The Rainier boys basketball team led late but couldn’t hold on Tuesday, dropping its season opener to Eatonville 64-59.
“We played well enough to win for three and a half quarters, but Eatonville made more plays than we did down the stretch,” Rainier coach Ben Sheaffer said. “Credit to them for continuing to battle.”
The Mountaineers (0-1) led 32-31 at halftime and added a couple points to the gap to head into the fourth quarter up 50-47, but gave the ball away too many times in the fourth and ultimately lost the lead.
“We had a chance to finish the game and weren’t able to do so,” Sheaffer said. “We will learn and use this as an opportunity to grow as a team.”
The Meldrum trio led the way for the Mountaineers, with Josh scoring 18 points, Jake pitching in 10, and Jimmy adding eight. Hunter Howell and Jared Sprouffske also scored eight points apiece.
Rainier will head to Tenino for another matchup against a 1A foe on Thursday.
