By RayJaun Stelly, The Seattle Medium
With the Metro League regular season coming to an end, and with teams looking to build momentum heading into playoffs, the undefeated Garfield Bulldogs hosted their long-time rival the Franklin Quakers in their final home game of the season.
It was senior night for the Bulldogs, as they acknowledged the contributions of Koren Johnson, Jazel Brown, Tremaine Guidry, Raphiel Justice, LeMarion Fiddler, and newcomer Kenzel Massey to the program.
Massey, a 6’7” transfer from Lakes High School in Tacoma, has fit right in since joining the team this year.
“It’s been a great welcoming playing with the team,” said Massey. “It’s a brotherhood, we lace our shoes up to win.”
Like many games in this historic inner-city rivalry the energy, tension, and readiness between players and coaches from both sides was high. Over the last few years, Garfield has held the upper hand, but this year the Quakers were looking to not only spoil the Bulldogs’ senior night but to hand them their first loss of the season.
From the opening tip off, the teams would trade baskets. When it looked as if Garfield was going to pull away Franklin would immediately respond. However, when Massey checked into the game for the first time the momentum of the game shifted.
Entering the game around the 6-minute mark, Massey provided instant scoring, he’d go on to make six three-pointers in a row during the first quarter, including one at the buzzer, as Garfield held a 39-20 lead heading into the second quarter.
“It felt like senior night, but honestly after I saw a couple shots fall, I knew it was going to be one of those nights,” said Massey.
Down 19 points to start the second quarter, Franklin began a run of their own as the Quakers’ Jamari Jackson-Kinz, Carmonte Schachere-Banks, and Keivon Bias found their rhythm on offense.
But Garfield would respond with a 10-0 run of their own, as their defense fueled easy fastbreak points for both Brown and Johnson as the Bulldogs built a 21-point lead, forcing the Quakers to call a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, the Bulldogs continued to buy-in defensively, which opened up opportunities for everyone to score easy points as they cruised into the half with a 63-32 lead.
The Bulldogs carried their momentum into the second half, as their man-to-man full court defensive pressure led to a quick eight points to begin the half, once again forcing the Quakers to take a quick timeout.
The Bulldogs remained unselfish offensively and ran their sets, resulting in them scoring 25 points in the third quarter, with a majority of their shots coming from layups.
Much like the first three quarters, the fourth quarter wasn’t any different and after 32 minutes Garfield completed their senior night with a 105-51 victory over Franklin.
Massey led all scorers with 20 points, Johnson chipped in 16 points, while Jaylin Stewart poured in 14 points to lead the Bulldogs. Raphiel Justice, Sherrell McCullum, Jazel Brown, and LeMarion Fiddler all had 10 points each for the Bulldogs.
“We’re the top dogs, so we have to come with it every night like it’s our last,” said Johnson after the game. “Starting with our defense, sharing the ball and everybody coming with a winning mindset and ready to play, I feel like nobody can stop us.”
The Bulldogs (14-0 overall, 10-0 Metro) will put their undefeated win streak to test yet again when they face West Seattle on Wednesday, and Nathan Hale on Friday to close out their regular season. Franklin (5-8, 4-7 Metro) will look to regroup as they close out the season against Chief Sealth and Blanchet next week.
Pictorial Highlights Of Franklin vs Garfield
