SPOKANE — There’s unquestioned star power on the Napavine High School girls basketball team. Montana recruit Hayden Kaut gets the glitz and glam plus classmate Taylen Evander is the bulldog on defense, taking on either the No. 1 or No. 2 scoring option.
Basketball is more than a two-person show. It takes a village, particularly in the Class 2B state tournament.
The top-seeded Tigers might waltz out the C2BL Co-MVPs on a nightly basis, yet it’s the rest of the roster that has the capability to speak volumes.
“I hope this proves a point to people who doubted us before,” junior forward Nicholle Valentine stated.
No doubt now.
Valentine, Sophia Bittner and Clara Fay all took turns as the offensive catalysts and the defense reached another level in the final two quarters to send Napavine into the semifinals for the third time in four years with a 58-40 triumph over No. 7 Adna inside Spokane Arena.
The three-of-four Final Four trips also coincide with beating their arch rivals in the state tournament. The Tigers’ margin of victory were two points in 2023, 24 in ‘24 and 18 in ‘26.
They will take on No. 5 Cle Elum-Roslyn on Friday afternoon, a rematch of the regular season where they prevailed 60-47 at home. Tip is scheduled for 3:45 p.m.
“None of that surprised me, we’re just waiting for them to have the confidence to do it,” Napavine head coach Shane Schutz said. “Just needed time to do that and rep it. I knew once they started hitting, Adna was in trouble.
“Sometimes, you don’t get to see that. Today was really cool.”
Even seeing everyone but Kaut and Evander light up the field plus going into the locker room tied at 30, Schutz was far from pleased. Not at the offense, but about the other side of the court.
Napavine (21-4) was getting crushed on the offensive glass and couldn’t contain Adna’s McKenna Torrey, who finished with 20 points, on the perimeter. Its other main defender, Hannah Fay, was plopped on the bench with three first half fouls.
“We had to tighten things up,” Schutz said. “You lose one (top defender), you get crippled a little bit.”
Hannah Fay returned in the second half. And everything changed.
It allowed Evander to clamp Torrey and keep her off the board the rest of the game and Hannah Fay held Rhylee Beebe in check with just two points. Adna didn’t score in the third until Kamryn Freeman’s layup with 17 ticks to go.
In total, the Pirates made just five buckets in the second half.
“You can tell the rest of the help defense wasn’t as worried,” Tigers senior Sophia Bittner said. “Just because they have our backs.”
“They were up in us and we weren't attacking pressure with pressure,” Adna head coach Chris Bannish added. “We weren’t able to get downhill with our ball screen action.”
The other Fay played a large role, too.
Clara Fay was 1-of-25 from deep entering Napavine’s state tourney opener. She equaled her season output on its first field goal of the day. Then she made two more. She finished 3-for-5 from behind the arc and tallied 12 points.
Bittner knew from the first make the Tigers were in a favorable position.
“I knew it was going to be a good game,” she said. “It honestly brought so much fire into everybody.”
The Ilwaco transfer, who sat out the back end of last year, proceeded to can three 3s of her own and finish with 13 points. When the Tigers won the regular season meeting by three points, she made a trio of triples.
“These girls literally make it feel like home,” Bittner said. “I was eager. I could not wait to step on that floor to play. I’m as happy as can be.”
Valentine also drilled three trifectas and paced Napavine with a team-best 16 points. She controlled the post with Kaut struggling and also grabbed nine rebounds plus picked up a pair of steals.
For her part, Kaut notched a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double.
“I knew it was going to be a flight and it takes more than one person,” Valentine said. “I knew I’d have to step up and fulfill my role.”
For everything that transpired in the opening two frames, Bannish was willing to allow those shots. Still, the Pirates (21-6) lost the rebound battle by six, the turnover margin by two, scored seven less second chance points and had four less defensive stops.
Carroll was the other Adna player in double figures with 11 points and paired it with a game-high 14 rebounds. As active as the Pirates defense has been at times this season, they only recorded one steal.
“Our rotations were a little off,” Bannish said. “We were still in the game. I thought we battled. I’m not disappointed in the effort; just a couple missed assignments.”
Now, Adna gets to face C2BL foe Toutle Lake on Friday morning in a winner-to-trophy game. The two sides met in the District 4 semifinals and the Ducks ripped apart the Pirates early before the latter made it a two-possession game in the fourth.
All Bannish cares about is getting to Saturday.
“Our backs were against the wall to get into the tournament, our backs were against the wall yesterday,” he said. “Here we are again. If I can get these guys into the trophy round, I’d be ecstatic. I’m not going to let them down.”
Napavine beat Cle Elum-Roslyn back in January. Warriors junior Nellie Nichols, who has Division I looks and scored 33 in their quarterfinal victory, notched 25 versus the Tigers. Kaut finished with 21 while Valentine and Bittner also were in double figures.
What stands in Napavine’s way for a second state title appearance in three years is four more quarters. And it knows CE-R isn’t going down easily.
“Take one game at a time, this group has done a great job of that,” Schutz said. “We got to rebound well and limit them to one shot.”
