FORKS — The Forks boys basketball team finds itself in unfamiliar territory as Christmas day arrives.
After topping Neah Bay for the second time this season, 51-44 at home on Thursday, the Spartans are now winners of five in a row.
They are unbeaten in league (3-0), tied atop the SWL-Evergreen Division standings with Onalaska and off to their best start since the 1999-2000 season featuring future professional Kasey Ulin.
Just don’t expect head coach Scott Justus to sound overly thrilled about it.
“Going into the break winning five games in a row and losing only one on the season, yeah, I’m pretty pleased,” Justus said. “I never would have thought that would have happened.
“We’re winning . . . but we’re still not playing to our potential.”
For the second win in a row, the Spartans held off a late rally to match the 1999-2000 team’s 6-1 start.
Forks went out to a 37-25 lead after three quarters only to see Neah Bay chip away at the advantage in the fourth, getting as close as five points.
The Spartans held on, however, with Cameron Leons helping save the day with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field.
Braden Decker added 12 points and eight rebounds, while senior teammate Tyler Penn stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six assists and five steals.
“I’m very pleased with the W at the end of the night. I just wish when we had our opponent down we’d just step on them and bury them,” Justus said.
“You’ve got to give Neah Bay credit for being better, but this has to be the worst game we played all year with the exception of the first game [a win over North Beach].”
The loss spoiled a big night from Neah Bay guard Zeke Greene, who scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Red Devils.
Leyton Doherty added 15 as the other Red Devil in double figures, but it wasn’t enough to boost the Class 1B squad to a victory.
The Red Devils fell to 3-2 on the season with the loss, with both of their setbacks coming at the hands of the 1A Spartans.
Forks will play in the North Beach holiday tournament Dec. 29-30, while Neah Bay will play in the Tulalip Tournament on Dec. 27-28.
Forks 51, Neah Bay 44
Neah Bay 9 11 5 19 — 44
Forks 14 15 8 14 — 51
Individual Scoring
Neah Bay (44)
J. Green 4, Venske 2, Z. Greene 18, Dulik 2, Doherty 15, McCaulley 3.
Forks (51)
J. Penn 2, T. Penn 7, Castellano 8, Cress 2, Harris 6, Decker 12, Dean 1, Leons 13.
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Crescent 55, Port Angeles C 16
PORT ANGELES — Joel Williams submitted a beastly performance to lead the Loggers past the Roughrider freshman Thursday night.
The 6-foot-3 senior put up a triple double, scoring 33 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and snatching 12 steals in the blowout victory.
Teammate Derrick Findley added 12 points, eight rebounds and six steals, as the Loggers moved to 5-2 on the season.
Crescent 55, Port Angeles C 16
Crescent 17 16 10 12 — 55
PA C 0 4 7 5 — 16
Individual Scoring
Crescent (55)
Williams 33, Findley 23, Fadness 5, Peppard 2, Bamer 2, Walker 1.
Port Angeles (16)
Andrus 9.