FORKS — Hoquiam out-ran Forks in an up-and-down Evergreen League boys basketball matchup.
“Both teams are guard-oriented, so we’re both trying to push it down the court,” Spartans coach Rick Gooding said of Wednesday’s game.
“And we did.”
Both teams also are loaded with sophomores.
Hoquiam sophomore Jerod Steen led all scorers with 26 points and teammate Jack Adams, also a sophomore, scored 16.
Forks was led by senior Colton Raben’s 23 points, but also received big contributions from sophomores Parker Browning and Marky Adams.
Browning finished with 16 points, 14 of those coming in the first half, while Adams scored 17 points and pulled down 14 rebounds.
Gooding said that Adams was challenged by assistant coach Mark Raben to become a better rebounder.
“Marky played the best game of his high school career,” Gooding said.
“Hopefully this fires him up. Hopefully he realizes he can do this every game.”
“Hopefully he realizes that every [missed] shot is a pass to him.”
Forks lost starting guard Jeffrey Schumack in the opening minutes of the game to what Gooding said was a broken knee.
The entire team went and visited him at the hospital after the game, and Schumack still had yet to take any pain medication.
“He is tough as freaking nails,” Gooding said.
The Spartans make the long journey to play Eatonville today.
Hoquiam 76, Forks 65
Hoquiam 22 19 17 18— 76
Forks 18 19 16 12— 65
Individual scoring
Hoquiam (76)
Spradlin 2, Steen 26, Adams 16, Varner 10, Ko. Standstipher 13, Anderson 9, Ky. Standstipher.
Forks (65)
Schumack 3, Raben 23, Basinger 4, Tejano 2, Browning 16, Adams 17, Pegram, Rondeau, Ramsey.
Girls Basketball
Hoquiam 68, Forks 22
FORKS — The young Spartans were taught another harsh lesson about life in the Evergreen League.
“For the first 5 minutes of the game we did an absolute fantastic job. Unfortunately, the game is 32 minutes long,” Forks coach Al Scheibner said of Wednesday’s game.
After a nice start, the Spartans committed eight turnovers that led to easy baskets for the Grizzlies.
“We need to take better care of the ball and keep our defensive intensity for 32 minutes,” Scheibner said.
“We played extremely hard, but we are a mostly young team who is learning what it takes to compete in the Evergreen League.”
Skyler DeMatties led Forks with 12 points.
Vee Goodlance had eight rebounds and Alex Henderson had seven for the Spartans.
Forks continues league play today at Eatonville.
Hoquiam 68, Forks 22
Hoquiam 16 22 13 17— 68
Forks 6 3 9 4— 22
Individual scoring
Hoquiam (68)
Quercia 9, Burnett 4, Parker 9, Rose 9, Hernandez 7, Parson 2, Mode 6, Paladin 7, Krohn 10, Papp 5, Kramer.
Forks (22)
Rowley 2, DeMatties 12, Banks 2, Hofland 2, Barr 2, Henderson 2, Katzer, Norbizrath, Goodlance, Leons.
Boys Swimming
North Kitsap 124, Sequim 49
SEQUIM — The Wolves dropped a league meet against the larger Vikings squad.
Sequim’s Eric Prosser matched his best time in the 50-yard freestyle, winning the event in 24.62 seconds.
Prosser also won the 100 backstroke in 1:03.25.
Andrew Hanstead dropped 7 seconds off his 50 free time from the previous week with a time of 30.08 seconds for Sequim.
“Andrew Hansted continues to amaze with his speed after such a short time on the team,” Wolves coach Linda Moats said.
“He shows promise of being a contender for districts and possibly state in the future.”
Moats also praised newcomer Chase Ridgeway who recorded a sub-30-second time in the 50 free.