HS Boys Basketball: Napavine Defeats Toledo to Stay Perfect in League Play

1/9/25

Napavine 57, Toledo 40

(Toledo, WA) In what many describe as a new era of Central 2B League boys basketball, multiple teams saw a lot of players graduate after last year and almost a reset of the league. Going into Thursday night, the Napavine Tigers had continued to move right along with a business as usual mindset under a new head coach and a massive roster change. For the Toledo Riverhawks, they returned a bulk of their very young team from last year, but still came into the 2024-25 season even younger than they were last year. Napavine and Toledo had seperated themselves, along with Adna and Rainier, from the rest of the pack, leading to a massive showdown on Thursday night.

It was a bumpy start for both teams on the offensive end, but Napavine got things going first. Multiple different Tigers scored as nobody got necessarily hot shooting the ball for Napavine, but good ball movement gave them some easy shots which led to easy points. Toledo had a massive problem as they struggled to avoid turnovers early. Once Napavine put on their full court press, things got worse for Toledo. However, once they solved the press, the Riverhawk defense tightened things up and they went on a run to end the 1st. After eight minutes of play, Napavine had a 14-7 lead.

A 7-0 run for the Tigers began the 2nd quarter as Beckett Landram really got going for Napavine. Hudson Chambers also put together a nice first half but Toledo once again started to take care of the ball better and began to see their deficit shrink. Cooper Fallon was a monster in the paint for Toledo on both ends of the floor as he kept the Tigers off the glass and out of the paint for the most part. It still was all Tigers in the 2nd quarter, but just before halftime Toledo went on a run. Adam Kruger and Eli Weeks finished the half on a high note, including Kruger being fouled with one second left to get a couple of free throws, which he hit both. Heading into halftime, Napavine still had a nice lead over Toledo at 32-18.

“Anything you can do, I can do better,” was the theme of the 3rd quarter in this 2B tilt. Tyce Vigre got fire for Toledo as they looked to cut into their deficit even more. Eli Weeks also got his offense going to go along with his already strong defense. However, after an early jolt for Toledo, things went very cold on offense. Toledo’s defense continued to make things tough on Napavine which allowed the Riverhawks to stay in the game. It would be a 9-8 quarter as the game headed to the 4th with Napavine still leading 41-26.

In the blink of an eye, Karsen Denault had opened up the Tiger lead early in the 4th. A quick three and then a two opened up the Tigers lead as they played smart basketball on both ends of the floor. The big issue in the 4th for Toledo was that they could not get the threes to drop to go on a run. Grady Wilson also splashed in a big three for Napavine while Jack Nelson began to find more success in the paint. While Vigre and Weeks would hit a three each, it was too much to overcome. The subs all entered late and after the final buzzer sounded, it was Napavine celebrating a 57-40 win over Toledo.

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game went to Napavine’s Karsen Denault. While Denault had a quieter first half than usual, the senior really took the game over late with five quick points in the 4th quarter to put a halt to Toledo’s comeback bid. Denault’s passing and defense were also a catalyst for Napavine who had to dig deep and could never pull away from Toledo. Denault’s big 4th quarter opened things up however, netting him the MVP of the game.

With the win, Napavine moves to 9-1 on the season and remains perfect in Central 2B League play at 7-0. The Tigers will next battle the Adna Pirates for first place in the league on Saturday at 3pm in Adna. Toledo drops to 10-2 overall and 6-2 in league play with their two losses coming to Napavine and Adna. The Riverhawks will look to get back in the win column on Tuesday when they visit the Morton/White Pass Timberwolves at 7pm.

Scoring

Napavine: Karsen Denault 19, Beckett Landram 11, Hudson Chambers 10, Grady Wilson 5, Cal Bullock 4, Jack Nelson 4, Matt Watson 4

Toledo: Tyce Vigre 13, Eli Weeks 12, Cooper Fallon 7, Adam Kruger 4, Ryker Sorensen 2, Conner Hill 2

Link to watch full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)

ESN Postgame Show