Forks able to hold off Crescent comeback

January 5, 2023 1:30 am
Forks’ Brody Lausch, center, looks for an opening surrounded by, clockwise from left, Terrell Emery of Crescent, LandinDavis of Forks, and Conner Ferro-May and Henry Bourm of Crescent on Wednesday in Joyce. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Forks’ Brody Lausch, center, looks for an opening surrounded by, clockwise from left, Terrell Emery of Crescent, LandinDavis of Forks, and Conner Ferro-May and Henry Bourm of Crescent on Wednesday in Joyce. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)

By Pierre LaBossiere

Olympic Peninsula News Group

JOYCE — The Forks and Crescent boys basketball teams had a close, tough battle that came down to the end last Wednesday, with Forks coming away with a hard-fought 50-48 victory.

“This game was a lot of fun. It was a competitive, sometimes hotly contested matchup,” said Crescent coach Chris Ferrier.

“They [Crescent] never stopped. We were really up and down,” said Forks coach Keith Weekes. “They adjusted to us, and we didn’t adjust to them.”

Forks was able to build up a 30-19 lead by the half, but Crescent mounted a comeback, cutting the score to 36-30 at the end of three quarters. It came down to a couple of plays at the end, Ferrier said.

“[In the] fourth quarter, we started cashing in opportunities and we ended up finally taking the lead at 45-44 with two minutes to go,” Ferrier said. “Forks made enough plays in the end to pull out to a 50-48 lead with two seconds left. We had the ball at the far end and ran a really good long inbounds play, but the three-pointer from 30 feet was just wide.

“We got fantastic defense from everyone who stepped on the floor. At the end, it came down to free throws; Forks was 8-of-10 but we were only 8-of-19,” Ferrier said.

“Hopefully, this was a wake up call for us,” Weekes said.

Brody Lausche led the Spartans with 16 points. Eight different Forks players scored.

Crescent got a big game from Conner Ferro-May with 18 points and 18 rebounds.

“Dom Sprague orchestrated the offense and scored 10 as well,” Ferrier said.

It was only the second loss of the year for the Loggers. It was Forks’ only game in a three-week span between Dec. 17 and Jan. 5.

Forks’ (2-2, 3-5) next scheduled game is at Ocosta (2-2, 4-5) on Jan. 5.

Crescent (6-2) next plays at Summit Classical Christian School on Tuesday.

Forks 50, Crescent 48

Forks 13 17 6 14 — 50

Cres. 9 10 11 18 — 48

Forks (50) — Lausche 16, Lohrengel 8, Salazar 7, Galeana 6, Helvey 5, Olson 2.

Crescent (48) — Ferro-May 18, Sprague 10, Ka. Love 8, Bauers 5, L. Love 3, Bourm 2, White 2, Emery.