By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
The Rainier Beach Vikings faced off against the Eastside Catholic Crusaders last night in the 3A Boys State Championship game under the bright lights at the Tacoma Dome.
Eastside won the opening possession, but slowly but surely the ball was in the hands of the Vikings’ Kaden Powers who got the first points of the night for Rainier Beach, and helped his team build a 5-0 lead early in the first quarter. The Vikings’ run stopped after Eastside Catholic’s Yabi Aklog sank a jump shot to narrow the deficit to 3 points, 5-2.
Aklog’s first basket of the night ignited a spark within him, as he went to the free-throw line twice after being fouled while shooting. Despite only converting one of the shots, Aklog ended the first quarter dominating on the court as he scored all 14 of Eastside Catholic’s points in the opening quarter, to give the Crusaders a slim 1-point lead over the Vikings,14-13, as they headed into the second quarter.
The second quarter had a very high-pace, with possessions changing rapidly between the Crusaders and the Vikings, both teams taking turns in leading the game for the majority of the quarter.
The Crusaders’ Jacob Cofie rode the momentum that Aklog generated during the first quarter and began to contribute significantly for his team. Cofie would score 8 second quarter points, including a slam dunk on an assist from teammate Alex Elston, as the Crusaders stretched their lead to 27-23 as they went into halftime.
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During the opening minutes of the second half, Eastside Catholic’s Kayden Green sent the Vikings’ Maceo Rivers to the free throw line for three shots. Making two of the 3 shots, Rivers cut the Vikings deficit to 2 points. However, Green would make up for his mistake by making a critical three-point shot to push the Crusaders lead out to 30-25 over the Vikings.
Coming off of a remarkable first half, Aklog further extended the lead to 10 points with a dunk that ignited the Crusader fans in the crowd.
With the help of a jump shot and a three-point shot just seconds before the buzzer by Powers, the Vikings managed to comeback from a 10-point deficit, to tie the game at 44 at the end of the third quarter.
In the final quarter, the referees were sharp at noticing fouls for either team. The Crusaders went to the free throw line 6 times. Meanwhile the Vikings had two trips to the line, converting 2 of their 3 free throw shots, keeping the game neck and neck. With the help of Aklog’s two trips to the free-throw line and two three-point shots by Riley Wallace, the Crusaders increased their lead to 60-50 as they approached the final minute of the quarter.
During the last minute of the matchup, we saw a lot of action from the Vikings, as they tried to narrow the gap by intensifying their offensive efforts. With 20 seconds remaining in the final quarter, the Vikings’ Jeremiah White made a dunk, followed by a jump shot by Marceo Rivers, bringing the score to 57-63 with 6 seconds left on the clock.
After a couple of trips to the free throw line, the Crusaders sealed the 3A State Championship title with a 66-57 victory over the Rainier Beach Vikings.
Aklog, who scored the first 16 points for the Crusaders in the game, with 28 points to lead Eastside Catholic, while Powers led the Vikings with 15 points, with Rivers was not far behind with 13 points to lead the Vikings.
