Napavine opened the second-half with a 10-0 run and fended off visiting Castle Rock the rest of the way for a 55-47 non-league victory at home on Wednesday.
Sophomore scoring machine James Grose lit up the nets for a game-high 26 points to go with eight rebounds as the Tigers won their third straight to improve to 4-1 on the season.
“It was a tightly-contested game all night,” Napavine coach Rex Stanley said. “Both teams looked like they hadn’t played a game in a week.”
Senior post Keith Olson added a double-double of 10 points and a team-high 12 rebounds, while Jarin Prather added seven points and floor general Cael Stanley added five.
“One thing I was happy about was it was a gritty win,” Rex Stanley said. “(Castle Rock) is physical and they play hard. They’re much improved. We knew it was going to be a good game, and it was.”
Napavine (4-1 overall) hosts league foe Rainier on Tuesday. The Mountaineers are currently on a six-game winning streak.
