The Rainier High School boys basketball team returned from a 13-day break with four league games in six days. The busy slate was due to a number of postponed games earlier this month from icy conditions.
Napavine came to Rainier on Wednesday, Jan. 17 and crushed the Mountaineers, 89-46, marking Rainier’s worst loss since Feb. 23, 2019. The Tigers scored 48 points in the first half compared with the Mountaineers’ 19, and the road team’s hot shooting from 3-point range and speed surprised head coach Ben Sheaffer’s team.
“It is impossible to simulate Napavine’s speed and the pressure that they put on you with their style of play,” he said after the game. “They are obviously really talented and shot the heck out of the ball, but defensively we didn’t bring the same tenacity that we typically do.”
The Mountaineers got back in the win column, 71-27, on Friday, Jan. 19 on the road against Winlock. This time, Rainier came out firing in the first half, leading the Cardinals, 45-12, at halftime. Four players scored in double figures, led by Peyton Sheaffer’s 15, and the Mountaineers allowed a season-low 27 points in the victory.
“Our activity on defense created some nice opportunities for us, and we shot the ball better than we have in some time,” Ben Sheaffer said.
Rainier returned home for a bout with Morton-White Pass on Saturday, Jan. 20 and emphatically defeated the Timberwolves, 68-42. The Mountaineers kept their spot near the top of the Central 2B League standings at 6-2 while building a positive momentum entering the final two weeks of the regular season.
“As simple as it sounds, it looked like we were having fun. After all, it is a game,” Sheaffer said after the win. “We were unselfish with the basketball, celebrated one another and played with an edge on defense.”
The short win streak was snapped on Monday, Jan. 22 at Toutle Lake, another contender in the C2BL, as the Mountaineers trailed by double digits early and couldn’t claw all the way back, losing 65-53.
With a week and a half remaining in the regular season, Rainier (11-5, 6-3 C2BL) stands at fifth place in the C2BL as of Tuesday. The Mountaineers faced Onalaska on Wednesday, Jan. 24, but results were not available before press time. They will have a chance to climb the standings with a home game against second-place Adna at 5:45 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 26. Rainier finishes the regular season on the road next week at Wahkiakum on Tuesday, Jan. 30 and at Toledo on Thursday, Feb. 1.
