bay with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, with six steals, four rebounds and a pair of assists. Q Greene chipped in with 18 points and a team-high eight assists for the Red Devils.
Hurn said his team shot the ball well, but didn’t get the attempts needed to make it a closer game.
“They played great defense and we made some weird turnovers,” Hurn said. “The way the game was called, we had some footwork stuff and little details that we will need to clean up.
“Bailey [Johnson] played very well, she was attacking the rim. We had some younger kids who stepped up when we got into foul trouble.”
Neah Bay (4-0) will face Waterville-Mansfield in a tournament at Waterville on Dec. 18.
Forks (2-1) visits Onalaska on Friday night.
Neah Bay 71, Forks 40
Forks 10 9 11 10 — 40
Neah Bay 24 10 21 16 — 71
Forks (40) — Johnson 18, Crowder 8, Gaydeski 6, Peters 4, B. Rondeau 4, Dilley, Fryberg, Woody.
Neah Bay (71) — A. Halttunen 21, Q. Greene 18, Martin 16, Ce. Moss 7, K. McGimpsey 4, Ca. Moss 2, B. McGimpsey, Yallup, Johnson.
Boys Basketball Coupeville 64, East Jefferson 47
COUPEVILLE — The Rivals fell down big early but did manage to cut the Wolves’ lead to single digits in the fourth quarter.
“Despite being outscored 17-3 over the last four minutes of the first quarter, our boys didn’t hang their heads or quit battling,” coach Alex Little said. “We put together some decent runs and had the deficit cut to single digits in the fourth. In the end, we struggled to put enough defensive stops together to keep chipping away.”
Luke O’Hara had 20 points to lead East Jefferson.
“It’s early in the season and we’re asking them to do a lot of new things,” Little said. “We’re working out the kinks and this game highlighted a number of the areas we need to keep coaching them on.
“We showed growth with our resiliency and willingness to stay in the fight. We believe in our guys and look forward to continuing to improve.”
East Jefferson (1-0, 1-1) hosts Cascade Christian tonight.
Coupeville 64, East Jefferson 47
E. Jefferson 7 15 13 12 — 47
Coupeville 23 12 20 9 — 64
East Jefferson (47) — O’Hara 20, Little 8, Hoppe 5, Williamson 5, Mercado 3, Shockley 3, Martin 3, Kruse.
