Toledo senior Cooper Fallon became the 11th Riverhawks boys basketball player to surpass 1,000 career points as his 27 points and 18 rebounds led Toledo to a 78-65 win over Rainier Tuesday night.
Fallon, who needed 15 points entering Tuesday’s game to hit the mark, reached the milestone early in the third quarter on a jump shot from the free-throw line. His efforts were necessary, as Rainier gave Toledo all it could handle in the first three quarters.
The Mountaineers were hot from behind the arc, knocking down six 3-pointers in the first half as they trailed 32-31 at halftime. Rainier hit four more triples in the third quarter to take a 52-51 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
But the Riverhawks’ offense caught fire in the fourth, with Eli Weeks draining back-to-back 3-pointers, and both Fallon and Trevin Gale converted 3-point plays the old-fashioned way by drawing contact. Toledo outscored Rainier 27-13 in the final frame after neither team had led by more than seven in the first three quarters.
“It went from a one- or two-point game to 10. It was like, ‘Oh my God, we can breathe now,’” Toledo head coach Grady Fallon said. “It felt like they shot 99% from the field.”
Cooper Fallon shot 13 of 20 from the field and scored a game-high 27 points, while Trevin Gale added 18 points. Adam Kruger tallied 13, Eli Weeks posted 10, and Conner Hill put up eight.
Rainier drilled a whopping 12 triples, with Jordan Pringle knocking down five en route to a 17-point night. Peyton Sheaffer also scored 17 points, and Nehemiah Linson logged 16. Freshman Devin Sheaffer added eight points.
Toledo (5-0, 4-0 Central 2B League) will host Napavine (7-0, 5-0 C2BL) in a C2BL heavyweight bout Thursday night. Rainier (6-5, 4-3 C2BL) heads to Onalaska (4-6, 3-4 C2BL) Thursday night before two home league games next week.
