Before her final two shot attempts of Napavine’s 2B District 4 title game at W.F. West Saturday night against rival Adna, Morgan Hamilton had made just one shot in 16 tries.
With just under two minutes to go and down by three, Hamilton threw a putback through the back of the net to double her made shot total to 2 of 17, and pulled Napavine within one. A couple of traded buckets later saw the Tigers trailing by a single point with nine seconds to go, and in that moment, none of her 15 misses mattered.
Out of timeouts and with no play call, Hamilton caught a pass from Hayden Kaut, drove right before splitting the top of the Pirates’ 2-3 zone and threw up the title-clinching floater to give the Tigers a dramatic, 46-45 victory over their rivals.
“She doesn’t care what it looks like, she doesn't care how we get there, she was going to drive and be aggressive and win the game,” Napavine coach Shane Schutz said. “We needed that mentality and she brought that. She’s not afraid of failure. She takes a challenge and runs with it. I wasn’t even worried about her. I knew when she drove and had that lane that she was going to make it. That’s what she does.”
Hamilton’s game typified how the Tigers have played and battled back all season. Though it hasn’t always been the prettiest, and Napavine and seen its fair share of adversity, when it matters the most, the Tigers’ leaders find a way to scrap it out.
Without a timeout due to the back-and-forth nature of the game, after Kaut’s drive was halted, Hamilton knew she had to take the last shot with the clock winding down.
“My 3s weren’t open so I had to drive,” she said. “I drove in and hoped for the best. It felt pretty good off my hand.”
The senior’s shot indeed fell, bouncing off the back iron before rolling into the hoop, with 0.6 seconds remaining on the clock and the Napavine student section and bench charging out on the floor to celebrate.
After the game officials and coaching cleared the floor, Adna’s last-second heave came up short, and the Tigers won their first district title since 2011.
“We’ve been working for this all year,” Hamilton said. “It’s rewarding, it’s a great feeling. We work so hard in practice, it’s really about effort and how well we work together, I’m so proud of all of them. We don't give up on anything.”
Hamilton finished with seven points, and had the game-clincher, but Kaut gave the Tigers a double-digit lead in the second quarter thanks to a barrage of 3-pointers and buckets in the first half, and Keira O’Neill kept Napavine afloat with 13 points, eight rebounds, and some strong defense on Adna’s Karlee VonMoos.
Kaut scored 13 as well, with another eight boards and three steals, serving as the catalyst of Napavine’s 21-9 start.
But slowly and surely, Adna found a way to get back into the game with some foul shots and an emerging set of guards that wouldn’t let what happened in its previous loss to the Tigers happen again in Chehalis.
The Pirates trailed by just five points at the half, and took a 43-39 lead with 3:06 left in the game after a Gaby Guard transition layup.
VonMoos finished with a game-high 22 points and another 15 rebounds, dominating the game down low when she got the ball, while Danika Hallom added 13 points. VonMoos’ 22nd and final point of the game put the Pirates ahead, 45-44, with 22 seconds to go, before Hamilton’s last-second shot.
“Our sophomore guards really grew up today,” Pirates coach Chris Bannish said. “Since a month ago to now, we were a mess against that pressure and today we were pretty good and found ways to beat it. We wanted to cut those nets down as much as they did, but now we move on. We just proved the type of team we are, our goal is still to go to state and find a way to bring something home.”
But in a back-and-forth game between two teams that don’t care too much for one another, the Tigers rose to the occasion again, and it was Hamilton, again, that came up big when her team needed her to despite a rough start.
“It feels awesome and incredible,” O’Neill said. “I don’t think I expected us to be where we are now at the beginning of the year. It’s really amazing to see how we’ve grown and I couldn’t be more grateful for my teammates and coaches.
“Without a doubt, Morgan is our most consistent player and she’s a great friend and someone to count on when it matters.”
Both the Tigers and Pirates will continue their seasons into the regional round next weekend, with the seeding committees rolling out the schedules and seeds Sunday around 12:30 p.m.
