NAPAVINE — Over the course of his sophomore season, Layton Griffith has become a key part of Napavine’s core. He’s become one of the C2BL’s most dominant post players, and as the year has progressed, he’s inched closer to Napavine’s single-season blocks record.
He had the chance to set that record at home on Saturday against Toledo, and he did with his 50th block of the season early in the fourth. It was his 51st block that was the highlight of the afternoon though, as it sealed a 59-55 victory that keeps Napavine’s hopes for a bye alive.
“We just had to make a play at the end,” Griffith said with a smile.
The Tigers had let a five-point lead slip away late, but Cal Bullock had just given them the lead with a floater with 35 seconds to play, and after a steal, a free throw from Eric Bullock had put Napavine up three with 26.6 to play.
On the ensuing Toledo possession, the Riverhawks turned to Cooper Fallon inside, but Griffith was there to block the shot and give possession back to Napavine. A Cal Bullock free throw moments later sealed the win.
That block was Griffith’s fifth of the game, and it put him at 51 on the season. That mark breaks Kirk Vigre’s school record of 49, which was set in the 2007-08 season.
“It’s awesome,” Griffith said. “I wanna build up on it.”
It's far from the first time that he’s taken over a game inside.
Prior to this season, the Napavine single-game block record was six. Griffith beat that with seven against Marshfield in December, then he beat his own record a couple weeks later with eight against Adna.
“We’ve known what he can be,” Napavine coach Kayden Kelly said. “He’s been more and more comfortable and more and more of a force … He’s just been an absolute monster. If you can’t get in the paint and shoot layups, it’s pretty tough to win a game. He prohibits a lot of teams from doing that. It’s nice to see a sophomore rising to the occasion.”
While Griffith put the exclamation point on the win, he was far from the only Tiger who helped Napavine come out on top.
The Tigers came out firing on all cylinders, opening the game on an 11-3 run and extending their lead to 18-5 late in the opening frame.
“We came out and punched them in the mouth as soon as we came out,” Griffith said. “After struggling against them earlier (this season), it was just amazing.”
Toledo hit a few shots to keep it from getting out of hand, but the Tigers still took a 10-point lead into the break.
“We just couldn’t get the momentum,” Toledo coach Grady Fallon said. “We kind of fed the fire by not answering their intensity … We can’t ever let somebody’s intensity outshine ours.”
The Riverhawks got going from deep late in the third quarter to cut into the deficit, and a pair of threes from Adam Kruger and Conner Hill put them up 39-38. That lead was short-lived, as Griffith converted a three-point play to put Napavine up on the next possession.
The game was later tied at 43, but an Eric Bullock three and nine straight Napavine points from Cal Bullock and Hudson Chambers put the Tigers up eight.
Trevin Gale got the Riverhawks back into it, scoring nine straight Toledo points, including a game-tying three, before Cal Bullock hit the go-ahead shot to put the Tigers up 57-55.
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Kelly said. “Just seeing them fight through that and not ever give up, that’s everything to me.”
Despite playing through an ankle injury, Cal Bullock scored a team-high 17 points while shooting 7 for 11 from the floor, and he also tallied four rebounds and three steals.
“People don’t understand. His ankle is black and blue,” Kelly said. “And he was able to come out here, score 17 points, and lead his team. That’s heart. And not everybody has it. You can’t instill that. You either got it or you don’t, and Cal Bullock’s got it.”
Chambers finished with 16 points, including six points in a three-minute stretch in the fourth, and he also brought down seven rebounds.
“Just being a senior leader and doing his thing,” Kelly said. “I told my guys in the locker room after the game, ‘you guys can look at your seniors and thank them because they refused to lose at the end there.’”
Kruger finished with 16 points to lead Toledo, while Gale finished with 15. Eli Weeks added eight points and eight rebounds, while Cooper Fallon had 12 rebounds and was held to just seven points.
Toledo coach Grady Fallon applauded Napavine’s defensive effort on Cooper Fallon, but also noted that his offense needs to continue to work through him whether or not his shots are falling.
With the win, Napavine (15-4, 12-3 C2BL) still has a chance for the No. 2 seed from the C2BL and the first-round bye at the district tournament that comes along with it.
Toledo (14-3, 12-2 C2BL) still controls its own destiny with two games to play. Wins over Morton-White Pass on Monday and Adna on Wednesday would give the Riverhawks the two.
Regardless of where they finish, Grady Fallon knows that ultimately, to repeat as district champions, they’ll likely have to face Napavine (and potentially Adna) a third time.
“The next one’s gonna be awesome,” Grady Fallon said. “It’s really about good games preparing for that, because (the past) doesn’t matter the next two weeks.”
If Toledo slips up against either MWP or Adna, Napavine could move into a tie with the Riverhawks with a win over Winlock on Monday. In that case, both teams would finish 13-3 in league play, and they have split their season series, which would lean to a coin flip to determine the No. 2 seed.
If the Tigers top Winlock, they’ll enter the district tournament as winners of eight of their last nine games.
“To see us starting to come together at the end here, hopefully we can keep that going, and keep coming together,” Kelly said. “Hopefully by districts, we’re in full form and ready to go.”
