ROCHESTER — Finally healthy at just the right time, the Rainier girls basketball team took care of business in the first round of the 2B District 4 tournament Saturday afternoon at Rochester, beating Kalama, 62-26 to advance to the district quarterfinals on Tuesday.
The Mountaineers will take on Forks, which earned a first-round bye, in Montesano at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Though Rainier is still getting its legs completely under them with a recently-returned cast to its lineup, the Mountaineers trio of leading scorers all arrived at different points to guide them to victory in the first round Saturday.
Brooklynn Swenson kickstarted the Mountaineers with 14 first half points, getting out in transition with easy layups before moving her game outside and knocking down a pair of 3-pointers.
Then Angelica Askey had her turn, scoring a game-high 15 points and making some nice passes to get the Mountaineers into their actions offensively.
In the second half, Bryn Beckman — who had sat out a chunk of the season due to injury — scored most of her 13 points to help Rainier separate and build some momentum before another matchup against the Spartans.
“It’s always nice when you have multiple scorers out there who can take over any minute,” Rainier coach Brandon Eygabroad said. “Brooklynn came out and set the tone, Angelica played a really well-balanced game, and then Bryn got going in the third doing what she does.
We’re getting to a point where we feel like we’re firing on all cylinders.”
Rainier won its previous matchup against the Spartans earlier this season in its road-opener, 49-42, and knocked Forks out of the district tournament last season in a loser-out game.
“Forks is a tough opponent,” Eygabroad said. “They’re going to come ready, we have to maintain that focus. Our goal is a district championship, and this group is talented enough to get there, it’s just about being consistent over the course of four quarters.”
