HS Boys Basketball: Napavine Defeats Adna, Take First Place in C2BL

1/29/25

Napavine 79, Adna 61

(Napavine, WA) There are big regular season high school basketball games that just have a different feel about them. Two teams battling it out for league titles, RPI rankings, and to just see who the best it. Those games feel special. When you take one of those games and make it a rivalry matchup, things go to a whole other level.

That was the situation on Wednesday night in Napavine as the Tigers looked to celebrate Senior Night with a victory and get a little bit of revenge against the Adna Pirates. The two teams entered the showdown with identical league records and first place on the line. When the teams first met back on January 11th, it was Adna defending homecourt with a defensive victory by a final score of 47-40. It was abundantly clear very early in round two that this would be an entirely different game.

Napavine came out rolling on offense right out of the gate with multiple Tigers finding the bottom of the net. The Napavine defense was the key early for home team as they frustrated Adna and forced multiple turnovers that led to easy, transition buckets. The Tigers mixed in a full court press but the halfcourt offense also was rolling for the Tigers. Adna would get going later in the opening quarter, but Napavine still had the lead after one, 19-12.

While Adna got their offense in more of a groove in the 2nd quarter, Napavine shot lights out in the 2nd. Beckett Landram began to just take the game over along with Karsen Denault. Grady Wilson and Hudson Chambers also splashed in some threes as well. Free throw shooting as a major issue for Adna to go along with the turnovers and missed shots at the basket. The big key for Napavine was the dominance on the boards as they held Adna to a lot of one-shot possessions while the Tigers would get anywhere from two to four looks on a possession. The Tigers also matched Adna every time the Pirates hit a big three. A Karsen Denault three at the buzzer would put a stamp on a 27-point quarter and gave Napavine a 46-30 lead at halftime.

Adna continued to fight in the 3rd quarter as Trevin Salme got hot for the Pirates. Salme exploded for 10 points in the 3rd quarter and Grayson Humphrey also hit some shots from three-point land. But once again, every time Adna went on a run, the Tigers had a response ready. Landram and Denault continued to be the scorers for Napavine while Cal Bullock also had a sneaky good second half. The paint presence of Jack Nelson remained the X-factor for Napavine on offense and defense as well. The game was off to the 4th quarter after another Salme three with Napavine leading 67-48.

With eight minutes to go, Adna began to make their move. Continuing to build off the momentum in the 3rd quarter, Trevin Salme kept scoring at will as Gavan Muller began to be a paint presence for Adna. With Jack Nelson in foul trouble, Adna limited the offensive rebounding of Napavine. However, the Pirates went just 9-17 from the free throw line. Those missed opportunities prevented the Pirates from ever trimming their deficit to single digits. A huge three from Beckett Landram put an abrupt end to the Adna rally and sealed the game away. Both teams emptied their benches and it was Napavine coming away with the 79-61 win.

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game was Beckett Landram for Napavine. The Tiger point guard was fantastic facilitating the Tiger offense all game long and set the tone for the tremendous ball movement. Landram was also sensational on defense but lit up the scoring column as well with 25 points and five three pointers. With Landram emerging as a serious scoring threat for the Tigers, Napavine will be a dangerous out for anyone in the postseason.

The win moves Napavine to 16-2 overall and 13-1 in league play with just two games to go. If Napavine wins both of their remaining games, they will win the league title for a second consecutive year. The Tigers will visit Morton-White Pass on Friday before visiting Winlock on Monday to wrap up the regular season. Adna drops to 15-4 and 12-2 in C2BL play. The Pirates will try to end the season on a high note when they host Mossyrock on Friday and then visit Morton-White Pass on Monday.

Scoring

Adna: Trevin Salme 26, Grayson Humphrey 16, Gavan Muller 12, Jackson Knittle 6, Beau Miller 1

Napavine: Karsen Denault 26, Beckett Landram 25, Cal Bullock 12, Hudson Chambers 6, Jack Nelson 4, Grady Wilson 3, Tyler Watson 3

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

ESN Postgame Show