Metro slayers: Auburn knocks off Eastside Catholic to advance to 3A state semifinals
Most programs fear seeing Metro League opponents in the 3A state tournament. Clearly, the Auburn Trojans don’t fall into that camp.
On its way to the 3A state title a season ago, Auburn beat three Metro opponents — Garfield, Seattle Prep and Rainier Beach in the title game — to hoist the championship trophy.
Add another to the list. Auburn beat Eastside Catholic in Thursday night’s 3A quarterfinal round, 45-42, extending its two-year winning streak against Metro opponents in the Tacoma Dome to four.
“We just like to win,” said Auburn’s Semaj Brown. “We’re competitors, we look adversity in the eye. … We just hoop. We just love it. We love hooping.”
Auburn coach Ryan Hansen has a healthy respect for the Metro League and said his team gets up for the games.
“Obviously, the Metro League is the toughest league in the state year in and year out, and we’re just really excited to play those teams,” he said.
Auburn led by one at half and came out hot in the third quarter, outscoring Eastside Catholic 16 to 10 in the period. Eastside Catholic made a late run in the fourth quarter but Auburn hung on for the win, even after guard Jaylen Petty went to the bench with an injury, The Trojans held 6-foot-10 forward Jacob Cofie in check, limiting him to just five points.
“Crowd his space,” Brown said of the defensive gameplan. “He’s big, he’s tall. You’ve gotta crowd him, not let him catch it. We know his tendencies, he likes to turn to his right shoulder, so take away the right shoulder spin moves, come in when the ball is on the ground, hands straight up.
“When Jacob gets it, he’s tall, everyone has to help. We ended up having a good game plan, so it worked out.”
Auburn was paced by Brown’s game-high 12 points, Tyrell Nichols added 11, Luvens Valcin scored nine and Lateibreon Chandler scored eight. Eastside Catholic’s Nate Krohn led the Crusaders with 10 points.
Auburn will face the winner of the Garfield vs. Shorecrest game in the semifinal round on Friday. Assuming it’s heavily-favored Garfield who moves on, it’ll be another Metro League opponent test for Auburn.
“We’re just dawgs,” Valcin said. “We have something to prove and everything to lose. We’re defending state champs, so we had everything to lose. We know to just come out, play hard and we play to win. Defense comes first for us. If we can be big dawgs on the defensive end, the offense just flows with it.”
