The Rainier High School boys basketball team put away Onalaska 60-54 after building a big lead in the first half in the Central 2B League opener for both teams Wednesday night.
Rainier led by 13 at halftime before Onalaska began to catch fire offensively in the second half. After scoring just 17 first-half points, the Loggers put up 19 in the third quarter and 18 in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback.
The Mountaineers were led by 15 points apiece from Jordan Pringle and Peyton Sheaffer, while freshman Ryder Martin chipped in 14 points and Nehemiah Linson scored 11.
“We shared the ball well in the first half, the ball found the open man, and we were able to hit shots. We are super excited to learn how to finish games, with ball security and foul shooting at the top of the list,” Rainier head coach Ben Sheaffer said. “Credit to Onalaska for chipping away and continuing to battle until the final horn.”
Sophomore Noland Brady paced Onalaska with 22 points, and Maddox McKinley chipped in 10.
Wednesday night marked the first meeting between Rainier and Onalaska since they met in a winner-to-state, loser-out game in the 2B District 4 Tournament Feb. 21, when the Mountaineers knocked off the Loggers to clinch their first state berth in 28 years.
Rainier (2-0, 1-0 C2BL) will travel to Mossyrock (0-1, 0-1 C2BL) Friday night, while Onalaska (0-1, 0-1 C2BL) heads to Napavine Friday night.
