By RayJaun Stelly, The Seattle Medium
In a rematch from a matchup in December, the number one seed Garfield Bulldogs and the number two seed Auburn Trojans faced off again, but this time it was in the first round of the WIAA Boys 3A state basketball tournament. With division one players on both teams, this set out to be one of the best first round games of the tournament in a long time.
Despite Garfield’s Jaylin Stewart scoring the game’s first points, the Trojans threw the first punch as they went on a 10-0 run. Maleek Arington poured in 7 of the points and Dae’Kwon Watson made a three pointer, as Auburn controlled the early momentum of the game and forced the Bulldogs to call a timeout.
Following the timeout, the Bulldogs leaned on the low-post scoring of Stewart and Legend Smiley as they trimmed their deficit from 12-2 to 17-12 heading into the second quarter.
During the second quarter, the Bulldogs had to play without their leading scorer as Koren Johnson hurt his shoulder while driving to the basket. On the play, Johnson fell into the padded base of the basketball basket support frame after being fouled, and in the blink of any eye one of Garfield’s key players was out for the quarter.
With Johnson out, it was time for Garfield’s other players to rise to the occasion. The Bulldog’s would rally to take a 28-26 going into halftime. Kenzel Massey led the initial charge as he scored 5 quick points. Tremaine Guidry and Raphiel Justice both completed three-point plays, while Jazel Brown and Stewart made timely layups to lead the Bulldog rally despite the absence of the Metro League’s MVP.
The second half would ensue complete madness. Both teams would go back-and-forth scoring, forcing turnovers and controlling momentum. Johnson’s return at the start of the second half was a boost for Bulldog fans, which ignited another run by Garfield.
Massey would hit his second three-pointer of the game, while Johnson followed suit with a three-pointer of his own, Justice assisted on a dunk by Stewart and Guidry made a layup to give Garfield 40-30 lead with under two minutes to go in the third quarter. Down 10, the Trojans’ Tre Blassingame and Watson combined to score 6 points to end the quarter and shift the momentum back to Auburn, yet again.
Auburn would continue to cut into the Bulldog’s lead to begin the fourth quarter. The Trojans scored 7 points, while holding Garfield to just three points in the opening minutes of the quarter to bring the score to 45-43. The final minutes of the game consisted of fast-paced, back-and-forth scoring barrage by both sides, and with Garfield leading 53-51 and 7.2 seconds left, a stop would punch their ticket to the next round.
However, with the clock winding down Auburn’s Blassingame was fouled with .8 seconds left, resulting in him going to the free throw line and making both free throw attempts to tie the game at 53 to send the game in to overtime.
In overtime period, just like the fourth quarter, the game would come down to free throws. Auburn led 62-60 after a layup by Stewart. On the ensuing play, the Bulldogs stole the inbounds pass and Justice drove to the rim against Auburn’s Waston and was called for a charging foul.
Watson went to the free throw line and made both free throws, which sealed the game as Auburn would upset number one seeded Garfield, 64-60.
Watson finished with a game-high 22 points, Arington scored 20, and Blassingame scored 13 as the trio combined for 55 of the Trojans 64 points. Stewart would finish the game with 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs.
With the win, Auburn advances to play Seattle Prep in the semifinals. Garfield will play Eastside Catholic in the consolation bracket of the tournament.
