By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Late last night, the Rainier Beach Vikings took on the Eastside Catholic Crusaders in a highly anticipated loser-out game at the Tacoma Dome. A year ago, Eastside Catholic claimed the state title with a win over Rainier Beach, and this time, the Beach Boyz were determined to avenge that loss and keep their championship hopes alive.
As the No. 1 seed in this year’s tournament, Rainier Beach entered the game with high expectations. However, the Vikings were coming off a disappointing loss in last week’s regional round to Bellarmine Prep, forcing them into an elimination game much earlier than expected. With their season on the line, Rainier Beach had no room for error and needed a strong response to stay in contention for the state title. Eastside Catholic, the defending champions, had a chance to extend their postseason run, but the Vikings had other plans.
The Crusaders won the opening tip but struggled to capitalize, committing a shot clock violation on their first possession. Rainier Beach quickly took advantage, as Kaden Powers was sent to the free-throw line and converted one point. Eastside Catholic responded with back-to-back baskets from Steven Sun and Yabi Aklog to take an early 4-1 lead. However, the Vikings were not going to let the Crusaders get too far ahead, as Rainier Beach’s Jaylen Petty would steal the ball and drive the length of the court for a slam dunk, which ignited the Rainier Beach Bench. Moments later, Marques Ili-Meneese got a steal of his own and found Dre Morris for a smooth two-point basket.
With 4:48 remaining in the opening quarter, Rainier Beach, leading 5-4, began to pull away. Marques Ili-Meneese knocked down a three-point shot, and Petty would follow with two deep three-pointers of his own, including one at the buzzer, as the Vikings took a commanding 21-10 lead heading into the second quarter.
Rainier Beach carried their first-quarter momentum into the second. Coming off a 6-0 run to end the first quarter, Powers and Micah Ili-Meneese combined for four early second quarter points to extend the Vikings lead to 25-10. Eastside Catholic’s Achilles Reyna stopped the Viking’s run with a jump shot, and Aklog followed with a big steal from Petty and brought the ball down the court to Alex Elston, who then tossed it over to Reyna for another basket. Despite the Crusaders’ efforts, Rainier Beach remained dominant on both ends of the floor. Their defensive pressure stifled Eastside Catholic, forcing multiple turnovers and limiting clean shot attempts. Offensively, Rainier Beach never eased up, as Powers and Petty were unstoppable. From assisting each other with three-point shots to dunks, Powers and Pettty by themselves outscored Eastside Catholic in the first half, 26-23, as Rainier Beach held a dominant 46-23 lead going into halftime.
To start the second half, Eastside’s Dash Lamebull-Ingram sent Morris to the line, where he would convert 1 out of the 2 points. Rainier Beach, who had been quick on their feet the entire first half, brought the same energy into the second half, causing the Crusaders to struggle to keep up. However, Eastside went on an early 6-0 run led by Aklog, Elston, and Tytan McNeal to cut the Rainier Beach lead to 20, at 49-29.
However, Rainier Beach quickly shut down any hopes of a comeback. The Ili-Menesse brothers were a force in the paint, grabbing almost every rebound and finishing tough shots. With just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Nyale Robinson missed a three-point shot, but Marques Ili-Meneese grabbed the rebound and scored on a putback to extend the Vikings’ lead to 53-29. Then Petty delivered another show-stopping steal and dunk, sending his teammates into a frenzy on the bench. Despite the large gap, Elston fought hard to try to keep Eastside Catholic in the game, as he scored six points in the quarter. However, the Crusaders continued to struggle against Beach’s relentless pace. By the end of the third, Rainier Beach had stretched its lead to 63-35.
Petty wasted no time adding to Rainier Beach’s lead in the fourth, scoring right out of the gate to make it 65-35. Even though the Vikings had a 30-point lead in the first five minutes of the final quarter, each possession alternated
back-and-forth very quickly, with both the Crusaders and the Vikings scoring on each trip down the floor. While Eastside managed to chip away at the lead slightly, Rainier Beach responded every time.
With three minutes remaining, Rainier Beach led 77-39, prompting Head Coach Mike Bethea to sub out his starters and give his bench players some valuable minutes. Even with the reserves on the court, the Vikings continued to execute on both ends of the court. Rainier Beach’s Dav Houfmuse scored immediately after checking in, and Jay Wheeler-Burns drained a three-point shot to push the lead to 82-43.
In the final minute of the game, Eastside’s Isaac Corey and Elston took trips to the line, and both made one out of their two free-throw attempts. The game ended with the Beach Boys holding the ball to run out the final two seconds of the game, as they celebrated an 82-45 victory over the defending state champions.
Powers led the Vikings with 22 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, while Petty finished the game with 19 points, three rebounds, and four assists. For Eastside Catholic, Elston finished with 14 points and three rebounds, while McNeal chipped in 10 points, two rebounds, and four assists.
After the game, Coach Bethea said that in the last three to four games, his team has been stagnant, playing walk up basketball — which he described as not “Beach basketball.” Bethea said it was important that his team came out with energy and got back to playing Rainier Beach basketball – which they did.
“We wanted to put an emphasis on playing with a lot of energy,” Bethea said. “We wanted to come out and make sure that we are getting up and down the court, speeding other teams up, and making them play our style of basketball. Sharing the ball on offense and playing good team defense is the effort that they gave tonight. Going forward, my message to them is to keep the same thing rolling—we can’t come out and play with no energy. we got to come out and play Rainier Beach basketball.”
Rainier Beach’s Assistant Head Coach Jamal Crawford was equally proud of the way the team executed their game plan. Crawford, a former NBA player and Rainier Beach basketball legend himself, said he is truly embracing the opportunity to help these young players grow not only as players, but as a team.
“For me personally, it’s just about being around these kids and getting a chance to give back. I feel like I never left,” Crawford said. “I had 20 coaches in the NBA, and Coach Mike was my favorite coach I ever played for. So, it was second nature, and I was honored I could help out a little bit. Today was a great game—I thought we had a great game plan, and I thought we were solid and disciplined. The guys pull for each other, and it’s just part of our journey.”
With the win, Rainier Beach will take on Seattle Prep tonight at 9:00 p.m., and Eastside Catholic’s season has come to an end.
