Class 2B State Girls Basketball: District 4 cold spell halts with Napavine’s Round of 12 win

SPOKANE — Southwest Washington didn’t get the red carpet rolled out when they entered the state tournament.

Rather, Wednesday’s Round of 12 has been the end of the road for District 4. All three 2B boys state participants lost by double digits, Pe Ell girls lost by 14 in 1B and top-seeded Rainier fell in a heartbreaker in the day one finale.

When it comes to advancing to the double elimination part of the bracket, two key commonalities come into play.

One, matchups play a heavy factor. Two, winning state tournament games isn’t easy.

“The East side teams are tough, they are physical,” Napavine High School girls basketball forward Hayden Kaut said. “It feels good to be the first West side team to make it through.”

The Class 2B defending state champs got the C2BL and the district back on track with an ugly and exhausting 48-38 triumph over 12th-seeded Colfax inside Spokane Arena.

It sends the fifth-seeded Tigers (20-7) into Thursday’s quarterfinals against third-seeded Brewster. It is a rematch from the regular season and last year’s quarterfinals; the two sides split those meetings.

Round 3 goes down at 7:15 p.m.

“Today was big for us,” Tigers head coach Shane Schutz said. “It is going to be a war. It is no different than playing Adna or Rainier. We know we’re in for it and that’s why you want to be in those positions.”

This winter has been a season of variance for Napavine. The youth element came into play in some of its losses, but was vital in a lot of wins. It doesn’t possess the experience some of Schutz’s previous teams had.

That didn’t matter against the Bulldogs.

Whenever the Tigers needed an answer, multi-sport stars answered the bell.

“We found a way to win and our kids found another gear to try to overcome some adversity,” Schutz said. “It didn’t go pretty. We’ll take it.”

Clara Fay capped an 8-0 spree in the final minutes of the third quarter to put Napavine up nine. Taylen Evander buried a triple at the top of the key to make the margin 10 in the fourth. Kaut’s hook shot was the final dagger that ended a 7-0 flurry.

The junior, in the back half of the third stanza and the entirety of the fourth, battled her shoulder being pulled backwards and that in turn upset her stomach.

She went and puked in between the last two frames. Her face was red and her breathing was long. Kaut returned to the floor 40 seconds into the last quarter and didn’t come back out.

The 6-foot-2 post registered a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double.

“It was a good lesson to eat food before the game,” Kaut said.

Foul trouble was the theme of the opening half for the Tigers. They were called for 21 fouls to nine for Colfax. Hannah Fay fouled out while six others had at least two.

When the second half started, every player on the floor for Napavine had multiple fouls.

“You can tell on film they’re big; had to tell the girls to keep their composure,” Kaut said. “We’ve been in games like this before. Don’t let up on anything.”

Despite a now 14-14 record, Colfax never went away. It whittled multiple two-possession deficits down to one possession and always kept within striking distance. The Bulldogs head coach, Jordan Holmes, used to be coached by Schutz at the club level.

Post Ava Swan led Colfax with a team-best 17 points and Allie Jenkin chipped in nine.

“Her team improved immensely from the start to the end,” Schutz said. “They’re better than their record, for sure.”

Evander was the second-highest scoring Tiger with eight while Hannah Fay added seven. Clara Fay came away with four steals. Napavine’s shot at going back-to-back stays alive, but the ability to play at bare minimum two more days is what Schutz is looking forward to.

For one reason: Experience.

“Such a big win for us in so many different ways,” he said.