RAINIER — In cinema, the goal of a sequel is to improve from the first installation.
In the case of Onalaska and Rainier, the script for the sequel was almost verbatim to the opening act.
The Loggers defeated the Mountaineers 43-36 in a Dec. 4 non-league game at Onalaska, and the script then was centered around sloppy offenses plagued by turnovers.
Round two? Same story. Only this time, sprinkle in 30 points from Emalie Jacoby.
Every point from the junior guard mattered Wednesday night as Onalaska defeated Rainier 47-39 on the road in a game that saw 38 combined turnovers, with 28 of those coming from the Mountaineers. Jacoby, who only scored eight in the first matchup with Rainier, put up 11 in the first half and 19 in the second half Wednesday.
“The spacing was really good tonight, and my teammates were making extra passes. It’s really nice that my teammates have that trust in me,” Jacoby said.
Rainier turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter to Onalaska’s six as the Loggers led just 8-5 after one. When both teams were able to get shots off, nothing went down, even for Jacoby, who missed her first few jumpers from the perimeter.
In the second quarter, turnovers remained an issue for the Mountaineers, who struggled to pass the ball amid Onalaska’s full-court pressure. Onalaska did not turn the ball over in the second quarter, and Jacoby found a rhythm on offense to give her team some separation on the scoreboard. The Loggers also crashed the glass with force despite being at a height disadvantage.
Lexi Beckman was a source of offense for Rainier early with nine of its 17 first-half points. The 6-foot-1 freshman post was forced to dribble the ball up the court on numerous possessions as the Loggers pressure was too much for Mountaineers ball handlers to overcome.
“I thought we did a much better job tonight on defense of keeping our bodies between them and the basket,” Onalaska head coach Alana Olson said. “We’ve learned from not just our last Rainier game but our past couple games about getting more disciplined on defense, not reaching as much and keeping ball handlers in front of us.”
Similar to the first meeting, Rainier made a run late in the game. The Mountaineers climbed to within a point with a 10-1 run fueled by 3-pointers by Zaylee Bravo, Kaysen Bravo and Alexis Myers midway through the third quarter, but a weird moment late in the third flipped the momentum back in the third.
Jacoby fought around a screen to get open on the left wing, but in doing so, her glasses flew off, lucky in the direction in which she was running. In stride, she bent down to pick them up, caught the ball and swished a 3-pointer. Jacoby scored eight of Onalaska’s final nine points in a 9-1 run to finish the third quarter up by 10.
The 10-point margin clearly wasn’t enough for her, as she immediately opened the fourth quarter with a layup and a pair of 3-pointers to give her a 30-piece and the Loggers a lead as big as 14 in what ended up as an eight-point victory.
“Our entire team feeds off of our defense, and I feel like when Emalie started picking up the defensive pressure, she really got going on offense as well,” Olson said. “I liked how she attacked the basket. She’s a very dynamic player. Being able to shoot the ball like she does and being able to drive, she’s tough to defend.”
The Mountaineers did an impressive job defending Jacoby in the first matchup last month, but she found a way to dice through the defense while also knocking down open looks.
“I said before the game to my assistant coach that I felt really good about everything, but you just never know when Jacoby is going to pop off. Tonight, she popped off,” Rainier head coach Jordan Hunt said. “Last time, I thought we did a good job of keeping her in front and not letting her set up. But credit to her. She’s so freaking fast.”
Hunt believes the biggest issues in Rainier’s losses this season have been its turnovers and its rebounding, including against the Loggers back in December. Rainier turned it over 27 times and allowed 10 offensive rebounds in the first meeting, and both numbers were higher Wednesday.
“It’s the same story, different day for us. There’s got to come a point where we choose to take care of the ball, choose to get every rebound, and choose to fight and compete,” Hunt said. “We work way too hard to give away so many possessions. That’s been the difference in every one of our losses this year.”
Outside of Jacoby’s 30, Renzy Marshall tallied nine points and Kaiyah Sandridge added four. Leighton Underhill and Randi Haight each scored two.
For Rainier, Beckman logged 13 points, Kaysen Bravo posted nine, and Myers put up eight. Zaylee Bravo provided five, and Marianna Gonzales produced four points off the bench.
Next up for Onalaska (8-4, 1-0 Central 2B League) is a big road test against Adna (11-2, 1-1 C2BL) Friday night, while Rainier (6-6, 0-2 C2BL) looks for its first league win at Toledo (9-2, 1-0 C2BL) Friday night.
