Rainier found itself in a 17-7 hole early on and couldn’t engineer a comeback during a 47-31 loss to Wahkiakum on the road in the Mountaineers’ Central 2B League opener on Saturday.
“They gave us all we wanted and more,” Rainier coach Brandon Eygabroad said. “They came out hot. They pressured us right off the bat and turned us over.
Wahkiakum held a 27-11 lead at the half before Rainier cut the lead to nine in the third quarter, but the Mules drained a contested buzzer-beater at the third-quarter siren and sustained the momentum the rest of the way.
“Just a slow night for us,” Eygabroad said. “The shots were there, they just weren’t falling. Just out of rhythm early due to the intensity they brought.”
Faith Boesch led Rainier with a team-high 10 points, while Bryn Beckman added seven and Haleigh Hanson chipped in six.
Rainier (5-3, 0-1 C2BL) hosts Pacific 2B League’s Raymond on Wednesday.
