ONALASKA — Going up against an undefeated 2B foe, the Forks basketball team had a chance to knock off Onalaska, but missed free throws down the stretch were the Spartans’ undoing in a 59-56 loss.
Forks was up by two points with seven seconds left against a 6-0 team that has a number of members on it from a 2B state championship football team, said coach Rick Gooding. The Spartans missed eight free throws in the fourth to hurt their cause. Meanwhile, the Loggers hit 11 out of 13 free throws down the stretch.
“That’s a little bit of our Achilles’ heel,” Gooding said.
Gooding said the Spartans will learn from a game like this to stay focused throughout the game and finish strong.
“We learned some hard lessons, that’s why we play these nonleague games,” Gooding said.
Trey Baysinger led the Spartans with 16 points, while Tony Hernandez-Flores scored 14 and Logan Olson 12. Skyler Steffen came off the bench to score eight.
Gooding said Carter Windle also played a great game off the bench for the Spartans.
Fork finally entered league play Tuesday night against Tenino after press deadline. The Spartans (0-0, 8-3) next play at Neah Bay (1-7) at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Onalaska 59, Forks 56
Forks 8 16 18 14 — 56
Onalaska 14 14 12 19 — 59
Forks (56) — Baysinger 16, Flores 14, Olson 12, Steffen 8, Windle 4, Davis 1, Gonzalez 1.
Onalaska (59) — Whitehead 19, Allison 18, Dalsted 11, Haight 6, Lawrence 5.
Port Angeles JV 56, Neah Bay 54
NEAH BAY — The Port Angeles JV boys edged Neah Bay 56-54 on Monday. Wyatt Dunning led the Roughriders’ JV with 18 points, while Jeremiah Hall scored 14.
The Red Devils were led by Darrin Horejsi with 22 and Captain Claplanhoo with 18. Meric Soeneke added eight for Neah Bay.
The Port Angeles JV next plays at Bremerton at 5:15 p.m. Friday while Neah Bay hosts Forks at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Port Angeles JV 56, Neah Bay 54
PA JV 14 20 14 8 — 56
Neah Bay 17 15 4 18 — 54
PA JV (56) — Dunning 18, Hall 14, Seelye 6, Soule 4, Coppage 4, Bradow 4, Wheeler 4, Gunderson 2.
Neah Bay (54) — Horejsi 22, Claplanhoo 18, Soeneke 9, Croy 3, Halttunen 2.
