ROCHESTER — Saturday night was about as textbook as it could have been for Napavine.
The Tigers raced out to an massive early advantage, got all 12 varsity players minutes, and cruised to a 95-37 victory over Morton-White Pass in the first round of the 2B District 4 Tournament.
“It’s nice to come out and take care of business,” Napavine coach Kayden Kelly said.
The two teams traded buckets in the opening minutes, but an 11-1 run in just 2:20 helped the Tigers build a double-digit advantage. They never looked back from there.
By the end of the first, the lead was up to 30-11. At halftime, it was 54-18. Entering the third, it was 83-30, and early in the fourth, it got as high as 91-30.
Napavine did it the way they’ve done all year, forcing 16 turnovers, scoring 29 points off of those turnovers, hitting at a high rate from three, and moving the ball exceptionally well to everyone on the floor.
Seven different Tigers ended up in double-figures, and no one player had more than 14. Eric Bullock finished with 11 points, and he also dished out eight assists.
“The way Eric Bullock ran the point tonight, getting absolutely everybody involved, it’s just beautiful,” Kelly said.
Hudson Chambers added 14 points, Tyce Vigre and Layton Griffith both added 13, and Carter Edmonds, Tyler Watson, and Cal Bullock each scored 10.
“It’s about as spread out as that gets right there,” Kelly said. “I love it.”
Chambers also logged six assists, five rebounds, four steals, and a block, and Griffith brought down seven rebounds. Vigre also grabbed seven rebounds while adding a pair of steals and a pair of assists, and Cal Bullock added three assists and a steal of his own.
As a team, the Tigers finished the night 11 for 21 (52.4%) from three.
On the other bench, Morton-White Pass coach Kevin Dunlap said that his team looked like one playing its first district tournament game in three years.
“We came out and we kind of played nervous,” Dunlap said. “We’ve matched up okay with Napavine the last two games, but they came out and they outworked us. We looked uncomfortable for a lot of the first half. It was a tough start to a game.”
Logan Mays finished with 10 points, Owen Loucks added eight, and Kohen Ingalsbe scored seven. Liam Pelletier collected six, Sebastian Gonzalez scored four, and Samuel Zapalac pitched in two.
Pelletier, Gonzalez, Loucks, and Ingalsbe each brought down three rebounds.
With the loss, MWP (2-20) falls to the elimination bracket. The Timberwolves will face either Mossyrock or Toledo in an elimination game in Centralia on Friday. If they hope to reach the state tournament, they’ll need to win three straight elimination games.
“We’ve had tough games like this this season, and we have come back and continued to bounce back and play hard,” Dunlap said. “I hope that we’ll come back and play hard in the next game.”
Napavine (17-4) advances to the quarterfinals, where they will play Forks in Rochester on Wednesday. Forks finished as the No. 2 seed in the Pacific 2B League, losing only to league champion Ilwaco, who finished the league year unbeaten.
A win would put the Tigers in the semifinals, where they would get up to two chances to clinch a state tournament berth, while a loss would leave them needing to win three straight elimination games to earn a trip to state.
“We get a couple of days to get ready for them,” Kelly said. “We’re excited.”
