Rainier Beach Holds Metro League Champion Title for Another Year

Rainier Beach Holds Metro League Champion Title for Another Year
By Steven Dion

Rainier Beach Senior Ivy Smith

In a packed Brougham Pavilion at Seattle Pacific University, the Metro League title was up for grabs between 3-time defending 3A champs Rainier Beach and reigning 4A winner Garfield. There were former star alumni in the audience including Brandon Roy and current Philadelphia 76er Tony Wroten to see Washington’s top talent square off for a league title. Garfield took the regular season matchup by a score of 84-67 so The Beach Boys were eager to avenge the defeat in the Metro Championship. Regardless of the result, these familiar foes are likely to see one another again this season.

Super sophomore Jaylen Nowell started the game on a 6-0 run to give the Bulldogs an early spark. Garfield’s early advantage was compounded by the Vikings’ inability to find an offensive rhythm. However, as Beach seemingly always does, they closed the quarter strong by when Ivy Smith buried two threes in the corner.
The second frame proved to be a pivotal stretch for RBHS as a Dejounte Murray dunk propelled the Viks to a 25-12 run. When Garfield’s Alphonso Anderson picked up his second foul and was forced to sit on the bench, RB capitalized and the complexity of the game changed. The Bulldogs lost their effortless flow and resorted to operating in the half-court with a visible lack of confidence. Mike Bethea’s Vikings grabbed a double-digit lead with 1:30 remaining in the first half and led by a dozen at halftime.

Rainier Beach’s leading scorer in the contest Shadeed Shabazz started to pour it on during the third quarter. The senior guard was able to get tough shots in the paint to fall and demonstrated his defensive prowess by turning the Bulldogs over. Leading by 13 with eight minutes to play, could Rainier Beach hold on?

Jaylen Nowell re-emerged in the as his 11 point fourth-quarter propelled Garfield to a 9-0 run late to bring the contest to 77-73 with 2:48 remaining and a RB timeout to talk things over. In the ensuing possession, Murray was able to knock down a contested jumper with an expiring shot-clock. Garfield was able to respond and keep the margin close. In the final 20 seconds, Ivy Smith was at the line with a 83-81 lead and two shots to seal the contest. The senior made the front end of the one-and-one. Shot two rimmed out and Garfield had a chance to put the game into overtime. Jaylen Nowell fired a good look from downtown and it rimmed out to the hands of Austin Anderson. The ball was fed to Nowell for a second chance, but Shabazz jumped the passing lane and created a pile-up as the fight for the ball erased the last seconds on the clock. Rainier Beach holds on to capture another Metro League championship.

The Final Score: Rainier Beach 84 Garfield 81

Top Performers:
Rainier Beach
Shadeed Shabazz-25 points

Garfield
Jaylen Nowell-33 points