ONALASKA — Logger coach Dennis Bower joked before the game about the Stanley Show coming to town.
And, predictably, one of the three Stanleys in Napavine’s starting lineup made a huge difference in the Tigers’ 53-39 Central 2B League win here Friday night.
Sophomore Peyton Stanley scored 19 points and dropped in a key triple at the third-quarter buzzer to lead Napavine.
The Loggers had cut their deficit to 34-30 late in the third quarter on a banked-in jumper from Jacob Modica, prompting the Tigers to run a full-court press. The pressure — aided by the fact that starting Logger guard Stone Whitney had picked up his fourth foul — produced a quick turnover, leading to a layup by Austin Filley, and Napavine got the ball inbounds to Stanley with 1.5 seconds left in the third quarter for the corner 3.
“We knew it was coming. Our philosophy is to tag out on him, and I don’t know if the screen was good, but we lost connection, and he doesn’t need much room to shoot,” Bower said. “That was a backbreaker. That was one of those demoralizing plays.”
The spark carried over into the fourth quarter, where another of Stanley’s five 3-pointers put the Tigers up 44-32 — and the lead was never under double-digits again.
The win was key for a Tiger team coming off a loss to Toledo Wednesday night that dropped Napavine out of a second-place tie in the league standings.
“Absolutely,” Napavine coach Rex Stanley said, emphasizing the impact each of the season’s remaining games has on seeding into the District 4 tournament. “I couldn’t be any happier with where we are as a group right now.”
Austin Filley scored 16 for Napavine, while Wyatt Stanley added 7 points, with 12 rebounds and six assists, including six boards in the fourth quarter.
“They’re just physical, and we couldn’t get clean blockouts,” Bower said. “They just kind of wore us down.”
Modica finished with 18 points for the Loggers, with 14 in the second half.
“Filley did a nice job on him, but Modica played well tonight,” Rex Stanley said. “He hadn’t been scoring as much as I thought he might this year, but he played really well.”
Bower was happy with the production from his leading scorer.
“He was aggressive to the ball, getting north-south downhill on his penetration, and his shot came back,” Bower said. “He’s been really struggling with his shot, and I thought he answered the bell and played hard.”
Napavine led by 12 midway through the second quarter, only to see Onalaska cut it to 26-20 at halftime. The Tigers finished the game 7 of 13 from long range, including 4 of 6 in the second half.
“I was a little disappointed we didn’t finish the first half better,” Rex Stanley said. “We knew coming in that possessions were going to be at a premium, that you can’t take possessions off, and it was going to be a grinder.”
Whitney added 9 points for Onalaska, though he left the game late in the second quarter with blood on his No. 30 jersey. He returned in the second half with No. 12, though as the Loggers sport names on their jerseys it came with “Wrzesinski” stitched across the back shoulders.
Napavine (11-3, 9-3 league) will host Adna at 5:45 p.m. tonight in the first game of a boys-girls doubleheader. Onalaska (3-11, 2-10 league) will host Winlock at 7 p.m. tonight in the late game of a coed twinbill.
T-Wolves Overcome Shabby First Quarter to Drop Vikings, 67-54
By The Chronicle
RANDLE — It wasn't the start the Timberwolves were hoping for, but a grinding effort allowed Morton-White Pass to come away with the hard-fought Central 2B League victory, besting Mossyrock 67-54 here in boys hoops action on Friday.
The Vikings jumped out on top, taking a 19-10 lead after the first period of play. The Timberwolves bounced back, answering by outscoring Mossyrock 20-5 in the next frame.
"That second quarter was huge for us after a dismal first quarter," Morton-White Pass coach Tony Gillispie said. "Mossyrock came out and punched us in the face multiple times. I give them a ton of credit for outplaying us early on."
The Mossyrock effort featured just four players in the scorebook, but all contributors chipped in significantly. Jaron Kirkley scored a team-high 18 points while bringing down seven rebounds. Bo Miles added 16 points, Danny Nelson had 14 points and Griffin Coleman rounded out the scoring with 7 points.
Meanwhile, the MWP charge was spearheaded by Kaleb Poquette, who recorded his first career triple-double with 21 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds.
"That might be the first time I've had a kid get a triple-double for me," Gillispie said. "That's quite the feat, especially after that rough start. Kaleb had a fine game."
Matt Poquette notched yet another double-double with 16 points and 14 boards, while Gage LaClef scored 14 points for the T-Wolves.
"It wasn't pretty tonight and it wasn't easy," Gillispie said. "But it was one of those games where we kept grinding and sometimes you have to win games like that to win a championship."
Morton-White Pass (12-0 league, 13-1 overall) will host Toledo at Morton this evening in a doubleheader with the girls playing at 5:45 p.m. followed by a 7 p.m. boys tipoff.
Mossyrock (7-5 league, 9-5 overall) will host Wahkiakum, also this evening.
Apperson Sparks Pirates in Win Over Pe Ell
ADNA — The Pirates came out fired up in the second half to run away with a 62-43 C2BL boys hoops win here Friday.
To stay in the game through a rough first half, however, they needed Austin Apperson.
Apperson played three quarters of JV, and in the second quarter of the varsity contest knocked down three 3-pointers and a runner to score 11 points on 4 of 4 shooting.
The Pirates led 33-28 at halftime, but outscored the Trojans 29-15 the rest of the way.
“He had 11 huge points that kind of kept us in the mix,” Adna coach Luke Salme said of Apperson, a freshman. “And then in the second half we played really well, defensively and executing.”
Garrett Trotter scored 18 for the Pirates, and Tanner Rigdon added 14.
“Trotter and Rigdon kind of started getting more aggressive at the rim and finishing at the rim, and that’s what we need them to do,” Salme said of the second half.
Dustin Lusk led Pe Ell with 9 points, and Josh Prestegord chipped in 8.
Adna (8-6, 7-5 league) will play at Napavine today in the 5:45 p.m. game of a boys-girls doubleheader. Pe Ell (6-8, 4-8 league) will host Toutle Lake today, in the late game of a coed twinbill.
Wallaces Score 24 Apiece in Rout of Ducks
TOLEDO — The Wallace cousins — Reece and Joe — came up huge in a 66-45 Toledo win over Toutle Lake here in Central 2B League boys basketball action on Friday.
The Indians staked their claim at the free throw line, going 22 of 26. Reece Wallace made 13, missing just one the entire night.
While Reece was finding his way to the line, Joe was shooting the lights out from the field, much to the appreciation of Toledo coach Grady Fallon.
"Toutle is a good shooting team and they played hard to give us a good game," Fallon said. "Luckily, Joe was feeling good and making his shots and Reece was finishing it out at the free throw line. All of the kids were hitting their shots tonight."
Lost in the stat sheet was an essential performance from Connor Vermilyea, who scored 8 points and notched eight rebounds and seven assists as the leading playmaker.
"He was the guy that kept making the extra pass," Fallon said of Vermilyea. "Guys were knocking down their shots. There was a lot of unselfish ball being played tonight."
The Indians also trimmed their turnovers, giving the ball away just 12 times in the win.
Toutle Lake shot 19 of 61 from the field, led by Cam Swanson's 13 points.
Toledo (11-3, 10-2 league) will travel to Morton this evening for a twinbill with the Timberwolves.
