All season long, the Napavine Tigers have made a habit of going on massive runs to pull away from their opponents. Wednesday was no different, as the Tigers used a massive second-quarter run to pull away from Forks and cruise to a dominant 74-38 win in a 2B District 4 quarterfinal.
“It’s what we’ve been doing all year,” Napavine coach Rex Stanley said.
The game was close for about six minutes, as the Spartans came out firing early and often from beyond the arc. They connected on a few threes, and the two sides were knotted at 11 with three minutes to play in the first quarter.
James Grose then did what he does best, scoring seven straight for Napavine to build a five-point cushion heading into the second quarter.
The Tigers (20-0, 13-0 C2BL) ran away with it in the second, going on a 22-2 run while building a 30-point halftime lead.
“You get late in the season, and you’re not gonna throw knockout punches in the first three minutes,” Stanley said. “Our style of play, it wears on people over time. And you just never know when that run is gonna come.”
At halftime, Grose had 22 points, one more than the entire Forks team, which trailed 51-21.
The Napavine offense continued to roll in the third, adding 20 points to get to 71 before going to the bench for the fourth.
“We did a good job today from the opening tip of pushing the ball offensively,” Stanley said. “We just kept the pressure up.”
After catching fire in the first from deep, the Spartans went cold, missing each of their remaining three-point attempts to finish 3 for 17 from deep. Overall, they shot just 32.7 percent from the floor, while the Tigers finished with a mark of 50.8 percent, including a 40.9 percent mark from deep.
Grose finished with 31 points, shooting 6 for 11 both from inside the arc and beyond it. Karsen Denault added 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Jarin Prather connected twice from deep en route to 15 points.
With the win, the Tigers clinched a spot in the district semifinals, where they’ll take on Toutle Lake for the third time this season on Wednesday, Feb. 14 in Kelso.
Napavine took the first two matchups, but Stanley knows they’ll have their hands full with a state berth and a spot in the district title game on the line.
“It’s gonna be a battle,” Stanley said. “It's gonna be an absolute war. We’re looking forward to it.”
