The Rainier High School girls basketball team is entering Central 2B League action on a seven-game winning streak after knocking off 2A Black Hills 58-46 Monday, Jan. 6.
The red-hot Mountaineers weren’t so red-hot to start against the Wolves, though, as the home team looked sluggish against a young Black Hills team. Rainier surrendered the first 11 points in the first quarter and trailed by five at halftime before igniting a 19-2 run in the fourth quarter to open up a comfortable lead.
“I told them, ‘We’re not playing like ourselves, and what happens is we start forcing the issue and it’s nothing close to us. If we’re ever going to do anything special with this team, it’s gonna have to be together,’” Rainier head coach Brandon Eygabroad said of the slow start.
Rainier’s offense looked ragged at times in the first quarter, with sloppy passes and poor shot selection. Black Hills guards Tyler Venable and Kiley McMahon caught the Mountaineers off guard with quick jump shots to snatch a 16-6 lead heading into the second quarter.
“We missed a couple easy ones, bombed a couple passes and got a little bit inside of our heads,” Eygabroad said.
The Mountaineers slowly crawled out of their slumber in the second by feeding Janess Blackburn and Lexi Beckman in the post, and they took much better care of the basketball to make it a two-possession game at halftime trailing 25-20.
Senior Angelica Askey stole the show in the third quarter after scoring just five points in the first half. Her triple with 3 minutes and 20 seconds left in the third gave Rainier its first lead of the game, and Brooklynn Swenson caught the Wolves defense lacking in transition and cut to the basket for an open layup. With the momentum swaying heavily in Rainier’s favor, Black Hills head coach Herb Guscott called for time to gather his young group.
“We have no depth, so the girls were forcing it. They’re a really tough team. They put a full-court pressure on us, and it’s just tough because it’s gonna fatigue you mentally and physically,” he said. “The kids just ran out of gas.”
As Black Hills' energy faltered, Askey’s tank seemed to be overflowing in the second half. She scored 10 points in the third quarter, and she kept her scorching shooting going into the fourth with a triple and a layup. She finished with 20 points, including 15 in the second half.
“Angelica got hot and knocked down some big shots, but it was also her teammates finding her. We just started playing our basketball game, which is that we’ve gotta play together and set each other up and make the extra pass,” Eygabroad said. “Naturally, she will find those shots in the offense rather than catching, hesitating and pulling an out-of-rhythm jump shot.”
Rainier used a 19-2 run in the fourth quarter, 31-7 from the third quarter, to pull ahead by 21 before Black Hills scored the last nine to make the final score less lopsided.
“I thought we played very, very well. They gave it their all, and at some point you just don’t quite have the horses,” Guscott said. “I’m really proud of those girls because I thought they played tremendously in the first half.”
Guscott said his team played man-to-man defense for the first time all season, and the Mountaineers adjusted by moving the ball side to side and creating open looks. Rainier also gashed Black Hills in transition, especially off of 18 Wolves turnovers, led by Swenson pushing the pace.
“She’s one of the best in transition that I’ve coached. She does exactly what I ask. She pushes the ball hard. She’s looking to zip the ball up the sideline,” Eygabroad said. “She always has her head up, and she’s strong enough and capable enough to make a three-quarter court pass on a line. I don’t know if it comes from her fastpitch days, but she’s really good at it.”
Swenson finished with a dozen points to go along with Askey’s 20, and Beckman added 10 points while Janess Blackburn contributed eight.
Rainier (9-1) wraps up non-league action temporarily as it will travel to Adna (9-1) Friday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. for a rematch of the 2B District 4 tournament semifinals, where the Mountaineers knocked off the top-seeded Pirates 49-44 on Feb. 13.
Black Hills (5-3) loses its third straight after winning its first five contests, and the Wolves will look to regroup quickly as they visit Shelton (6-1) in a league matchup Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m.
