Napavine Slips by Mules at Home

Wahkiakum and Napavine combined 36 personal fouls during their game Saturday night. Here, the Mules Blake Anderson (#10) wrestles several Napavine players for a lose ball.

Sometimes a good start is not enough, when a better finish is just the ticket. The Tigers of Napavine started with a six point run, but finished with two key free throws to clinch a 48-44 2CBL victory over Wahkiakum Saturday night.

Napavine scored the first six points of the game and then went ice cold during the 1st quarter as the Mules went on a 12-0 run with half of those points produced by Chase Fritzie during his 15 point total.

Napavine's Tyson Hunt (#22) hit all of his points at key moments in the 4th quarter.

The Tigers heated up in the 2nd quarter outscoring Wahkiakum 17-10. Napavine actually raised their field goal percentage to a reckless 29% with a relatively warm second stanza. It was also during the 2nd quarter when Napavine standout Blake Anthony started his vivid contribution to the game. In the first 1:57, he scored 8 points. By the time halftime rolled around, he had contributed 13 of the Tiger’s 17 points in the quarter.

Despite the low scoring game, the Mules pushed the ball and looked for transition opportunities. Napvine was able to foil the Mules transition game in the second half allowing Wahkiakum to shoot just 36% after allowing 42% in the first half.


Wahkiakum's Ryan Helms (#5) denied the Tiger's proflic scorer Blake Anthony (#33) during the 4th quarter.

The biggest shot of the night occurred with 1:35 to go. The Tigers led 43-42 but the Mules denied Anthony the ball most of the second half. It was Colton Brown who hit a three giving Napavine a larger, almost insurmountable advantage. From that point on, the free throw contest began with Anthony hitting two of three down the stretch to ice the game.

The more athletic Tigers out rebounded the Mules 41 to 30 but the Mules spent a lot of time at the free throw line to keep the game close. Ultimately, they hit an impressive 16 of 22 from the free throw line.

Blake Anthony led all scorers with 19 points while Fritzie led the Mules with 15 points. Wade Hamre had 3 assists for Napavine and Blake Anderson had three for Wahkiakum.

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WAHKIAKUM-Brad Pugh 2, Blake Anderson 7, Justin McClain 0, Chase Fritzie 15, Johna Chambers 0, Cody Olson 11, Troy Howard 4, Danny Helms 0, Ryan Helms 0, Bryce Hilzer 2, Tyson Bain 3

NAPAVINE-Wade Hamre 0, Mason Keller 0, Devin Carroll 11, Colton Brown 8, Tyson Hunt 4, Justin Smith 4, Jordan Brown 0, Reece Stanley 2, Micah Brown 0, Blake Anthony 19, Matthew Waltenburg 0

WAHKIAKUM 12 10 9 13-44
NAPAVINE 6 17 11 14-48

Adna Sneaks Into the Central 2B Picture

On Sunday, I discussed the action in the Boys Basketball Central 2B without a single reference to the Adna Pirates. Out of habit, I had placed the Adna girls in the poll about the best 2B basketball teams in the district and they did not receive a single vote.

In my Sunday post, I mentioned Napavine, Toutle Lake and Mossyrock but not a whisper about the Pirates. Perhaps this is an apology, or just a moment's hesitation that the Adna magic might be in suspension.

As it turns out, they have been the Yankees of the Central 2B. They have not lost contact yet when the games get important, they are just winning. Adna is Adna, we all know they have the athletes to win games. Such was the case in a close 33-32 contest over Toutle Lake at home (that really did not impress me) and then came a solid 52-46 win over Mossyrock.

So add Adna into the boy’s picture...they were there all along, just needing a solid second win.

Anthony Scores 31 as Napavine Rolls over Columbia Adventist

Napavine’s Blake Anthony put on a shooting clinic on Tuesday night as the Tigers bested Columbia Adventist 75-35 in Central 2B League play. The Kodiaks scored the first 3 points of the game but then Anthony, Matt Waltenberg and company hit five three point shots and scored the next 21 points.

Reece Stanley (#30) is open for a high percentage shot against Columbia Adventist Tuesday evening. Stanley scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

Columbia Adventist improved the quality of play in the 2nd quarter by trading baskets with the Tigers and were only outscored 14-12.

The Tiger onslaught continued in the 3rd quarter and when Napavine Head Coach Rex Stanley decided to play some reserves. “I was real pleased with the bench,” said Stanley. "When we emptied the bench with six minutes to go, they actually extended the lead.”

Besides Anthony who demands the casual spectator’s attention, Reece Stanley added 13 points and the play of Mason Keller who scored just two points but had five assists sparkled. Coach Rex Stanley also commended the play of Matthew Waltenberg, a hero of Napavine’s State Football Championship who is getting his first significant action on the varsity.

Napavine's Blake Anthony put up 31 points against Columbia Adventist in Tuesday night.

Clearly, it was a pleasure to watch Blake Anthony whose smooth shooting added up to just under 1.4 points per minute played. He also added 10 rebounds and 3 assists. One of those assists came in the third quarter when he drove down the left side of the key, faked a pass toward the baseline while actually making a no-look pass across his body to a teammate right under the basket.

It was a thing of beauty for both Anthony and the Tigers.

A snowed-out C2BL contest with Toutle Lake was rescheduled to this Saturday at 7:00pm.