By RayJaun Stelly, The Seattle Medium
Despite not repeating as Metro League nor 3A District 2 champions, the Garfield Bulldogs are still a force to be reckoned with as this year’s state tournament gets underway. The Bulldogs are loaded with talent from league most valuable player and UConn commit Jaylin Stewart, and All-Metro Team selections Legend Smiley and Emmett Marquardt alongside, Garfield came into their state 3A boys’ playoff matchup with Timberline looking to help secure a first-round bye in the state championship next weekend.
The second-seeded Bulldogs (21-2) Garfield looked to get their title run off on the right foot against a seventh-seeded Timberline team led by University of North Las Vegas commit Brooklyn Hicks, who were coming off a 10-point victory over Auburn Mountainview.
The two teams, who were facing face each other for the first time since a districts matchup last year, opened the game with fireworks right from the opening tip-off. as Garfield would score 5 quick points from Stewart making a wide open three-pointer and Miles Daymon going coast-to-coast for a layup to start things off.
Timberline’s stuck back as Hicks, a 6’ 4’ guard, began his reign of terror as he scored eight straight points, making two three-pointers and a mid-range jump shot from the free-throw line, which forced Garfield Head Coach Brandon Roy to call a time out.
Leading 13-10 and with momentum on their side, the Blazers began to thrive. Darell Gipson made some difficult midrange shots, to complement Hicks’s first quarter performance, as Timberline began to extend their lead.
Garfield’s Jamari Jackson-Kinz would make a three-pointer, while Stewart would dribble between his legs and drive past a defender before absorbing contact and finishing and acrobat shot attempt at the rim, and Smiley would make a spin move off a defender and sink a shot off the backboard while getting fouled shot plus the foul, would give the Bulldogs a much-needed boost.
Faced with a 24-18 deficit going into the second quarter, the Bulldogs would rely on their main scorers Smiley and Stewart to help lead their comeback. Smiley’s post fade-away jump shot, Stewart’s ‘and-one’ putback, followed by back-to-back layups past the Timberline defense got the Garfield fans off their feet and their team fired up.
The positive energy for the Bulldogs became contagious, as their full court defensive pressure helped create turnovers and extreme difficulty for Timberline to run their offensive sets. Garfield’s forced a number of turnovers to end the first half that resulted in a layup from Darius Harvey, a putback layup by Marquardt, a two-hand dunk by Stewart, and buzzer-beating jump shot by Daymon, as the Bulldogs held Timberline to just eight points in the quarter and held a 37-32 halftime lead.
After ending the first half in dominant fashion, Garfield’s third quarter was filled with nonstop cheering as they completely erupted, as Marquardt would get them started with a spin move in the post to finish with his left-hand.
The basket from Marquardt opened the floodgates, as everyone wearing a purple and white jersey took turns showcasing their abilities. Offensively, Smiley began scoring in transition, and making a corner three-point shot before throwing an alley-oop to Stewart. Jackson-Kinz came off the bench and provided scoring from three-point range, while Stewart dominated the rebounds and facilitated long outlet passes for teammates to score easy points.
Defensively, Garfield managed to slow down Hicks’s impressive first half performance and systematically shut down Timberline’s team as a whole, which allowed the Bulldogs to expand their lead 19 points going into the fourth quarter.
Although they led by a wide margin, the Bulldogs did not let that stop them from continuing to play hard, especially on the defensive end. Their frustrating defensive pressure continued to make it difficult for Timberline to get the ball past halfcourt, and kept creating turnovers which Garfield converted for easy points on the other end.
When it was all said and done, Garfield’s tenacious defense had held the Blazers to 11 or fewer points for three straight quarters, and helped secure first-round bye in next weekend’s boys 3A championship playoffs with an 83-51 victory over Timberline.
Timberline will be back in action on March 1 at 5:30 p.m. to play the winner between Bellevue and Auburn Mountainview, while Garfield will play on March 2 at 9:00 p.m.
