After a back-and-forth first half, the 2B No. 7 Napavine girls basketball team separated from 2A No. 8 Tumwater on the road for a dominant non-league victory, 49-24.
The Tigers led 19-16 in a defensive battle at the halftime break, but a steady rebound advantage and second-chance points helped Napavine pull away to open 2023 with a win against a ranked 2A squad.
Napavine scored 18 second chance points, and took 13 more shots than the Thunderbirds in the second half, owning a 45-24 advantage on the boards.
Keira O’Neill led the way in the post with nine points and 10 rebounds, and Hayden Kaut added a game-high 18 points and nine more rebounds at a guard spot. Morgan Hamilton also scored in double figures with 13 points.
While the Tigers controlled the boards, they also limited the T-Birds to one shot, and not many of them went down for a cold Tumwater squad. The Thunderbirds made just 2 of their 15 shots in the second half, scoring eight points in the final two frames.
Kendall Gjurasic had a team-high 12 points for Tumwater, and had 12 rebounds for the double-double, on an otherwise off-shooting night. Still without star guard Kylie Waltermeyer, the T-Birds shot 21.6% from the field in the loss.
The Tigers will roll back into league play against Winlock on Wednesday, while the Thunderbirds look to rebound against crosstown rival Black Hills on Friday.
