Could this be the year Mount Tahoma basketball goes back to state?
Lezjaun Harris, now a senior forward for the Mount Tahoma High School boys basketball team, recalls watching the Lincoln Abes face the T-Birds when he was just an eighth grader, watching from the stands.
Lincoln blew out Mount Tahoma that night.
“After that, I wanted to go to Mount Tahoma and beat Lincoln,” he said. “That’s why I came here. I wanted to turn it around. I wanted to see the whole team change.”
Mount Tahoma is 8-2 start this season and is 3-2 in the Class 3A Pierce County League. On Dec. 11, the T-Birds snapped Lincoln’s 60-game winning streak against league opponents with a 69-66 road win against the Abes.
“We take huge pride in that,” said sophomore guard Asjon Anderson, whose older brother, Trevante, played three years at Lincoln before playing his senior season at Rainier Beach. “It was an incredible moment. I love our team. Our chemistry is great. I take a lot of pride in it, it shows how good Mount Tahoma can be. A lot of people doubted us, but we’re showing them this year.”
Mount Tahoma hasn’t played in the state tournament since the 2005-06 season, when the T-Birds took fourth, beating Cascade (Everett), Ferris and Gig Harbor in the process. That’s something sixth-year coach Jason Townsend is trying to change.
But that type of success doesn’t come overnight. In fact, when Townsend first left Tacoma Baptist to take the job at his alma mater, the off-the-court issues were the biggest hurdle he faced in trying to bring stability the program.
“It comes down to accountability,” Townsend said. “It’s always somebody else’s fault. It was always, ‘‘It’s not my fault that I’m late, coach.’ ‘My mom didn’t do this or that.’ Or ‘I was late to school because my mom didn’t wake me up.’ That type of stuff — nothing basketball. It was just accountability of themselves and holding themselves at a higher standard than what they were used to.”
That meant in the classroom, too. Townsend quickly tired of receiving constant emails notifying him that some of his players weren’t attending their classes. So he set a standard. Late to practice? You’re not practicing — and if you’re not practicing, you’re not playing in the games.
Missing classes? You’re not practicing and again, you’re not playing in games. There was some initial push back, but Townsend held his ground.
“It’s been good after that,” he said.
This may be Townsend’s best team yet at Mount Tahoma, with Anderson leading the way, averaging 17.8 points per game for the T-Birds.
“Asjon is a tremendous competitor,” Townsend said. “He’s a gym rat, he hates losing. He’s always trying to better himself. … He’s fiery, he’s a competitor, he can shoot the ball, he can handle the ball.”
Josh Joseph and Elo Johnson both average double-digit scoring, while Harris averaged 10.9 points and 8.4 boards per game.
“We pass the ball a lot, move it around and get open looks,” Harris said. “On defense, we move around well and talk. A lot of talking.”
Mount Tahoma has wins over Lincoln and Stadium this year, with losses coming to Lakes and Wilson in the 3A PCL.
Townsend said he enjoys seeing the players represent the school with pride, as opposed to years when the program had a reputation as being a pushover. That’s no longer the case.
“That’s what drives a lot of these guys,” Townsend said. “Everyone knows each other. When you go to the mall or wherever, you’re wearing the Mount Tahoma gear. It used to be, ‘You guys are weak.’ This and that, this and that.
“These guys want to be able to wear their gear and say, ‘You think we’re weak? OK, let’s go.’ We’re not pushovers. We’re a good basketball team. It’s collective.”
Harris has seen that growth firsthand, from watching Mount Tahoma get run out of the gym against Lincoln as an eighth grader to now, beating the Abes in his senior season.
“We definitely got a lot more together,” he said. “When I first got here, people didn’t want to play. Now people want to come out and try their hardest to win.”
