The Port Townsend Redhawks boys varsity basketball team out-dueled the Kingston Buccaneers 52-44 in the Redhawks’ home opener Nov. 30 at the Bruce Blevins Gym. “The visiting team rolled to a 13-11 lead after the first frame,” Port Townsend coach Tom Webster said. “The PT boys took offense and rallied back to take a one-point lead into recess, 23-22.” Webster described the Redhawks as coming out “fired up on defense” in the second half as they scored enough points to double-up Kingston 16-8 in the third quarter. “They took a 39-30 lead into the final stanza,” Webster said. “Junior Noa Montoya splashed another from downtown (three-point range), and Cole Crawford hit six free-throws down the stretch. Exchange student Kuba Krol rallied the troops in the second half.” Webster deemed it “a great win on a Friday night,” even as he posed the tongue-in-cheek question, “What else are you going to do in PT but head to the gym and root for our PTHS athletes?” Webster credited varsity assistant coach John Stroeder with getting the defense to play “extremely hard.” Webster also described Montoya as “(coming) up big for us. He hit a three-ball in every quarter, en route to 28 points.” Webster praised Montoya’s rebounding and defensive efforts, and said the junior is a proven scorer. At the same time, Webster acknowledged that senior and third-year varsity player Jaden Watkins “spent a lot of the game on the pine with foul trouble,” but fortunately, when the Redhawks needed some scoring, “Noa and Cole Crawford kept us going” by leading the team in scoring. Webster deemed Nico Winegar the leading rebounder and extended his praise to “our non-starters, who did an excellent job and truly helped win the game.” Earlier in the week, Port Townsend opened Nov. 28 against perennial Nisqually League power Cascade Christian but lost, 55-43. “We were down by 15 points at the start of the third quarter,” Webster said. “The Redhawks came flying back to cut the margin to four points in the last quarter.” That game saw Watkins score 11 points and grab four rebounds, Montoya score 11 points and tally six rebounds and three assists, and Crawford score eight points with four rebounds. Winegar added 11 rebounds. Following the Redhawks’ Dec. 3 game against Bremerton, they will return home Dec. 5 to play Crosspoint at 5:15 p.m. Port Townsend has a game at Forks on Dec. 7 at 5:30 p.m. “We had 10 guys on practice, Saturday at 8 a.m.,” Webster said. “We commit to the process, love the grind and win every day.”