CHEHALIS — In years past, seasons like this for the Rainier Mountaineers wouldn’t end with a trip to the state tournament.
They battled injuries and illnesses that jumbled their starting lineup in the regular season. Many of the last 28 Mountaineers teams, including several recently, were just a few plays away from being one of the top contenders in the Central 2B League.
Not these Mountaineers.
Rainier is headed back to the 2B state tournament for the first time since 1997 after defeating Onalaska 66-50 in a loser-out 2B District 4 tournament game at W.F. West Friday, Feb. 21. The Mountaineers, led by a quartet of seniors who have spent five years on the varsity squad together, celebrated with screaming and laughter in the locker room.
“I don’t care how we got here. I know we’ve had a lot of adversity this year, and I’m happy that this is how we got here,” senior James Meldrum said. “We’ve gone through every possible scenario of losing a game and winning a game, and I’m glad this is the way we got here.”
That experience came in handy with Rainier fresh off a heartbreaking loss to Adna in the district semifinals Wednesday, Feb. 19, at Kelso. The Mountaineers looked like themselves in the opening minutes against the Loggers, as Hunter Howell got the hot hand from downtown to the tune of 10 points in the first five minutes of action.
Similarly to the start of the Adna game, the Mountaineers defense went to work from the tip, forcing tough shots and turnovers. But the pace of the game was dramatically slowed due to a bevy of foul calls, and Jake Meldrum and Howell found themselves with two fouls entering the second quarter.
Leading 18-12 after one, the Mountaineers traded blows with the Loggers throughout the second quarter. Justin Jacoby fired up the Onalaska faithful by ripping the ball out of the arms of Peyton Sheaffer and laying it in. Josh Meldrum’s triple gave Rainier its biggest lead at 29-20 with two minutes to halftime until the Loggers stormed back and cut it to two.
Onalaska had a chance to tie or take the lead going into the locker room after Josh Meldrum picked up a technical foul to give the Loggers two free throws and the ball with a few ticks left. Blaze Underhill knocked down the two shots from the charity stripe, but the Loggers couldn’t inch closer on their final possession trailing 31-29 at the half.
The third quarter has been the kryptonite for Fred Sturza’s Loggers all season, and Rainier seemed to know it. A game that was once a one-possession game turned into a blowout, with junior Jordan Pringle registering a couple more clutch postseason buckets, reminiscent of his second-half outburst against Forks in the quarterfinals. Rainier outscored Onalaska 21-4 in the frame to jump in front 52-33.
“Our third quarters have not been a great thing, so that’s something as a coach I want to work on this offseason is to figure out if it’s the message or if we need to do something on warmups,” Sturza said. “Third quarters are always iffy and then we always get that little snap back.”
Underhill canned a triple to open the fourth quarter. On the ensuing possession, Josh Meldrum plucked away the ball from Onalaska and was mauled by Underhill in transition, causing a brief commotion between both teams.
The event seemed to fire up the Loggers as their defense began to disrupt Rainier and helped them crawl back to within nine. But their shots stopped falling in the final minutes, and the Mountaineers hit nine of their 11 free-throw attempts in the final two minutes to seal the victory and the historic state bid.
“I’m just happy for the kids. We have a group that’s put in a lot of work and played a ton of basketball,” Rainier head coach Ben Sheaffer said. “It’s just a really satisfying feeling for them to get that opportunity and to get that recognition.”
Rainier often had the habit, to Sheaffer’s exasperation, of focusing on the wrong tasks and letting their emotions get the best of them, particularly in close games. In a contest that saw three technical fouls and an intentional foul called, Sheaffer said he was proud of how his team finished the game with so much at stake.
“I think the biggest thing was we did a nice job taking care of the ball against their pressure, and then we stepped up and hit some timely free throws,” he said. “That’s how you win this time of year.”
Josh Meldrum finished with a game-high 22 points, with 11 coming from the foul line. While his brother, James, scored two points, he provided an emotional leadership in a heated contest, fueled by his love for his teammates through five hard-fought years.
“It was a very messy game, but I’m proud that we came together. We’ve gone out that way before. We’ve gotten in our own heads,” James said. “But we’ve played together our whole lives. We’ve known each other forever. We know pretty much everything about each other. We all share the same love for one another, for the game of basketball.”
Before Rainier heads east to Spokane next month, it will face C2BL foe Napavine in the third-place game Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. at W.F. West. Onalaska’s season ends with a 12-14 record but three wins in the district tournament.
