After the Rainier High School girls basketball team improved to 13-0 with a blowout win over Raymond-South Bend on Jan. 6, head coach Brandon Eygabroad said that turnovers were still one nagging concern for his team.
In a road matchup against Napavine on Tuesday, Jan. 9, that slight nag became a nuisance as the Tigers handed the Mountaineers their first loss of the season, 58-37. On most nights, the Mountaineers put a chokehold on opposing offenses with their ball-hawking defense. But it was the Tigers who had the Mountaineers in a straitjacket, as Rainier turned the ball over 19 times in the loss, which Napavine converted for 14 points.
Eygabroad’s team scored its fewest points in a game this season and suffered its third straight loss to the Tigers dating back to last season.
“The goal was to make Napavine earn everything, and they got quite a few easy ones in transition,” he said. “They’re physical. They work their butts off, and they really get after it. That’s a really good team that we faced, and they’ll be there in March [at state].”
The Mountaineers quickly bounced back with a 47-42 home win over Toutle Lake on Thursday, Jan. 11, in a game where offense was at a premium. Both teams shot the ball below 30% and combined to turn it over 41 times.
In a raucous environment in Napavine, the Mountaineers fell behind 5-0 early as the Tigers made them pay for sloppy turnovers. Junior guard Brooklynn Swenson responded with five quick points, and senior post Haleigh Hanson’s layup made it 7-5 in favor of the road team. The Tigers closed the first quarter with an 11-3 run and led 16-10 through the opening period, a lead they did not relinquish for the remainder of the contest.
The deficit grew to six points with two minutes left in the first half, but Swenson provided a lift before halftime with two buckets. She finished with 19 of the Mountaineers’ 37 points.
“She’s a true competitor. She doesn’t let mistakes interrupt her flow of the game,” Eygabroad said. “She really brought that edge that we needed tonight.”
After trailing 24-20 at halftime, the second half was a different story for the Mountaineers. The Tigers took advantage of slow rotations on the Mountaineer defense, snagged consecutive offensive rebounds on multiple possessions, and harassed Rainier ball-handlers behind halfcourt. They opened up a 40-29 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Mountaineers played their worst eight minutes of the season so far in the fourth quarter. After Hanson’s bucket cut the margin to 40-31, Rainier turned the ball over on three straight possessions. The Tigers bolted to the finish line with a 16-2 run in less than 6 minutes, and the thunderous student section chanted “overrated” as the Mountaineers walked off the floor in defeat for the first time this year.
“I think we could have handled the environment a little better. It was crazy and hectic,” Eygabroad said of the Napavine crowd. “You want them to rise to the occasion, but it’s a good learning lesson. You can’t not show up against good teams. It’s not just for a quarter or a half. It’s for 32 minutes. You have to bring the intensity and bring that edge.”
The Mountaineers (14-1, 7-1 C2BL) also hosted Adna on Tuesday, Jan. 16 in a rematch of Dec. 8’s victory on the road. Results were not available before press time. Rainier will face league foe Morton-White Pass at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18 on the road and visit Mount Vernon Christian High School at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20.
