Onalaska Handles Foxless Rainier

The Onalaska boys looked sharp as they defeated Rainier 51-46 in a 1A Evergreen League game on Saturday. The loss was only slightly tempered by the fact that Rainier was playing without one of its best shooters in Jacob Fox and the fact that the two teams will meet again on Tuesday night at Rainier. In fact, Onalaska will play three games in four nights as they continue to make up snowed-out and flooded-out games from December and January.

Onalaska's Brady Stanley (#10) hit four threes and hit the last two free throws of the game for 14 points.

The Mountaineers stormed out of the locker room to a 15-9 1st quarter advantage, but Onalaska went on a 10-2 run to start the 2nd quarter and went into the locker room on a 7-3 flourish. Brady Stanley hit threes during the quarter and other points were contributed by Nick Modica, Eric Messal and Zack Barnes.

The Loggers employed an aggressive defense that resulted in several quick baskets after turnovers.

The Loggers largest lead was 41--30 after two Dalton Ritchey free throws with 6:55 to go in the 4th. Rainier went on a 6-0 run with a bucket and two free throws from Kyle North and two points from Bradon Franklin. After a bucket by Ony’s Jeff Swett, Franklin contributed three more free throws as he attracted the physical play of the Loggers and the lead dwindled to just 43-39.

Onalaska may not start any Seniors, but one plays an awfully big role on the team. Erik Messal hit a three with 4:02 to extend the lead to 46-39 and then a minute later he contributed another clutch 2 pointer. Rainier scored two more free throws by North and another bucket by Frankin, but it would not be enough.

Without fellow shooter and floor leader Jacob Fox, Kyle North (#14) kept Rainier in the game and was the overall high point man with 24 points.

Onalaska’s most productive five are juniors and sophomores with only two guys on the roster listed as a forward. The floor leader for Onalaska is Dalton Ritchey. “He missed a couple of early shots and got trying a little too much. But even on a bad night, he is good,” said Onalaska Head Coach Dennis Bower. “He is our floor leader, our emotional leader, he and Brady Stanley. He is just real solid and I feel comfortable with him, even when he is trying to do too much.

The aforementioned Stanley finished with 14 points while Ritchey had 10.

Dalton Ritchey ran the floor for Onalaska and added 10 points to the team's total.

The one senior on the team sits close to the coach though.

It was the performance of Eric Messal that caught the coach's attention. “The kid that hit the big shots down the stretch was a Senior” said Bower He is a great 6th man for us. He hit some big shots for us. Even when he was missing shots early, he hit the big shots.”

Onalaska Senior Eric Messal hit some clutch shots in the 4th quarter.

The Loggers are now 11-0 and 7-0 in league.

RAINIER-Jacob Fox 0, Delton Delio 0, Kevin Volaskey 6, Kyle North 21, Tyler Schaff 1, Mitch McComb 0, Matt Tietjen 0, Brandon Eygabroad 2, Bradon Franklin 9, Chris Ashby 5. FG — 14-41NA; FT — 12-18.
ONALASKA-Brady Stanley 14, Nick Modica 4, Dalton Ritchey 10, Eddie Miles 5, Cody Naillon 4, Eric Messal 12, Jeff Swett 2.

RAINIER 15 6 9 16 — 46
ONALASKA 9 19 12 12 — 51

Doubleheader of the Day...Rainier at Onalaska

There is an odd assortment of boys and girls basketball this Saturday with many non-league games that were either snowed out or flooded during our late December weather chaos. I don't see any match-ups as intriguing as the doubleheader at Onalaska this evening. At 5:45, the Onalaska girls will take on Rainier who are now officially the leaders of the 1A Evergreen Conference with their 40-34 win over previous league-leader Forks. Onalaska is 4th, but one through six, anybody can beat anyone as Winlock proved to Toledo, and Rainier certainly showed against Forks.

The Lady Logger's record is not impressive on paper, but they have been in every game and have a competitive mentality among the very best.

"Ony is Ony and they are always tough to beat on the road, said Rainier Girls Head Coach Dave Wasankari. "They are athletic and can shoot. We will have to play well to give ourselves a chance to win."

Rainier will come straight at Ony with Kristen Schoenherr who average about 15 points and 5'9" Chelsea Owens who contributes nearly 17 points and 8 rebounds per game.

Onalaska is led by Abmber Durand who is averaging about 21 points per game. Toledo concentrated on stopping her this week and only gave up 18 points to her. The Lady Loggers throw a multitude of talent in the intangibles. They score in tight spots, and move the ball around.

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The Onalaska boys are quietly undefeated on the season and can't seem to get much respect as yet. A game with Winlock was rescheduled after is was flooded out earlier this month. A victory against a hard-nosed Rainier team will put them in the minds of many observers until quality is proven otherwise.

The Loggers feature five pleayers that average in double figures and there is not a Senior among them. Cody Naillon, and Eddie Miles both average close to 12 points a game and are capable of grabbing 4 to 6 rebounds a piece. Sophomore Dalton Richey has emerged as one of the floor leaders as he and Brady Stanley both average 3 assists per game. Ritchy is now averaging 13 points a game. Jeff Swett is a worker under the boards with 8 rebounds a game. He also averages about 8 points a game.

Rainier counters with the interior play of Brandon Franklin who averages 12 points and over 5 rebounds a game. Kyle North is the floor leader with 4 assists per game but also has the capability to drop a big three-ball. Jacob Fox is also a great shooter from the outside. Both North and Fox average about 9 to 10 points a game.

This will be my first chance to see the Onalaska boys and the Rainier girls! It is a great opportunity to see some intense, high quality, high school basketball