By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Last night, fans packed the gym at Seattle Pacific University for the 3A Boys Metro League Championship game. The #1 seed Rainier Beach Vikings took on the #3 seed Garfield Bulldogs in the third ‘Hood Classic’ game of the year. The Bulldogs, who are 0-2 in their matchups with the Vikings this year, were eager to avenge their regular-season losses to Rainier Beach and take home the 2025 Metro League title.
The game started with Garfield winning the tip, allowing JuJu Ervin to put up the first two points of the night. As expected, the opening quarter featured fast-paced play by both teams. The Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run in the first two minutes of the game until Rainier Beach’s Kaden Powers put up two points to end Garfield’s run. Following Powers’ first basket of the night for his team, Jaylen Petty and Powers collectively added shots to tie the game at 9-9 with roughly four minutes remaining in the first quarter. The Vikings, who started the game slow, began to ramp up their defense, causing the game to feel even more intense. Petty, who picked up two fouls in the first quarter, scored six first-quarter points, while Ervin scored eight to lead their respective teams. The score was hardly out of reach for either team, as they took turns alternating the lead.
Petty then made a trip to the free-throw line nearing the end of the opening quarter, where he converted both free throws, which he followed with a long three-point shot on the Vikings’ next possession to give the Vikings a 21-20 lead. Micah Ili-Meneese and Powers then added four points, as Rainier Beach extended their lead to 25-20. However, seconds before the clock hit zero, Garfield’s Isaiah Davis hit a three-point shot that would send the Bulldogs into the second quarter trailing 25-23.
In the second quarter, Beach began to dominate. Petty picked up his third foul early in the quarter and started taking more and more shots to avoid getting into foul trouble. Ervin, who chipped in four points for Garfield during the second quarter, was all over the court, seemingly outrunning the Vikings most of the time. However, Petty, who scored five points in the second quarter, started to set his teammates up with valuable shots. With an assist to Dre Morris and Powers, the Vikings built up a 10-point lead, including a trip to the free-throw line for Ili-Meneese, where he converted two free throws. The Vikings would enter halftime with a 10-point lead at 46-36.
The Vikings started with possession in the second half and quickly sent Garfield’s Doni Burkett to the free-throw line. After Burkett converted one of his two free throw attempts, the Vikings went on a 7-0 run, which included two points from both Powers and Petty and a near half-court three-point shot from Nyale Robinson. With five minutes remaining, the Vikings led 53-37, and the Bulldogs needed to turn the game around. Davis, who is known as a consistent three-point shooter, drained a three-point shot to end the Vikings’ run. Powers and Davis then had a battle, as they both scored for their teams on back-to-back possessions. Garfield’s Ohmono Bomet was then fouled by Ili-Meneese, who picked up his third foul of the night, and converted two points at the line.
With Rainier Beach leading 57-45, Petty lit up the court with another three-point shot to further stretch the lead. Petty then picked up his fourth foul with a little over three minutes remaining, sending Garfield’s Tripp Haywood to the line, where he converted both attempts to close the game to 13 at 60-47. In the final two minutes of the third quarter, Petty got an and-one after being fouled by Garfield’s KJ Hightower, successfully scored the extra point, and drained two three-point shots, one right as the quarter ended, as the Vikings took a 73-52 lead heading into the final quarter.
Opening the fourth quarter with a jump shot from Ervin, the Bulldogs started on the right foot. Shortly after, Ili-Meneese converted two points at the free-throw line, followed by four more points from Haywood and Hightower to cut the Vikings’ lead to 75-58.
In less than a minute, Powers picked up two quick fouls, bringing his total to four and sending Haywood to the line on one of them. Haywood capitalized, successfully converting three points before Garfield Head Coach Brandon Roy called a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Morris knocked down a jump shot, but Garfield’s D-Jack Jackson responded with a powerful dunk off a rebound, igniting the Garfield crowd. With three minutes left in the game, Davis hit back-to-back three-pointers, cutting the deficit to 84-71.
Morris clapped back with a smooth jumper, pushing the Vikings’ lead to 86-71. As the clock ticked down, Garfield went on a 6-0 run with key contributions from Bomet, Burkett, and Jackson, closing the gap to 86-77. In a final effort to extend the game, Garfield resorted to fouling the Vikings to preserve time. Robinson was sent to the free-throw line twice, converting three of his four attempts to seal an 89-77 victory for the Vikings.
Petty led all scorers as he finished the game with 27 points, while Powers had 24 points, and Morris chipped in 18 points to lead the Vikings. Haywood led Garfield with 19 points, while Ervin finished the night with 17 points, and Burkett ended the game with 15 points.
After the game, Rainier Beach Head Coach Mike Bethea celebrated the victory with his team and believes that the sky is the limit for his talent-loaded team.
“The guys are really buying in,” said Bethea. “They believe in each other and feel that if they can be on the same page as us coaches, the sky is the limit.”
Source: Seattle Medium
