Beach Holds off Lakeside, Wins 3A Metro Title


Beach Holds off Lakeside, Wins 3A Metro Title
By Colin Caruso 

Friday- Feb. 8 -2013- Metro League Championship
Garfield High School 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Lakeside 13 10 21 17 61
Rainier Beach 10 27 12 20 69

The #2 ranked Rainier Beach Vikings took on the Lakeside Lions for the Metro League Championship on Friday night in a packed house at Garfield High School.  The regular season contest between these two ended in a 14-point win for the Vikings, but with the Metro title at stake and the building electric, everyone knew this would come down to the wire.

Lakeside started the game aggressively, attacking the hoop and drawing contact going through the lane.  Viking starters Fuquan Niles and Shaqquan Aaron both picked up two fouls late in the first quarter and ended up sitting for the remainder of the half.  Lakeside’s smothering defense held the Vikings to just 10 points in the quarter, and the Lions took a 13-10 lead into the second.

Rainier Beach’s shooting woes in the first turned into a shooting clinic in the second.  The Vikings began the quarter on a 14-0 run, forcing five Lion turnovers and capitalizing on baskets in transition.  Senior Marquis Davis led the Vikings with eight points in the quarter, followed closely by teammate Elijah Foster with seven.  Beach took a 37-23 lead into the half.

The tables turned again in the third quarter; it was now Lakeside’s turn to put their foot on the gas, starting the quarter on a 15-5 run.  Niles picked up his fourth foul with 5:20 remaining in the third, and Lion big man Peter French picked up his fourth foul with 4:53 remaining in the period.

Lakeside kept up their offensive rhythm until the game took a turn with 1:03 remaining in the third on a hard foul by Marquis Davis.  Unfortunately, this did not turn out well for the Vikings as Marquis Davis was ejected, Shaqquan Aaron and Coach Mike Bethea both receiving technical fouls.  Lakeside junior Tremaine Isabell also received a technical foul.  The outcome gave four free-throws to the Lions, and Matthew Poplawski stepped up to the line and made all four.  Lakeside outscored Beach in the quarter 21-12, cutting the Viking lead to five entering the fourth.

Lakeside continued to battle in the fourth quarter, exchanging baskets with the Vikings and chipping away at the Beach lead.  Lakeside cut the lead to just three with 32 seconds left, with the ball.  Lion coach Tavio Hobson drew up a play for the Lions, but the inbounds pass was stolen by Rainier Beach and led to a leak-out dribble drive that forced Lakeside to foul from behind.  The foul was ruled a flagrant, giving Beach two free-throws and the ball, ending Lakeside’s chances at the upset.

Beach won in a nail-biter, 69-61.  It was a Great Game to watch!

Leading Scorers:
Lakeside
Tramaine Isabell (18)
Matthew Poplawski (15)

Rainier Beach
Marquis Davis (16)
Djuan Piper (14)

Rainier Beach Handles Franklin; will meet Lakeside in Metro Final


Rainier Beach Handles Franklin; will meet Lakeside in Metro Final
By Colin Caruso 

Tuesday- Feb. 5 -2013- Metro League Tournament
Ingraham High School 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Franklin 11 20 14 24 69
Rainier Beach 28 24 12 27 91

With Seahawks safety Cam Chancellor watching, the Rainier Beach Vikings were at their finest, beating the Franklin Quakers 91-69 to advance to the Metro final.  Beach came out on fire, with Djuan Piper scoring 11 and Shaqquan Aaron scoring nine in the first quarter alone.  They jumped on Franklin early, taking a 28-11 lead at the end of the first.  Beach didn’t lay off the gas in the second quarter either.  Aaron and Piper both finished with 13 at the half, and freshman Dejounte Murry added seven in the second alone.  Beach led at the break 52-31. Arell Hennings and Eugene Artison led the way for the Quakers, both scoring seven points in the first half.

The scoring for both teams slowed down in the third quarter with Franklin outscoring the Vikings 14-12, cutting the lead to 19 going into the fourth.  But Beach was too much to handle in the fourth quarter.  Fuquan Niles had all of his 11 points in the second half and the Vikings put up 27 points in the fourth quarter to win 91-69.  With the win, Rainier Beach will play Lakeside in the Metro final, a rematch of their January 15th meeting where the Vikings won by a score of 78-64.

Leading Scorers:
Franklin
Arell Hennings (18)
Eugene Artison (14)

Rainier Beach
Shaqquan Aaron (22)
Marquis Davis (18)

Big thanks to Nic Beckman (the world’s greatest public address announcer) for game analysis.