Believe it or not, Tuesday marked the first 30-point game for Hayden Kaut in her prep career, helping the Tigers stay perfect in the C2BL with a 61-31 victory over the Mountaineers at home.
The Montana recruit’s new career-high was paired with seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. She was 11-of-13 from the field and 4-of-4 from downtown. Napavine (14-4, 5-0 C2BL) can nab at least a share of the league title with a win on Thursday versus Onalaska.
“Hayden did a great job of making herself available offensively,” Tigers head coach Shane Schutz said.
Napavine led wire-to-wire and defensively, forcing Rainier to turn the ball over 25 times which led to 32 points. The Mountaineers had just five assists and shot 32 percent from the field, including one triple in 10 attempts.
Nicholle Valentine added 12 points for the Tigers while Hannah Fay came away with a game-high five steals. Taylen Evander had an eventful night with five points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
For the Mountaineers (7-10, 1-4), Lexi Beckman led the way with 14 points and Alexis Myers chipped in nine. They will take on Toutle Lake at home on Thursday, attempting to move up the league standings with the regular season winding down.
“We like to play fast, but it is tough when the game is that physical,” Rainier head coach Jordan Hunt, a former Napavine assistant coach, said. “We learned a lot from this one.”
