Class 3A boys basketball: Top of the Mount
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
TACOMA - Perfecto!
Mount Vernon completed an undefeated season last night by beating Rainier Beach 65-52 to win the Class 3A boys state high-school basketball championship at the Tacoma Dome.
Senior center Tyler Amaya, the tournament MVP, led the Bulldogs (27-0) with 19 points and 13 rebounds as they ended their final season as a 3A school with the championship that eluded them last year when Seattle Prep beat them in the final.
"We were crying last year," Amaya said. "This is the icing on the cake for us. We finally won the big game."
The route to the championship was through the past four tournament champions - O'Dea (1997), Mercer Island (1999), Seattle Prep (2000) and Rainier Beach (1998).
After trailing at halftime 26-13, the Bulldogs took control of the game by outscoring Beach 20-6 in the third quarter, a pivotal quarter all season for the Skagit County team.
"We took advantage of the long halftime to settle down," winning Coach Mac Fraser said. "We said, `Hey, we've got to make at least three passes (before shooting), we've got to spread the ball around, we've got to keep them moving and we have to run some things. We just can't shoot the first thing that was open.' "
Mount Vernon took its first lead of the game, 29-28, 62 seconds into the second half on a three-point basket by Josh Reisman, who had picked up his third foul with more than 5 minutes remaining in the first half and gone to the bench.
The Bulldogs continued on a 17-4 run to take a 41-30 lead with 1:30 left in the quarter, and Beach never got closer than nine points.
Amaya was one of four Bulldogs in double figures as Gonzaga-bound Reisman scored 16, Scott Skjei 11 and Troy DeVries 10. DeVries didn't take a shot in the first half.
Mount Vernon shot 50 percent from the field (20 for 40) while Beach shot 31 percent (20 for 64).
"We didn't hit our shots," Rainier Beach Coach Mike Bethea said. "That's the first time it's hit us like that."
Noting that Mount Vernon's top six players are seniors, Bethea said, "They are a senior team and they stepped it up. They had flashbacks to last year and what that did to them. My hat is off to them. ... We'll be back next year."
Tyrone Shepard led second-ranked Beach (26-4) with 14 points and Lodrick Stewart scored 12. His sophomore twin, Rodrick, who scored 35 in a second-round win over West Valley (Yakima) was held to five points.
Rodrick said that in the second half "everybody gave up. If we would have played like we played in the first half, we would have won the game."
Both teams were seeking their third state basketball titles. Mount Vernon won in 1991 and 1992 (undefeated season) and Beach in 1988 and 1998.
Fraser, who has guided the Bulldogs to state tournaments 13 of his 15 seasons, said last week he may retire from coaching when the season ended.
In the fourth quarter, Mount Vernon students chanted, "Thank you, Fraser!"
Fraser said he isn't going to make any immediate decision and just savor the victory.
Mount Vernon became the only 3A school to go undefeated twice on the way to the championship. The other undefeated teams were Curtis '71, Cleveland '75, and O'Dea '97.
Thousands of green-clad Mount Vernon fans watched the triumph and Bulldog players jumped on the press-row table after the game and waved at the crowd in celebration.
As he watched his jubilant players, Fraser said, "A lot of these guys have been coming to this tournament since they were in day-care."
They went home winners and community heroes last night.
MOUNT VERNON -- Tyler Amaya 7-10 4-7 19, Josh Reisman 3-8 9-10 16, Scott Skjei 4-10 1-2 11, Troy DeVries 3-7 2-2 10, Chris Thompson 3-5 0-0 7, Kyle Kendrick 0-0 2-2 2, Aaron Roetcisoender 0-0 0-0 0, Eric Powell 0-0 0-0 0, John Lee 0-0 0-0 0 Stanley Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Travis Storrer 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Martin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-40 18-23 65.
RAINIER BEACH -- Kenny Williams 2-5 0-0 4, Randy Green 1-11 1-2 4, Lodrick Stewart 5-15 1-2 12, Rodrick Stewart 2-9 1-2 5, Tyrone Shepard 6-14 1-2 14, James Delgardo 1-3 0-0 2, Gerald Smiley 2-5 4-5 9, Terry Berry 1-1 0-0 2, Jeffrey Haywood 0-0 0-0 0, Robbie Delgardo 0-0 0-0 0, Noble Johnson III 0-1 0-0 0, Justin Kelsie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-64 8-13 52.
Mount Vernon10 13 20 22 - 65
Rainier Beach11 15 6 20 - 52
Three-point field goals -- Rainier Beach 4-13 (Green 1-5, Shepard 1-2, Smiley 1-2, L. Stewart 1-4); Mount Vernon 7-19 (DeVries 2-5, Skjei 2-4). Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- Rainier Beach 30 (R. Stewart 9, Green 8); Mount Vernon 38 (Amaya 11). Assists -- Rainier Beach 8 (R. Stewart 4); Mount Vernon 10 (Amaya 4). Total fouls -- Rainier Beach 23, Mount Vernon 16.