ROCHESTER — Rainier fell behind early and never recovered Saturday afternoon against Toutle Lake, falling 61-28 in the first round of the 2B District 4 Tournament.
The Mountaineers couldn’t get anything going in the opening minutes, and before they were able to get on the scoreboard, Toutle Lake had opened up a 16-0 lead.
“We were a team that hasn’t been in a lot of these situations, and it showed,” Rainier coach Jordan Hunt said. “Obviously we would have liked to come out with a little more fire and confidence, but that’s not what we saw.”
The offensive struggles continued throughout the game. The Mountaineers turned the ball over in bunches, allowing for Toutle Lake to add on with transition buckets, and they also struggled to consistently get open looks inside.
Lexi Beckman had the best night of any Mountaineer offensively, as she led the team with 11 points, but no other Mountaineer scored more than four.
Kaysen Bravo and Anika Plowman both tallied four, and Kaitlyn Eckroth scored three.
“We worked hard on getting our high/low (offense) going,” Hunt said. “We weren’t really able to execute that the way we would have liked.”
Toutle Lake was led by Kendal Dean, who scored 19 points, Payton Thayer, who logged 18, and Lainey Dean, who added 11.
With the loss, Rainier (8-11) falls to the elimination bracket. To earn a trip to the state tournament, the Mountaineers will need to rattle off three straight wins in elimination games.
They’re first game will be back in Rochester on Thursday against Napavine or Toledo.
“We gotta flush this one,” Hunt said. “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves, as frustrating as it was. We gotta come out ready to play in the next one, or else our season’s over. I believe this team can show a lot more than they showed tonight, and I am definitely hopeful that they can come out with some fire in the next one.”
