TOLEDO — Thirty seconds was how long Kayden Kelly wanted to inject some energy into his group down three points. Thirty seconds ended up what Grady Fallon needed to have his team catch their breath.
Thirty seconds was all it took for Thursday’s C2BL contest of two boys basketball unbeatens between Napavine and Toledo to turn on its head.
The Riverhawks proceeded to score 14 unanswered points out of the 30-second timeout in the third quarter to generate the needed cushion to hold on and beat the Tigers 67-55 to keep pace with Adna atop the standings at home.
“It was never comfortable, you know they are athletic,” Toledo head coach Grady Fallon said. “We’re not gonna play perfect.”
Since coming back from their trip to Alaska, the Riverhawks (7-2, 5-0 C2BL) have won four consecutive games. Yet in the last three, some similarities have occurred. Against the Australians, they turned up another level to break away.
And against Rainier, Toledo won the fourth quarter emphatically.
For a team that has played just nine games, it’s starting to find its stride.
“We’re starting to connect,” senior wing Trevin Gale said. “It is all coming together. Throughout the season, it is going to get better.”
Napavine cut into the margin off back-to-back trifectas from Hudson Chambers and Cal Bullock with 5 minutes, 27 seconds left in the third. Kelly, in his first year as the Tigers’ head coach, immediately asked for a timeout after Bullock’s triple.
Even though the Tigers had broken the ice and made it a one-possession game, Kelly didn’t want to see the energy dip.
“I didn’t change anything we were doing (and) I wouldn't have changed how I did that,” Kelly said.
Toledo responded.
Gale had eight points in the run and Eli Weeks capped it with a top of the key triple to widen the lead to 18. In the fourth, the Riverhawks used a 13-2 run to take their largest lead of the night at 26 points. They forced turnovers and pushed the tempo.
“I’ve done the same thing, but you never know if it is going to give them the rest they need to pole vault or if it gives us a chance to regroup,” Coach Fallon said. “We know now. Seniors making plays, that’s what you want.”
Held to just two points in the first half, Cooper Fallon finished with a 17-point, 19-rebound double-double and Gale posted a game-high 20 points. Gale missed all but one game last season recovering from a collarbone injury.
Now fully healthy, his speed and length is giving the Riverhawks another dynamic.
“It is a big confidence boost, knowing I can (get) back,” Gale said.
“One dribble pass, no dribble lay-in and their chemistry is great,” Coach Fallon added. “He just goes.”
The Riverhawks grabbed their first lead at 6-4 and then went on a 7-0 spree to take the lead for good. Adam Kruger and Weeks each had 12 points with Kruger claiming four steals.
Napavine (8-2, 5-1) attempted a rally late in the fourth with 14 consecutive points, but it proved to be too little, too late. Cal Bullock was the lone Tiger in double figures with 14 points while Layton Griffith and Eric Bullock each had nine points.
They shot just 23 percent from the field in the opening half and 35 on the night. Any time they’d force a turnover or get a stop, they struggled to convert on the other end.
“We’ve struggled starting fast and that was another case of that,” Kelly said. “Dug ourselves a hole. When you’re trying to battle down 10 the whole time, it is difficult.”
In 48 hours, Adna and Napavine square off for the first time this season. Kelly is expecting his group to “bounce back.”
“That is a really competitive group of kids,” he added. “I can just about guarantee they’ll be looking to get after it.”
Meanwhile, Toledo heads north to battle Liberty Bell in a non-league contest on Saturday that may have seeding and RPI ramifications.
“We’re a family and we all trust each other with everything we’re doing,” Gale said.
