By RayJaun Stelly, The Seattle Medium
Coming off a loss to Seattle Prep last week, the Rainier Beach Vikings had to fight their way into the WIAA 3A state basketball tournament bracket. Because of their loss, the Vikings found themselves on the loser-out side of this year’s tournament. With the season on the line, Rainier Beach beat Ferris 58-45 to advance to quarterfinal match up against Gig Harbor.
Now with the pressure of their season ending out the window, the Vikings were able to focus on their task of advancing to the next round. The Vikings were clicking on all cylinders from opening tipoff as Demar Johnson scored their first five points, Nahmeir Robinson was hitting shots from the outside, and Josh Conerly and Jaelin Green were stellar in their efforts to control the paint.
With their first unit executing on both offense and defense, the Vikings found themselves leading 20-13 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Robinson found his rhythm offensively. Robinson scored 8 points in a variety of ways, including making layups in transition, and knocking down his second three-pointer of the afternoon.
Despite Robinson’s instant scoring, Conerly continued dominating the paint, Ziggy Holmes and Johnson would both make three-pointers to help carry the offensive load, as Rainier Beach put forth a total team effort.
The Vikings, who were up 32-20 with 4:14 left till half time, only scored three points in the final minutes and allowed Gig Harbor to score 12 points, ultimately resulting in a 35-32 lead going into the third quarter. Although Rainier Beach controlled the game throughout the first half, Gig Harbor’s Christian Parrish (9 points), Luke Browne (14 points) and Will Landram’s (7 points) combined for 30 of their team’s 32 first half points.
With momentum up for grabs, Gig Harbor essentially won the third quarter by simply making open shots, playing to their strengths, and not allowing Rainier Beach to get many second chance points. By doing so, they outscored Rainier Beach 17-12, giving them a 49-47 lead going into the fourth.
The fourth quarter was filled with back-and-forth scoring. With the game tied up at 54, execution was going to determine who would advance onto the next round.
With 2:57 remaining, the Vikings went back to what gave them their early lead — going to the rim. Robinson and Conerly scored back-to-back layups giving Rainier Beach a 60-56 lead. Then the Vikings turned up their defensive pressure and began contesting shots and forcing turnovers. In the final minutes of the game, the Vikings would allow Gig Harbor to only score 4 points, while Green’s layup and Robinson’s free throws sealed a 65-60 win.
Nahmier Robinson and Jaelin Green each had 15 points each, while Josh Conerly and Myles Daymon both chipped in 11 points to lead the Vikings. The foursome scored 52 of their team’s 65 points, and placed them into the next round where they’ll face Mt. Spokane at 5:30 p.m.
