By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
In front of a packed house at the Tacoma Dome for a semifinal game featuring the Rainier Beach Vikings and the Bellarmine Prep Lions, the cities of Seattle and Tacoma cheered on their respective teams as they watched to see who would advance to the 3A boys state championship game tomorrow night.
Despite the Vikings winning the opening tip, Bellarmine quickly took control with strong defense, rebounding, and offense. After the Lions’ Elliott Stevenson scored a bucket off the glass to start the game, teammate Luke Heisel had a huge block on Rainier Beach’s Tyran Stokes, swatting the ball far out of bounds. The swat lit up the Bellarmine Prep bench and ignited a 5-0 run by the Lions, highlighted by a three-point shot from Stevenson.
As the quarter progressed, the Lions continued to build momentum and confidence. On nearly every Rainier Beach possession, they double-teamed Stokes, forcing him to travel and turn the ball over multiple times. The Vikings, who were struggling to grab rebounds, sent Wes Armstrong to the line after Luke Heisel blocked his shot attempt. Armstrong converted both free-throw attempts, putting Rainier Beach on the board at 5-2.
Heisel then recorded another block, this time on Stokes, causing the Lions’ student section to chant “overrated” as the Vikings continued to struggle offensively. But the Vikings soon found their rhythm when Knowledge Wright stripped the ball away from one of the Lions and dished it to Stokes for a dunk, narrowing the gap to 7-4. Possessions began to move quickly, and after Micah Ili-Meneese, Stokes, and Wright combined for 5 points, the Vikings tied the game at 9 with 1:40 remaining in the quarter. Micah Ili-Meneese ended the quarter with a shot off the glass to give the Vikings an 11-9 lead going into the second quarter.
The pace of the second quarter was much slower for both teams. The Lions’ Ronnie Wiggins hit a three-point shot to get Bellarmine Prep going again, reclaiming the lead at 12-11. As the Lions tightened their defense, Crawford was forced into a turnover, but teammate Micah Ili-Meneese quickly stole the ball back and sank a jump shot as Rainier Beach regained the lead at 13-12.
For much of the remaining time in the quarter, the score alternated back and forth. Bellarmine Prep’s Donovyn Frazier hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 15, but the Vikings responded with a 10-0 run led by Kam Babbs and KJ Hightower, giving Rainier Beach a comfortable 25-15 advantage. The Lions’ Birk Johnston stopped the run after converting two points at the free-throw line, cutting the deficit to 25-17.
With a chance to respond at the line, Viking Marques Ili-Meneese took a trip to the free-throw line, but his shots fell short as the lead remained eight points. Moments later, Micah Ili-Meneese stole the ball on Bellarmine’s next possession and darted down the court for a dunk, beginning a solo 4-0 run that extended Rainier Beach’s lead to 29-17.
To close out the first half, Luke Heisel scored two points at the shot-clock buzzer. Crawford and Micah Ili-Meneese, who finished the first half with 15 points and 3 rebounds, then hit back-to-back three-point shots, sending the Vikings into halftime leading 35-19.
The Vikings started the second half with a 3-0 run in the first 30 seconds, extending their lead to 38-19. The Lions tried to respond as Luke Heisel converted two free throws and later blocked Stokes again, sending him to the line where he converted both shots for Rainier Beach.
Despite a contested basket under the rim from the Lions’ Hudson Bronder that made the score 40-25, the Vikings answered with an 8-0 run, including dunks from Babbs and Stokes, pushing their lead to 48-25.
Wright later checked back into the game and stuffed Bronder’s three-point attempt, keeping the Lions’ student section quiet.
While the Vikings continued to add to their lead, the Lions tried to keep pace. Luke Heisel scored 5 points in the final three minutes of the third quarter, and Micah Ili-Meneese added 4 before Crawford hit a long jump shot as the Vikings held a 54-32 lead going into the final quarter.
After Hightower scored to open the fourth quarter, Luke Heisel went on a solo 6-0 run, prompting a Rainier Beach timeout with 6:20 remaining. Out of the timeout, Micah Ili-Meneese hit a three-point shot to push the lead to 59-38. Lion Birk Johnston answered with a basket, bringing the score to 59-40.
Rainier Beach then responded with an 8-0 run led by Micah Ili-Meneese and Stokes, extending the lead to 67-40.
Tensions rose late in the game when Wiggins bulldozed Stokes out of bounds, causing his hand to bleed and leading to coaches yelling at each other, briefly pausing play. Once the game resumed, Stokes converted both technical free throws to push the Vikings’ lead to 70-42 before checking out of the game.
In the final minute and a half, the Lions outscored the Vikings 7-1, but their efforts fell short as Rainier Beach secured a 71-49 victory and advanced to the championship game tomorrow at 7:00 p.m.
Rainier Beach was led by Micah Ili-Meneese, who finished the game with 30 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists. Luke Heisel finished with 17 points and 3 rebounds for Bellarmine Prep.
After the game, Bethea said he was proud of his team, but they need to start better tomorrow.
“Another slow start. We started off slow, and we have to get rolling quicker and avoid those things,” said Bethea.
Pictorial Highlights of Rainier Beach vs Bellarmine Prep
Photos/Tyler Artis
