By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Last night, the Rainier Beach Vikings and the O’Dea Fighting Irish battled it out for the 2025-26 Metro League 3A basketball championship.
The first quarter started with the Vikings winning the tipoff but quickly turned the ball over, allowing O’Dea’s Peyton Brooks to score the first points of the night. Rainier Beach’s Micah Ili-Meneese jump-started the Vikings’ offense with a basket, and KJ Hightower followed with a basket of his own to give Rainier Beach an early 4-2 lead. O’Dea’s Brian Webster answered with a three-point shot to give his team a 5-4 lead. The teams continued to trade scores back and forth very quickly, with Vikings Tyran Stokes, Micah Ili-Meneese and Knowledge Wright connecting on layups and free throws as Rainier Beach extended its lead to 15-9. O’Dea stayed close, cutting it to 15-12 in the final minute of the opening quarter, but Stokes closed out the first quarter with a strong move that resulted in a three-point play, pushing the Vikings’ lead to 18-12 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter opened with Rainier Beach coming up empty on its first possession, but Tyran Stokes quickly shifted the energy as he converted a steal that he finished with a dunk to extend the Vikings’ lead to 20-12. Moments later, Stokes came up with another steal. Although the ensuing shot did not fall, the defensive pressure forced O’Dea to take a timeout.
After the timeout, Stokes went to the free-throw line and made one of two attempts, capping a quick 3-0 run for the Vikings. O’Dea answered when Josiah Bowman scored under the rim to halt the momentum, and Levi Orbino forced a turnover on the next possession, finding Brooks for a jumper that trimmed the deficit to 21-16.
Rainier Beach responded with purpose. KJ Hightower knocked down a three-point shot, then Stokes continued his dominant stretch with a strong layup followed by a three-point play, stretching the Vikings’ lead to 30-21. After a brief O’Dea possession, Stokes struck again, coming up with another steal and converting it into a layup. In the final minute of the half, Stokes powered through the paint for a dunk, sending Rainier Beach into halftime with a commanding 34-23 lead.
The third quarter began with the Vikings turning the ball over again, but Micah Ili-Meneese quickly got the ball back and scored to make it 36-23. Webster hit two free throws, and Ili-Meneese added another basket right after as the Vikings maintained their lead, 38-25. The pace of the game was extremely fast as both teams traded points, with Bowman and Brooks scoring, Wright hitting free throws and Hightower converting a steal into two points to stretch the Vikings’ lead to 43-29.
However, the Fighting Irish did not back down as they kept chipping away with buckets from Brooks, Giulio Banchero and Webster. But the Vikings were equally up for the challenge, as Ili-Meneese and Stokes added scores from the floor and from the line, maintaining a comfortable 46-37 lead. In the final minute, Stokes converted two points at the line and forced a steal, and despite O’Dea’s Zi Leonard responding with one of his own, the third quarter ended with Rainier Beach leading 47-39.
The fourth quarter opened with O’Dea striking first as Nino Moksivong scored to cut the deficit to 47-41. Rainier Beach quickly answered behind Tyran Stokes, who powered through contact for a three-point play, stretching the lead back to 50-41 and restoring control for the Vikings. After a third foul was called on Stokes, Leonard went to the line, where he missed both shots, resulting in an O’Dea timeout.
Following the timeout, Rainier Beach stayed aggressive with a powerful dunk from Stokes. Tariq Shabazz hit a floater, and Micah Ili-Meneese tipped in a basket, while O’Dea’s brief scoring came from Bowman and Webster.
Late in the quarter, several fouls led to additional trips to the line. Webster converted one of two free throws, but O’Dea struggled to string together stops. Vikings defenders closed out hard on shooters, forced turnovers and blocked shots at the rim, preventing any sustained comeback by the Fighting Irish.
With the score at 58-47 in favor of Rainier Beach and just over a minute remaining in the championship game, the window for an O’Dea comeback was quickly closing, and Stokes made sure of it. He punctuated the night with back-to-back dunks, stretching the lead to 62-47 and sending the Rainier Beach crowd into celebration mode.
In the final seconds, O’Dea’s Webster was sent to the free-throw line and converted both attempts, trimming the deficit to 62-49. But it was too little, too late. The Vikings calmly ran out the remaining time on the clock, sealing the victory and earning back-to-back Metro League championship titles.
Stokes finished the game with 31 points to lead Rainier Beach, while Webster finished with 14 points to lead O’Dea.
Photos/Aaron Allen
