By RayJaun Stelly, The Seattle Medium
In their most recent matchup this season, Rainier Beach led Seattle Prep by 18 points, but the Panthers battled their way back and won the game in double overtime to advance to the Metro League Championship. With the WIAA 3A state tournament regionals finally arriving, the two teams would face off at Lake Washington High School to determine what side of the bracket they’d be on once the state tournament begins on March 2nd at the Tacoma Dome.
Coming into the game, Seattle Prep’s big three of Braden Smith, Tyler Mrus, and Christian King appeared to have the advantage as Rainier Beach was missing guards Nahmier Robinson and Darius Wilcher, whose roles are extremely important to the Vikings success, due to injuries.
With Rainier Beach missing two of their key contributors, the Vikings would need someone else to step up if they wanted a chance to win the game. Despite their advantage, Seattle Prep’s fundamentally sound mechanics were unable to jump out to a significant lead early in the game. In fact, after the first quarter the Panthers led 11-8.
The second quarter became a game of runs. Seattle Prep struck first with Smith hitting a three-pointer and in return the Vikings’ Nyale Robinson and Myles Damon led a 6-0 run by Rainier Beach. The Panthers responded immediately as freshman Nirvaan Mirsa made back-to-back three-pointers, then Smith scored a wide-open layup, forcing Rainier Beach to call a timeout.
After regrouping during the timeout, the Vikings’ DeShonne Royster and Josh Conerly combined to score five quick points. What was once a 23-15 deficit with 2:43 before halftime, now was a 23-20 lead for Seattle Prep heading into the second half.
After halftime, Seattle Prep came out and controlled the game the entire second half. Smith, King, and Mrus went a combined 6 for 6 from the free throw line. After increasing their lead from the free throw line, the Panthers began finishing at the rim as Jack Velling and Smith scored back-to-back layups, forcing Rainier Beach to call another timeout.
While the Panthers were having success on offense, their defense was equally up for the challenge. Not only did the Panthers not allow any second chance points, they also forced many turnovers with their on-the-ball pressure. These two characteristics resulted in Seattle Prep allowing Rainier Beach to score only 11 points in the second half.
With their offensive and defensive execution in the second half, Seattle Prep increased their lead to 40-25, as King made a long range three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter. King’s shot boosted Seattle Prep’s momentum even further, as they started the fourth quarter with a Mrus dunk.
Following the dunk, Seattle Prep began scoring at-will with King making floaters and a three-pointer, Smith making back-to-back layups, Mrus added another dunk, and Mirsa made a layup as he got fouled. Scoring on nearly each possession in the fourth and not allowing Rainier Beach to score until the final seconds, resulted in Seattle Prep walking away with a 61-30 victory over the Vikings.
“We came into the game wanting to focus on getting back in transition,” said Smith after the game. “We wanted to make them shoot tough shots, and keep them off the offensive glass, I think we did a good job in all three areas.”
Both teams will advance to the state tournament next week. Seattle Prep will play the winner between O’Dea and Eastside Catholic, while Rainier Beach will face the winner of Arlington and Ferris.
Pictoral Highlights of Rainer Beach v Seattle Prep
