Down three starters, the Rainier High School boys basketball team had a tall task in slowing down a Napavine Tigers team that had scored at least 72 points in each of their first two games.
The Mountaineers fought valiantly in the first half after trailing big early on the road, but Napavine senior Karsen Denault was too much to handle with 30 points to lead the Tigers to a 70-51 win in their home opener Wednesday, Dec. 18.
Rainier inserted Nehemiah Linson, Jacob Hanson and Jordan Pringle into the starting lineup to replace the missing Josh Meldrum, Hunter Howell and Peyton Sheaffer. Although the game got away from the Mountaineers late, head coach Ben Sheaffer is proud of how his team fought throughout the contest.
“They’re a good team. Our measure of success is competing and playing together, and we feel really proud of the way that we did that tonight,” he said. “Napavine is a good club, but I feel like we got better today, and I know that sounds crazy in a loss of that magnitude, but we feel OK with it.”
Sheaffer certainly wasn’t OK with how Rainier started the night, as he spent his first timeout just two minutes and 16 seconds into the first quarter. The Mountaineers turned the ball over twice, and Denault already made an impact with a vigorous block in transition and converted a steal into a right-handed slam on the other end.
Everything went Napavine’s way in the first four minutes. The Tigers’ lead swelled to 15-3, with Denault and Hudson Chambers accounting for 11 points, and senior James Meldrum was hit with a technical after a hard foul. Rainier nabbed a handful of steals in that timeframe but struggled to finish in transition.
However, the Mountaineers didn’t back down from the Tigers in a raucous environment. Rainier began to punish Napavine off of its turnovers en route to a 13-4 run to close out the first quarter down 19-16.
Linson brought it to within a point with a quick layup in the second quarter, but a pair of 3-pointers by Denault kept Napavine in front with a 36-32 lead after a very fast-paced first half. The Tigers hardly had any possessions where they set up their halfcourt offense; as soon as they picked up a steal or a defensive rebound, they hurled the ball downcourt and tried to catch Rainier slacking.
“Rainier likes to get up and go with their press defense, and it was just kind of the way that the game unfolded,” Napavine head coach Eric Hersman said.
Sheaffer liked the way his new starters stepped up in the first half and responded to being punched in the mouth early.
“Guys stepped up that haven’t gotten opportunities, and that’s the cool thing about sports is you never know. You can’t measure a guy’s heart until you see him out there in battle, and we have some competitors,” he said. “We’ve got some fighters that we like on our side.”
Turnovers killed the pace to start the second half. Both teams traded takeaways on numerous possessions after Cal Bullock began the half with an and-one layup. Rainier’s turnovers started to outweigh Napavine’s, and the Tigers bruised the Mountaineers on the offensive glass. As a result, Napavine began to pull away thanks to a 19-9 advantage in the third quarter. Sheaffer called four timeouts in the third, but his team had no answer for the run-and-gun Tigers offense.
“We didn’t get back in transition as well as we would have liked to. Not having our normal depth, we really played a different brand of defense,” Sheaffer said. “They have some unbelievable athletes. It’s tough. Sometimes a guy just jumps over you. Sometimes a guy is just faster than you. But again, I really liked our mental toughness. I thought we kept our composure.”
Sporting a 14-point lead entering the fourth, Napavine continued to light it up inside and outside. Denault finished the night with 30 points highlighted by a couple of thrilling dunks.
“Karsen plays hard. He’s a terrific leader on and off the court. He plays hard and guys ride his energy. It’s just infectious,” Hersman said. “I’d like to have five or six Karsens, but I only get one. And he’s pretty special.”
The home crowd enjoyed Denault’s big night, but nothing excited them more than when junior Matt Watson came off the bench following chants of “We want Matthew” from the student section. Watson made the most of his minutes, snatching a steal, a rebound and knocking down a free throw after drawing a foul.
“Matt’s awesome. He’s the most loved kid in Napavine. He does everything with tremendous joy, and kids love him for it,” Hersman said of Watson. “Matt’s energy is infectious. It’s fun to watch.”
Jake Meldrum led the Mountaineers with 12 points, while Linson chipped in with 11 but turned the ball over nine times. Each team recorded 28 turnovers.
Rainier (4-2, 2-2 Central 2B League) comes home without a win from its road trip against Adna and Napavine, and the Mountaineers will host Morton-White Pass (3-2, 2-2 C2BL) at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20. Napavine (3-0, 3-0 C2BL) will hit the road this weekend to face Okanogan (6 p.m., Friday, Dec. 20) and Brewster (10:30 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 21).