Degree of Difficulty
Rainier Beach has a hard time exiting the gym, but not Round 2 of State 3A
BELLEVUE – For the No. 1 Rainier Beach Vikings, the most difficult task of Friday night was not knocking off No. 8 Bellevue, 90-69, in Round 2 of the State 3A Tournament, it was getting out of the Bellevue College gymnasium.
When they departed their locker room some 15-20 minutes after the game, a wall of humanity awaited at the end of a corridor, the exits not even in sight. Someone held up a sign reading, “Tyran Give Me Your Jersey Please.” They were kids and parents and young adults, waiting for Tyran Stokes and JJ Crawford, the Vikings’ nationally touted stars.
It was determined that groups of kids could pass through for photos and autographs with the two. Into the night, the throng barely dissipated, determined not to be denied.
Beach didn’t do itself any favors, closing each half in spectacular fashion, teasing the sellout crowd into wishing for more. It was the in-between that was less captivating.
The Vikings, 27-1, weren’t as sterling as the final score indicated. They had an uneven outing, starting slow and sloppy, then made their usual defense-prompted burst, only to devolve at times into playing for style points, if not actual ones. Beach had 13 dunks (26 points), but Bellevue kept pace until imploding down the stretch with ten 3-pointers (30 points).
“Hopefully, we got our one bad outing out of the way,” coach Mike Bethea said. He was disappointed because his team had played more spirited, focused, and cohesive ball during the preceding week of practice.
Bethea reiterated complaints from the players about the Baden basketball used for Rainier Beach’s last two games. “We’ve been practicing all season with Nikes, so that’s on me,” he said.
The victory gives the Vikings an extra day to become more accustomed to the Baden balls as they advance straight to Thursday’s quarterfinals, 10:30 a.m., in the Tacoma Dome. They will play the winner in a loser-out game on Wednesday between No. 10 Shorewood and the loser of Saturday’s matchup of No. 2 O’Dea and No. 7 Lincoln of Tacoma.
In an interesting development, No. 4 Eastside Catholic lost in a mild upset, 60-59, to No. 5 Bellarmine Prep on Friday night. That means that if the Crusaders win their loser-out game on Wednesday, they will advance to the same side of the bracket as O’Dea and wouldn’t meet Rainier Beach until the championship game.
Against Bellevue, Stokes had 32 points and closed the half by dribbling down the clock, calling point guard Knowledge Wright over for a screen, then charged through the Wolverine defense for a thundering slam.
That play was exceeded by the game’s last. With the clock ticking down, Stokes transported the ball downcourt, went airborne, passed the ball through his legs and lobbed it to Crawford. The freshman, playing for the first time in over a month, caught the ball, hovered and lobbed it to Kam Babbs for a reverse dunk.
Overall, Bethea gave Crawford a “strong 6 ½ to 7” for his return from a right high-ankle sprain suffered on Jan. 23 – the points off for timing and a couple loose balls he’d normally corral. Conditioning-wise, Crawford said, “The first five minutes were terrible.”
Crawford scored his first basket, a closely guarded layup, 2 minutes, 33 seconds into the second quarter. “I just needed to see the ball go in,” helped Crawford find his rhythm and he finished with 15 points, including a dunk and a pair of 3-pointers.
Babbs, who had 12 points and an impressive array of dunks, and Achilles Reyna, who pitched in 10, gave the Vikings a boost off the bench, particularly in the second quarter.