The Mountaineers gave the Vikings a run for their money in the first half. The Valley boys came into the game with so much gusto that they were jumping the gun, "We had a week-long focus of coming out with a lot of intensity, hustle and getting into our running after a lack luster first half against Ilwaco," said Coach Pearson. The Valley boys weren't waiting until they were completely squared up to shoot, and they were breaking out so quickly after each possession of the ball that they didn't quite have control of the ball by the time they were down court.
In the first quarter the boys were a point behind Rainier at 13 to 12. The boys were able to hold it together enough to keep neck and neck with Rainier.
In the second quarter the Valley boys let go of the close lead that Rainier had, and Rainier pulled forward and at halftime the score was 25 to 18 in the Mountaineers' favor.
"During halftime we talked about slowing down just a half second, turn and face the floor, make the correct reads and believe in your self," said Coach Pearson.
In the third quarter the scoreboards looked dramatically different than in the first half of the game. The Valley boys scored 27 points in the third quarter, and managed to keep the Mountaineers down while scoring at the same time, while allowing them to tie the score and then pull ahead of Rainier. The third quarter was the turning point for this game.
At the start of the fourth quarter the score was 45 to 33 in the Viking's favor, and the Valley boys just continued the trend they set in the third quarter. Taking their time to square up shots, and playing excellent defense contributed to their fourth quarter score where they only let three points to Rainier, and took 16 of their own to end the score at 61 to 36 in the Vikings' favor.