The Rainier High School girls basketball team entered the 2024-25 campaign with a bevy of questions about its depth amid injuries and key departures.
Two of those questions were answered in the Mountaineers’ season-opening 57-44 win at home over 3A Mountain View Tuesday, Dec. 3. Freshman guard Kaysen Bravo and eighth grade post Lexi Beckman, each making their first varsity start, combined to score 22 points, including 14 of Rainier’s 21 fourth-quarter points.
Head coach Brandon Eygabroad was impressed with the youngsters who led Rainier to a big fourth-quarter finish after trailing through three frames. Bravo and Beckman each finished with 11 points, and Beckman logged her first career double-double with 13 rebounds in her debut.
“We are not a very deep team, so we needed some young players to step up. Lexi and Kaysen have done nothing but impress me in practice,” he said. “They’re ready for the moment.”
It was the seniors who paced Rainier in the first quarter, as Angelica Askey and Janess Blackburn tallied 15 of Rainier’s 18 points in the period. Askey found her rhythm after quickly missing her first two shots of the night, canning a trifecta of triples.
Mountain View tested Rainier from that point, swarming the basketball on defense and forcing the Mountaineers to make uncharacteristic turnovers and shoot difficult shots. After surrendering three turnovers in the first quarter, Rainier turned it over seven times in the second.
While they weren’t aggressive shooting the ball in the first half, Beckman and Bravo played strong defense. Beckman in particular was attacked frequently in the paint and held her own against Sveva Bernasconi, a member of the FIBA U17 Italian national team. Rainier led the Thunder, 27-23, at halftime, with Mountain View holding the Mountaineers to just nine points in the second quarter.
Rainier’s offensive woes continued to start the second half as the team turned it over seven times in a six-minute span and could only muster up another nine points in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Thunder crawled back from an early eight-point deficit in the frame to take the lead thanks to a 13-3 run fueled by two 3-pointers by Mylee Thompson. Blackburn’s buzzer-beating layup cut Mountain View’s lead to 38-36 heading to the fourth.
Despite scoring 18 points in the second and third quarters combined after putting up 18 in the first alone, Eygabroad was glad to see his team face adversity early in the season.
“We started really well. We were in rhythm and hitting shots, and then their defensive pressure started picking up. I loved what I saw from that pressure making us uncomfortable like that,” he said. “We need that in every one of these early-season games. They sped us up.”
The Mountaineers’ seasoned veterans started the game hot, and the youngsters finished the game hot. Beckman and Bravo took over to start the fourth, with Beckman tying the game at 38 before Bravo nailed a go-ahead 3-pointer. Coming off of a steal, Bravo knocked down another trey to extend the lead to 46-38 just two minutes into the quarter.
Rainier flipped the turnover battle in the final minutes, coughing the ball up just twice after 17 in the first three quarters and forcing seven Mountain View turnovers. Bravo converted a layup late in the fourth for good measure, and a dagger triple from senior Brooklynn Swenson sealed the deal for Rainier in a 57-46 win capped off by a 21-6 final period.
“It’s possession by possession. Every time out, we have to take care of the ball and we have to play our game and not let them speed us up,” Eygabroad said. “That’s a good team. That’s a 3A school with three really talented players.”
Eygabroad complimented Beckman on her ability to defend those talented players and use her length and 6-foot frame to her advantage.
“She’s just disciplined. Defensively, she moves her feet. She goes straight up and down. She really does a good job of contesting,” he said. “With rebounding, she boxes out every single time. Offensively, she’s patient down there. She knocked down some big shots for an eighth grader.”
He also lauded Bravo for her confidence in key moments against a 3A team that finished 16-6 last season, as well as her teammates for giving her opportunities late in the game to come up clutch.
“She’s not one to shy away from a moment. You want them to be themselves, and in these moments, that shines. That comes out,” Eygabroad said. “What I love most is her teammates having the trust in her to take and to make those shots.”
Blackburn led the Mountaineers with 16 points and Askey scored 14, all in the first half, to go along with 11 each from Beckman and Bravo.
The Mountaineers (1-0) will face 1A Seton Catholic at home at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5 before traveling to Rochester on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 6:45 p.m.
