Eleventh Heaven For Garfield -- Bulldog Win Adds To Collection Of State Titles

The history of Garfield basketball is impressive. It is also intimidating.

The future looks the same way.

Sophomores Roy Smiley and Ed Roy dominated the first half of Garfield's 78-65 victory over Wilson last night in the Class 4A state boys championship game.

Eight seniors - including state tournament Most Valuable Player Jerry Petty - will leave the Garfield program knowing they were the foundation for the Bulldogs' record 11th big-school state title. And they treasured every moment as the final seconds ticked away on their careers.

But the best talent on the state's best team is coming back.

"I think we're going to win it again next year," Roy said. "We want to keep it the next two years."

Smiley, a 6-foot-4 guard, scored 10 of his team-high 20 points in the first quarter to help second-ranked Garfield (24-5) jump on top 21-9. Roy, a 6-5 forward, scored eight of his 11 points and grabbed six of his game-high 11 rebounds in the first half as Garfield built a 43-31 lead.

They were two big reasons why the Garfield fans were able to throw dog bones on the court at the Kingdome when the buzzer sounded.

"They brought a lot of intensity, rebounding, a lot of playing around," said Petty, the unanimous pick as tournament MVP. "Sometimes we had to keep them in line, but whatever we needed out of them, we got."

The same adjectives associated with many of the great Bulldog players of the past - size, speed and spectacular - can be applied to the building blocks of Garfield's future. They were exhibited on the game's made-for-replay play.

After Wilson's Curtis Allen missed a shot, Smiley sprinted past the Ram defense and received an outlet pass. He glided by a defender in the air and laid the ball up. It bounced off the rim and Roy, trailing the play, ripped a two-handed follow dunk and stared into the stands on his way down.

Roy and Smiley added the explosiveness that has been missing since the Bulldogs last title-game appearance in 1993. But they needed guidance, as most sophomores do. And the seniors provided plenty of it.

"They're great leaders," Roy said. "I just wanted to play a role."

Petty, who added the MVP award for the tournament to the MVP award he won in the KingCo Conference, scored 18 points, and controlled the ball when Garfield spread the floor after building a 17-point lead in the third quarter.

Last night's crowd was 6,521 and the tournament total was 47,187. Last week's 3A tournament drew 8,134 on the final night and had a state-record 58,534 total for four days.

This game figured to be Garfield's greatest athletic challenge. But not even the Rams (22-7) from Tacoma could keep up. The Bulldogs scored 20 points off Wilson turnovers.

"They were a lot faster than us," said Wilson senior Josh Tiggs, who scored a game-high 21 and finished as the tournament scoring leader. "We couldn't keep up with their pace. That's the first time we've come up against a team that was faster than us and we didn't know how to adjust."

Garfield's title was the second boys championship for a Seattle public school in two weeks. Both the Bulldogs and Rainier Beach, which won the Class 3A title last week, expected to win.

Last night was Garfield's 17th championship game. Wilson was making its first appearance in a state title game and the first for a Tacoma school since Lincoln lost to Cleveland in 1976. The Rams highest previous finish was in 1978, when they placed third after Garfield beat them in the semifinals en route to a state title.

The victory finished an improbable season for Garfield, who began the season 4-3. But the Bulldogs got hot at the state tournament. They advanced to the title game with double-digit victories over Lincoln-Tacoma, Evergreen-Vancouver and Rogers-Puyallup.

Wilson had a great tournament, beating Prairie and upsetting Richland and Sehome to get to the title game. But the Rams' string of surprising success ended last night.

"The heart that these kids played with all year long is going to have a special place in my heart," Wilson Coach Larry Tommervik said. "I don't think our kids, when they watched them, realized their overall team quickness and jumping ability. They ran right past us. It's pretty difficult to press when they are 10 feet out in front of you.

"But I don't know what we could have done except shoot 90 percent."

Even that may not have been enough against the Bulldogs, who promise to return next year.

"We think we can take it again," Smiley said. "We have that confidence.

"But, right now, we're celebrating this one."

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. Eleventh heaven .

Garfield state championships in boys basketball: .

. Class Year Score W-L .

. AAA 1955 Garfield 46, O'Dea 38 17-1 . Coach: Bob Tate .

. AAA 1961 Garfield 58, Ballard 51 19-3 . Coach: Ron Patnoe .

. AAA 1962 Garfield 36, Bothell 34 16-5 . Coach: Ron Patnoe .

. AAA 1974 Garfield 79, Richland 67 24-0 . Coach: Fernando Amorteguy .

. AAA 1978 Garfield 58, Sammamish 56 21-2 . Coach: Fernando Amorteguy .

. AAA 1980 Garfield 59, Bellarmine Prep 53 25-0 . Coach: Al Hairston .

. AAA 1983 Garfield 44, Walla Walla 42 (2 OT) 21-7 . Coach: Al Hairston .

. AAA 1986 Garfield 51, Curtis 41 24-3 . Coach: Al Hairston .

. AAA 1987 Garfield 63, Roosevelt 62 25-4 . Coach: Al Hairston .

. AAA 1991 Garfield 63, Redmond 51 28-1 . Coach: Al Hairston .

. 4A 1998 Garfield 78, Wilson 65 24-5 . Coach: Wayne Floyd .