ADNA — Think of the greatest rivalries in sports.
Yankees and Red Sox. Lakers and Celtics. Packers and Bears. The list goes on.
What do they all have in common? Besides decades of history and memorable moments, the best rivalries are gushing with vitriol, bitterness and prompt bragging rights from the winning fanbase over the losing when the two teams meet.
For many Southwest Washington residents, the Adna-Napavine rivalry immediately comes to mind in that conversation. While a new chapter of the rivalry Wednesday night oozed with everything that makes a rivalry great, including a near-comeback by Napavine from down 18 points in a 61-56 Adna victory, the most remarkable aspect of the night came off the court.
The Adna High School gymnasium was filled wall to wall with fans from both communities decked out in purple and coming together to support Colfax boys basketball head coach Reece Jenkin, who was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Adna also sold T-shirts to raise money for the Jenkin family, and a donation jar was available at the game.
The idea stemmed from Adna head coach Luke Salme, who is a close friend of Jenkin’s and has gotten to know Jenkin over the years through summer basketball camps.
“As soon as I heard what was going on, it was just marinating in my head. I was like, ‘Man, what can we do?’” Salme said. “I had a bone tumor when I was 10, and I spent a couple summers at a children’s hospital. I was really lucky that we caught it early. Like everyone else, I’ve lost close family and friends to cancer, and cancer touches all of us. [Jenkin] is such a good dude and such a good coach and such a good dad, and that’s what I want to be.”
Salme looked at the upcoming calendar and knew that Wednesday's game against Napavine would bring a packed house. Adna High School put the word out about the “Purple Out” in advance, and the whole Adna community, as well as the Napavine community, got the memo.
Both teams wore purple warmup shirts, both student sections donned purple, and both coaching staffs — from junior varsity to varsity — wore purple.
“I know some more prayers will go that family’s way after tonight, and I know a pretty good check will go that way to support them, however it can,” Salme said. “Really small towns are the best. I’m really proud of both towns.”
The two towns were treated to an exhilarating basketball game, the second matchup of the season between Adna and Napavine. Eighteen days after the Pirates defeated the Tigers 54-51 in overtime in Napavine, the rivals squared off in another barnburner that appeared for a stretch that it wouldn’t live up to the first meeting.
Napavine immediately scored the first five points of the night within the first two minutes, with Tyce Vigre securing a layup and Cal Bullock knocking down a 3-pointer. But the Tigers could only collect three more points in the first quarter, as Trevin Salme came alive with 11 points in the frame to give Adna a 14-8 advantage after one.
Salme kept racking up points early in the second quarter with a 3-pointer and a layup, and the Pirates closed the first half on an 11-2 run behind a couple buckets from Landen Cline and a wild putback layup by Kaden Richardson at the buzzer.
With Adna up 12 at halftime, Napavine began to catch a rhythm offensively. Vigre scored seven in the quarter and Layton Griffith added six, but every dent the Tigers made into the deficit was immediately answered by Adna.
Grayson Humphrey opened the fourth quarter with an alley-oop layup, and Adna eventually took its largest lead at 57-39 with six minutes and six seconds left.
Over the course of the next four and a half minutes, however, Napavine whittled the 18-point deficit down to three with a 17-2 run. Vigre and Cal Bullock hit 3-pointers at the start of the run, Eric Bullock cashed a triple to bring the Tigers within eight, and Griffith went to work down low with an and-one layup and a putback layup to make it a one-possession game.
Now only leading 59-56 with 1:38 to go, Adna turned the ball over, but Eric Bullock’s game-tying 3-point attempt with 48 seconds left missed. With 12 seconds left, Humphrey missed a triple, and Napavine called a timeout off the defensive rebound with the clock at 10.3 ticks.
Hudson Chambers received a pass off the inbound and cut to the rim for an open layup down by three, but the shot wouldn’t fall. Salme’s two free throws with under five seconds remaining iced the game, sealing a 61-56 win and a season sweep for Adna over Napavine — the first two-game sweep for the Pirates against the Tigers in the regular season since 2014-15.
“It’s just so much fun. I went to a small school. I’m 47, and I still remember rivalry games like that. There aren’t a lot of them in the state anymore,” Luke Salme said. “I can’t think of one in the Bs that’s that much fun. Am I shocked that we were up 15 with four minutes to go and all of a sudden, they had a chance to beat us? No, because it’s gonna happen when Adna plays Napavine. I’m really happy for our kids that we found a way just to come out on top.”
Salme added that Napavine was the “aggressor” in the fourth quarter and that his team struggles when it is not the aggressor. But games like this will help his team grow as the calendar flips to February.
“We’re not very good yet at putting away games in the fourth quarter when we need to,” Salme said. “We’re a little more timid than I would like us to be late, but we found a way.”
As for Napavine, the Tigers are just a couple of plays away from two rivalry games going in the other direction. Head coach Kayden Kelly learned that his team has plenty of fight to give, no matter the score.
“A lot of times in an environment like that, a team will get up 20 and your kids will quit. My guys never quit,” Kelly said. “It’s definitely a positive thing I'm excited about. Now it’s just finding a way to piece that together by starting fast so we don’t put ourselves in a hole like that.”
Trevin Salme led all scorers with 25 points, including 18 in the first half, and he pulled down nine rebounds and nabbed four steals. Cline added 12 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Humphrey finished with 10, and Jackson Knittle and James Greenwood scored six apiece.
Vigre paced Napavine with 18 points, while Cal Bullock and Griffith tallied 11 apiece. Chambers and Eric Bullock scored seven each.
Despite his impressive night, Salme gave credit to his team for persevering through a tough battle.
“Rivalry games, you know it’s going to be a big game, and we didn’t want to lose to them. Our guys made plays when we needed them to,” he said. “Anybody on our team, if we need them to go make a play, they will. I think that’s huge.”
Rivalry games are always big games in the standings, but the night was about a cause much bigger than basketball as the two heated rivals set their bitterness aside to support Jenkin and his family.
“Being a part of a cause like this, that’s what community is about. We might be against each other in the game, but everybody’s together in the battle of life,” Kelly said. “To see two towns come together like that, it’s pretty special.”
Adna (16-2, 13-0 Central 2B League) has won all nine games in the 2026 calendar year and will visit Mossyrock (8-10, 6-9 C2BL) Friday night. Napavine (13-4, 10-3 C2BL) will be at home for its final three regular season games, starting with a Friday night contest against Morton-White Pass (1-17, 1-13 C2BL).
