Varsity Boys Get Key Division 6 Win

South Fork High’s varsity boys’ basketball team went 1-2 last week, and with the win over a fellow Division 6 school, they stayed on track for a good seed in the North Coast Section’s post-season tournament.

The Cubs beat the Point Arena Pirates 73-65 in overtime on Saturday on the road with junior Scott Coffelt scoring a season-high 30 points including 10 of South Fork’s 11 overtime points. Coffelt shot an impressive 50% from the floor, going 5 for 10 both from in front of and behind the arc, and made five free throws to lead what head coach Todd Vandenack called “a great offensive flow, getting a lot of things going we can build on.” The team had 16 assists showing that “we shared the ball very well.”

Sophmore CJ Van Meter had 14 points, junior Roberto Navarrete and sophomore Cody Wyatt each had 9, junior Ryder Pfau had 7 and sophomore Cooper Scott added three.

“We played great defense down the stretch,” added Vandenack, noting the team had 9 steals in the game and mentioning Scott as a defensive standout.

With the Pirates 4-1 in their league, and coming off a 70-61 win over Laytonville (7-1 in league) the  night before, the win gives the Cubs confidence as they prepare for their rematch against Laytonville this Wednesday. The Cubs lost 63-43 to the Warriors back on November 29. With Laytonville, Round Valley and Point Arena all vying for high ranks in the division, South Fork will be looking to stay in that mix with a win on Wednesday.

South Fork       21    19    13     9    11      73

Point Arena      19    10    19    14     3      65

Earlier in the week the Cubs fell 57-39 to Humboldt Del Norte Little Four conference leader St. Bernard’s on Friday at home. Up by just one point at the end of the 3rd quarter in the low-scoring affair, the Crusaders exploded for 28 points in the final period to put the Cubs away. “They played better in the 4th quarter,” said Vandenack, noting the lop-sided calls ringing South Fork up for 23 fouls to St. Bernard’s 10. “The crowd was getting upset,” he added, “but you can’t blame the refs.”

Vandenack felt if the Cubs had shot better and made fewer turnovers they’d have had a chance at a win. Coffelt led all scorers with 16, Wyatt had 6, Van Meter and senior Justin Michael had 4 apiece, Pfau had 3 and Navarrete and senior Javier Alatorre each had 2 points.

St. Bernard’s        9    10    10    28        57

South Fork           9     6    13    11         39

On Wednesday the Cubs lost a non-conference game to Fortuna on the road 70-46. “They (Fortuna) went on a 15-0 run from the end the first quarter through the beginning of the second,” said Vandenack, a deficit South Fork could not recover from. “We were a little inconsistent, and we had trouble scoring.”

Navarrete led Cubs scorers with 13, Coffelt added 11, Michael had 7, Wyatt and Van Meter each had 6, and Alatorre had 3 points.

South Fork        10    13    10    13    46

Fortuna             21    18    12    19    70

This week the Cubs will host Laytonville on Wednesday with a 7:30 tip-off and then will travel to Ferndale on Friday hoping to claim a spot in the local county championship Niclai tournament with a win that could put Ferndale out of the running for a berth in the event. The Cubs defeated Ferndale 64-38 back on January 13.