Undefeated Bethel girls believe this is the year the Braves will win it all
Upon his return to the Seattle Seahawks for their post-season run, Marshawn Lynch succinctly verbalized one of the mantras Bethel High School girls basketball coach Tim Brown initiated with his team from the first day of practice last fall.
“Unfinished business.”
For the Braves, though, things haven’t been percolating for years, but months. Bethel’s motivation stems from two tough losses just last March — in the 3A regionals to Mount Spokane and in the first round of the state tournament at the Tacoma Dome to Edmonds-Woodway — to end an otherwise successful season in which they went 20-5 overall. The Braves have taken out their frustrations on opponents from the beginning this season.
“Coach said on Day 1, we are going for the ring,” said freshman Alyssa Smith, one of the newcomers that immediately has contributed to this squad.
If that seems a lofty goal for a team that dropped its final two games just a season ago, these Braves don’t see it that way. Those two nights, instead, galvanized them.
“I basically threw the Mount Spokane tape away,” Brown said. “When we walked into the gym that night, and I saw the crowd full of their fans, I knew my kids would be scared. Then, when we did the walk-through at the Tacoma Dome, I had to ask where a couple of girls were at. They were in the bathroom for 30 minutes (due to nerves).”
But that fear is gone, replaced by a resolve that has carried Bethel to an undefeated start more than halfway through the current campaign. The Braves are currently 11-0 and ranked among the top five 3A teams in the state.
“State last year was like a bad dream, a nightmare,” guard Esmeralda Morales said. “We know we want to go past the first, second rounds; not just go one and done.”
What will carry the Braves to these goals, Brown said, is simple.
“Our defense,” Brown said. “I know that’s where we need to be every game. I never worry about our offense. Once we get going, it’s very hard to stop us.”
The secret to Brown’s offensive confidence is the multiplicity of this team’s options. Smith averages 13 points, three assists and three steals a night as a freshman. Morales, who already has Division I collegiate offers in her pocket, pours in 21 points a game to go with six assists and three steals. And Brown’s daughter, Tiarra, gets 21 points, six assists and four steals.
“If you want to chop one head off, you’ve still got to go through two more,” Brown said. “With this group, I am really confident going to the Tacoma Dome.”
That confidence doesn’t preclude the coach from understanding his team has a weakness or two.
“Right now, we’re working on our starts,” Brown said. “That could be our downfall if we have to play a catch-up game against a (state-quality) team.”
Brown believes Bethel’s core depth will help stave off potential let-downs, even if one of his big three still is a freshman.
“There is going to be a lot of hype around her,” Brown said. “For now, she’s going with the flow. We just need her to stay confident. But as a freshman, she has a motor. She goes hard both ways the entire game.”
For Smith, her motor starts even before the team steps on the court.
“I bring the hype a lot,” Smith said. “It starts with music. Then everyone brings it.”
“Our bench is louder than our cheerleaders,” Brown said with a smile. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘You guys are scaring the crowd, the other players.’ People know when the Braves are in the building, for sure. We’ve actually had success for the last three or four years. We’ve just never really been recognized.”
If these Braves are correct, all that will change rapidly. And their days of flying under the radar from the public’s perspective could be short-lived.
“We’re just building on to what we had last year,” Tiarra Brown said. “We know what’s coming for us now. That lets us push for the championship because we’ve been working a lot. I know it’s going to pay off. We want it bad.”
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 5:22 AM.