ROCHESTER — Napavine had won three in a row entering their district tournament opener on Saturday, but Napavine coach Shane Schutz felt that the Tigers were leaving some meat on the bone.
“It’s just nice to get to play and get the bad taste out of our mouths,” Schutz said. “We haven’t been playing very well the last few weeks.”
Schutz was more pleased after the first round of the district tournament, as Napavine defeated Toledo 58-28 to advance to the district quarterfinals.
“I think there’s a resurgence of energy and excitement around the district tournament that can rejuvenate a team,” Schutz said. “I was proud of the effort. And for the most part, we executed a lot better than we have in recent weeks.”
Napavine took control early, beginning the game on a 13-3 run and taking a 12-point lead into the second quarter. It was more of the same in the second, as the Tigers went on a 12-2 run and eventually entered the locker room with a 36-12 lead.
The Tigers were their usual selves on the defensive end, forcing several turnovers and flipping those into points in transition. By the end of the game, they had scored 21 points off 23 Toledo turnovers.
“Now that the kids have a little bit of energy, it makes you better defensively,” Schutz said. “And I think we had fun tonight … I think we found our love for basketball again, and that was cool.”
Hayden Kaut had an outstanding game, scoring 21 points and grabbing 18 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end. Schutz wasn’t surprised that Kaut had another big postseason game.
“She has a lot of experience,” Schutz said. “She has to be the person that leads by example. It just inspires other kids, and that’s what we expect from her. She has a lot of skill, but she also has a work ethic that we’re really starting to see. When she does that, we’re a whole different team.”
Hannah Fay added 11, and Ava Ondong and Taylen Evander both scored eight. Nicholle Valentine scored four and came down with six rebounds, and Alexis Schutz had four assists and a point.
Ryah Stanley led Toledo with 10 points, and Ellie Fallon tallied eight points, four steals, and two rebounds. Peyton Holter had three assists and a point, and Hope Gould grabbed seven rebounds.
Toledo coach Randy Wood wasn’t discouraged despite the final scoreline, saying that Napavine is a team that the Riverhawks are striving to be like.
He did say things would need to get better before their upcoming elimination game, including the amount of turnovers, the lack of options against the press, and the defense's ability to limit offensive rebounds (Napavine had 25).
“That’s been kind of our bugaboo,” Wood said. “(I told them) keep your heads up. You take your lumps, you get better, and you move on … Just have good practices, get better every day, and the rest will take care of itself.”
Toledo (11-10) will face the loser of the MWP-Rainier quarterfinal on Thursday at Castle Rock. Napavine (16-5) will take on Forks, one of the P2BL’s top-two seeds.
“I think our league has prepared us for teams like that,” Schutz said. “We’re used to playing good teams. We’re gonna come ready to roll. It’s just another team that we have to get after and prepare for and work hard to achieve our goals.”
