Battle-Tested Tigers Use Depth, Strong Second Half to Leap into State Quarterfinals

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The formula looked pretty similar for the No. 3 Napavine girls basketball team in the opening round of the 2B State Tournament Friday night at W.F. West. 

Though no current Tiger on the roster had played in a state game before, Napavine did what it has done all year, and ground out a 52-44 win over No. 6 La Conner in the opening round of state, vaulting the Tigers all the way into the state quarterfinals in Spokane. 

The win ensures Napavine at least two games at Spokane Arena, starting Thursday, among the eight best teams in the state. 

“We didn’t play that well in the first half but we played well enough to stay close and that was probably a lot to do with La Conner,” Napavine coach Shane Schutz said. “Today was like a trophy game, they’re really good, but we stuck in and made some adjustments at half. 

“We tried to simplify things in our offense, switched everything, and that was a big difference.”

The Tigers trailed by one at the halftime break, scoring just 20 points and hitting seven total shots from the floor, having a hard time in the halfcourt against a larger La Conner squad. 

Freshman guard Hayden Kaut kept the Tigers afloat with 11 first half points, and finished with a team-high 21 points when all was said and done, continuing her strong individual postseason run. 

Out of the half, the Tigers took advantage of a tired La Conner starting five, rotating bench pieces to stay fresh, and eventually stole away steal after steal to build up a double-digit lead with minutes left in the fourth quarter. 

“I thought our defense got our offense going,” Schutz said. “We got some steals out of our press that changed the momentum of the game. That’s always fed us offensively. You could see they were getting tired, by the last four minutes they were exhausted.”

The Tigers separated from there, and grinded out their 22nd consecutive win — and over a top-6 team in the state, no less. 

Morgan Hamilton finished with 10 points, scoring a couple of buckets late to help the Tigers separate, and Keira O’Neill grinded out 10 more points and eight rebounds after taking a hit to the face in the first half. 

Schutz also praised his point guards, Taylen Evander and Avery Schutz, for handling La Conner’s early pressure and getting the Tigers into their sets in the second half. 

For now, while the Tigers won’t know who they’ll be playing in the state quaterfinals, they’ll drive east to Spokane on Tuesday and hope to continue their winning ways on Thursday east of the mountains. 

“Hopefully we just continue to ride this wave,” Schutz said.