The Rainier Mountaineers girls basketball team may boast one of the best defenses in the state. In their home win over Central 2B League foe Winlock on Wednesday, Jan. 3, the Mountaineers held the Cardinals to 14 points to secure their 11th consecutive victory to open the season.
With the help of its dominant defense, Rainier scored 82 points — the most the team has scored in a game in head coach Brandon Eygabroad’s tenure, which began in the 2018-19 season.
The Mountaineers raced out to a 26-5 start through the first quarter behind a bevy of steals and transition baskets, including from junior guard/forward Bryn Beckman who outscored Winlock 10-8 in the first quarter alone. Their dominance grew in the second quarter, scoring another 26 points to Winlock’s 3 to take a 52-8 lead at the break.
“We came out and played our game. We got after it on the defensive side, created turnovers and got easy baskets in transition,” Eygabroad said of the victory. “On offense, we shared the ball and knocked down shots, but the defense caused a lot of those easy buckets. It was nice to fill up the scoreboard.”
Eygabroad subbed his starters out with a 66-10 lead more than three minutes into the second half. The Mountaineers’ second unit continued the defensive shutdown in the fourth quarter, clamping the Cardinals to 2 points in the final period to finish off the 82-14 victory. Beckman finished with a game-high 17 points, 15 of which came in the first half. Anika Plowman came off the bench and provided 14 points, Brooklynn Swenson scored a dozen and Angelica Askey scored 10.
The Mountaineers (11-0, 5-0 C2BL) also defeated Mountain View in a road non-league game, 51-29, on Tuesday, Jan. 2. They get a day off on Thursday before a road league match at Wahkiakum Friday at 6 p.m. and a home non-league bout against Raymond-South Bend on Saturday at 5 p.m. A potential battle between two undefeated teams in Central 2B League play is on the horizon as Rainier will visit Napavine (11-1, 5-0 C2BL) on Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.
“We’ve got to keep fine tuning our game and focus on the little details,” Eygabroad said of how he wants his team to finish the week. “Whether it’s how we’re boxing out every single possession, playing team defense, being ready to help and recover, and just getting more and more focused. We’ve got a month to go and then we’re into districts.”
