OCOSTA — The Forks girls basketball team got big contributions from the Johnson sisters and put themselves in position to win a share of the Pacific 2B League championship tonight at home.
If the Spartans (9-2, 14-5) beat Chief Leschi (7-5, 10-8) tonight, they will likely tie for the league championship, their first in girls basketball since 2008.
Forks put themselves in the driver’s seat with an 80-28 win over Ocosta on Monday.
Despite the final score, the game was actually close early. Ocosta held a 16-12 lead after the first quarter.
“That was our worst quarter of basketball all year. We were low energy. Ocosta came out firing and ready to play,” said coach David Hurn. “Whatever the situation was, we weren’t ready to play basketball.”
The Spartans responded in a big way, outscoring Ocosta 20-2 in the second quarter and 25-2 in the third. For the rest of the game, Forks outscored the Wildcats 68-12. Hurn said the Spartans’ defense and steals made the difference.
“Keira [Johnson] led the charge,” Hurn said.
Johnson had one of her biggest games of the year with 30 points, 10 rebounds and nine steals. Her sister Bailey Johnson had a career-high 19 points. Kadie Wood added 17 points.
Tonight’s game that begins at 6 p.m. is the Spartans final home game of the year. It will be the last home game for seniors Kyra Neel, Wood and Casadie Whorton.
The Spartans could win the league title outright with a win, but it’s likely they will share the title with either one or two other teams. Raymond (9-2) is playing South Bend (3-8) and Ilwaco (9-2) is playing North Beach (1-10) tonight, two games that Raymond and Ilwaco should win.
Forks 80, Ocosta 28
Forks 12 20 25 23 — 80
Ocosta 16 2 2 8 — 28
Forks (80) — K. Johnson 30, B. Johnson 19, Wood 17, Whorton 6, Wallerstedt 5, Ramos 3.
Life Christian 50, East Jefferson 31
PORT TOWNSEND — The East Jefferson girls basketball team remains in solid position for a playoff spot, despite a 50-31 loss to 9-3 Life Christian on Monday night.
The Rivals, who also won Friday 44-21 over Charles Wright, currently sit at 6-6 in the Nisqually League (7-9 overall), tied for fourth place with Cascade Christian. They played Tuesday on the road against Bellevue Christian (13-0, 16-0 No. 5 RPI) after press deadline. East Jefferson also has to play a very tough Annie Wright (12-2) team on the road next week, but has a pair of very winnable games at Vashon (5-7) on Friday and Klahowya (3-8) on Feb. 9.
If the Rivals can beat Vashon and Klahowya, that would leave them with eight league wins and a likely playoff spot. Cascade Christian has a couple of easy games left against Charles Wright and Seattle Christian and a tough game against Life Christian.
In Monday’s loss, coach Lorraine Rimson said the Rivals seemed out of sync.
“I was not pleased with our focus,” she said. She said freshman Penina Vailolo played well and Alyssa Vandenberg continues to be the floor leader for the Rivals, averaging 15-16 points and 10 rebounds a game.
The Rivals next game is 5:30 p.m. Friday at Vashon.
Crescent 37, NW Christian 18
LACEY — The Crescent girls basketball team played its sixth game in eight days on Monday, beating Northwest Christian on Monday 37-18.
It was the third win in the past four games for the Loggers (6-7).
“Defense kept the [Loggers] in it until the offense could get going,” said coach Mike Hazelett.
Freshman Naomii Sprague led the Loggers with a triple-double of 15 points, 11 steals and 12 assists. Kaylen Manson added nine points and gave the Loggers “great defensive play,” Hazelett said.
Crescent hosted the No. 1-ranked Neah Bay girls (13-1) Tuesday night after press deadline.
