Usually, the term “kills” is reserved for volleyball. Yet Luke Salme is borrowing the word for his own purposes to put a fire into the Adna High School boys basketball team.
If the Pirates get three defensive stops in a row, that equals one kill. Funky math? Sure. A recipe for success in the Class 2B District 4 tournament?
Let Wednesday night be the shining example.
Seven times did the Pirates come away with three consecutive stops, part of a larger scale defensive improvement in the second half that allowed the C2BL regular season champs to outlast a feisty Rainier squad 68-51 on Ron Brown Court in Centralia in a quarterfinal contest.
“I’m pretty pumped; one down and hopefully two more to go,” Salme, the Pirates head coach said. “I’m always happy if you win a district game. When you get to this time of year, just find a way to win. When we have five (kills) in a half, we’re gonna beat you.”
Throughout the first half, Adna routinely overhelped and allowed Rainier to take open 3-point shots. If it wasn’t overhelping, it missed individual mishaps. Those factors plus inconsistencies on effort kept the Pirates from pulling away.
Guard Landen Cline knew changes had to be made.
“Just get on top (of little things),” Cline said. “We didn’t execute.”
Adna threw some different looks at Rainier and after leading by just two midway through the third, established itself as one of the favorites to claim the district title with a 12-0 run that maintained a double digit cushion the rest of the way.
Cline and Trevin Salme each had four points amidst the run. Defensively, Talan Guerrero got some long minutes as did freshman James Greenwood.
“It is a fun group because we can do a lot of things,” Coach Salme said. “For us, like lots of teams, that fuels our offense.”
The two Adna guards each finished with 22 points on the night, beating the Mountaineers in their own style. Salme banged in three 3s in the first half while Cline hit some isolation jumpers and beat his defender off the dribble to draw contact down low.
After Jordan Pringle and Ty Beckman canned back-to-back trifectas to make it a 58-48 game, Cline connected on a 3-point play to bring the margin back to 13. Also for Adna, Grayson Humphrey registered 11 points.
Salme notched eight rebounds, Cline dished out six assists and Humphrey came away with four steals for Adna.
“We’re a great team when we get moving,” Cline said. “If I can get to the middle, I can create for myself and create for other people.”
While not one of the fastest guards he’s coached, Coach Salme described Cline’s quickness as “deceptive.”
“He knows how to play basketball,” he added. “He can get you leaning and he can attack. Now, he’s playing really confidently.”
Despite the setback, one that was considerably closer than the two regular season meetings. Rainier head coach Ben Sheaffer was far from disappointed.
“You know they are going to go on a run at some point,” Sheaffer said. “I don’t know how many people outside of our locker room thought we could battle that way, but we knew we could. Gosh, can’t fault the effort.”
The Mountaineers were up to the task early in trying to spring an upset.
Peyton Sheaffer scored 10 of their 15 first quarter points and while only finishing with 17 on the night, the rest of the roster stepped up. Devin Sheaffer and Pringle launched two straight 3s to tie the game at 25 apiece.
Even with its first team all-league pick shut down for stretches, Rainier kept the margin within striking distance. Pringle finished with nine points while Jacob Hanson plus Devin Sheaffer both tallied eight points.
“We have to continue to share the ball, we have guys that can make the open shots,” Coach Sheaffer said.
Now, it will be Adna versus Napavine for the right to play in the district championship. The two matchups were decided by single digits and one went to overtime. On a neutral site, anything and everything will be up for grabs.
“If we go in confident and play the way I know we can play, we can beat those guys,” Cline said.
Rainier now has to win three straight in a row in order for a second straight berth in the opening round of the state tournament. It will take on Toutle Lake on Friday night.
“These guys continue to show up,” Coach Sheaffer said. “I know one thing for sure, they are going to be ready on Friday.”
