Game recaps, highlights from the semifinals of 4A and 3A state basketball tournaments
Between the Class 4A and 3A boys and girls state tournaments, 60 high school basketball games will be played in the Tacoma Dome this weekend. The News Tribune will be here all week providing game recaps, highlights, interviews, stats and more.
Follow along for live updates from Friday’s semifinal games and consolation ladder games.
CLASS 3A BOYS
Semifinals
No. 10 Rainier Beach 59, No. 4 O’Dea 46
Kaden Powers just hosted his own shooting clinic at the Tacoma Dome.
Rainier Beach’s junior wing had a game-high 28 points, and No. 10 Rainier Beach knocked off No. 4 O’Dea, 59-46, in Friday’s state semifinals at the Tacoma Dome’s Hardwood Classic – guided by Powers’ shooting prowess and an exceptional defensive performance over its 3A Metro rival.
Powers was the ultimate shot-creator, both dangerous from the perimeter and difficult to stop in iso-ball from mid-range. He posted 16 points in the first half, pushing Rainier Beach to a double-digit lead as early as the first quarter.
“I’m just proud of my team, man,” Powers said. “We came a long way. A lot of people didn’t see us coming this far.
“We came together. We don’t care about stats, we don’t care about none of that. We’re just playing together.”
No. 2 Eastside Catholic 55, No. 6 Mount Spokane 53
Jacob Cofie must have felt relieved. A three-quarter court lob pass was heaved his way with just three seconds remaining in the game, with Eastside Catholic clinging to a two-point lead against Mount Spokane in the Class 3A state tournament semifinals at the Tacoma Dome on Friday.
Mount Spokane took a timeout and drew up a play for its star guard, Ryan Lafferty, who was flipped a quick pass by a teammate. But Lafferty wasn’t able to fully collect the ball and would-be game-winner was doomed from the release, falling short.
Eastside Catholic won 55-53, and everyone in orange and blue exhaled.
“Man, I don’t even know what to say,” said Cofie, a 6-foot-10 forward who’s committed to play for Tony Bennett’s Virginia Cavaliers at the next level. “I’m just so happy to be in the championship, proud of my team. We played great, man. We played great.”
Consolation
No. 3 Garfield 71, No. 8 North Central 58
The Bulldogs won’t have the chance to defend their state championship after a loss to O’Dea in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, but Garfield will have a chance to place this year after a comfortable win against North Central in Friday’s consolation game.
Legend Smiley paced the Bulldogs with a team-high 17 points, making 3-of-8 shots from the beyond the arc. Forward Ajayi Simmons scored 14 for the Bulldogs and Jamari Harris added 12. Eli Williams scored a game-high 25 for North Central in the loss.
Garfield will face No. 5 Mountlake Terrace in Saturday’s fourth/sixth place game.
No. 5 Mountlake Terrace 67, No. 17 Lincoln 56
The Abes emerged as the talk of the Tacoma Dome two days earlier after knocking off No. 1 seed Auburn in the opening round. On Friday, Lincoln’s run came to an end against an experienced Mountlake Terrace squad.
Hawks’ guard Jaxon Dubiel scored a team-high 23 points in the win, shooting 11-of-16 from the field. Omarion Boston was Lincoln’s best player in the tournament and finished strong, scoring 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting and connecting on a pair of 3-pointers.
CLASS 4A GIRLS
Semifinals
No. 1 Camas 60, No. 4 Sumner 48
The Spartans had a plan. And for a half, Sumner executed the plan almost to perfection.
Even as Camas rained down 3-pointers early on, the Spartans refused to come out far enough to open up the middle for the Papermakers 6-foot-2 inside force Addison Harris. And when the Papermakers shooters cooled off from the perimeter, Sumner climbed back into the first state 4A girls semifinal at the Tacoma Dome.
The Spartans, though, couldn’t keep Harris contained all afternoon and Camas got back in front in the third quarter, extending its advantage in the fourth for a 60-48 victory. The Papermakers advanced to its second straight championship game that will be played at 5 p.m. on Saturday night.
No. 8 Gonzaga Prep 67, No. 5 Davis 60
This week’s successes had a foundation in last season’s accomplishments for the Gonzaga Prep Bullpups.
“Getting over here last year was a big deal,” Gonzaga Prep coach Goeff Arte said. “Because it planted the seed like, ‘We can do this,’ so …”
On Friday, the Bullpups just kept doing what they’ve been doing since Wednesday. They beat another higher seed in the Davis Pirates, 67-60, at the Tacoma Dome. The difference was, this time it sent Gonzaga Prep back to the state 4A girls championship game.
Consolation
No. 6 Bothell 52, No. 7 Tahoma 35
It won’t involve the big gold ball, but the Cougars did take a next step. Bothell will take home some hardware for the first time since 2016.
A season ago, the Cougars got back to the Dome for the first time since that ’16 season. This week, they will play for fourth and sixth places at 8 a.m. on Saturday against a familiar foe in Woodinville, a team that has beaten Bothell twice already this season.
Charlotte Lipkin led the Cougars against the Bears, scoring 19 points. She grabbed eight rebounds and had three steals. McKylee Hawkins continued her strong tournament with 17 points and nine boards. She now has 44 rebounds here and needs 13 against the Falcons on Saturday to tie the tournament record of 57 set in 2017 by Kentridge’s Jaquaya Miller.
No. 2 Woodinville 62, No. 3 Kamiakin 55
The Falcons shook off another slow start, finally took a lead late in the third quarter and extended to as much as 10 points in the fourth quarter to earn their fourth straight state trophy and fifth in the last six tournaments.
Woodinville will play Kingco League foe Bothell for fourth and sixth places at 8 a.m. on Saturday. Jaecy Stephens Eggers scored 13 of her game-high 23 points and grabbed 11 of her 17 rebounds in the second half for the Falcons while Jazlyn Wilkerson added 15 points, including four 3-pointers.
CLASS 4A BOYS
Semifinals
No. 1 Mount Si 57, No. 5 Davis 45
These Mount Si Wildcats are scary fast – possessing a keen ability to push the basketball straight to the rim. It’s a simple formula: point guard Blake Forrest races coast-to-coast, then kicks out for an open trey or dishes to the athletic, 6-foot-7 Latt Ford for an explosive dunk or highlight-reel alley-oop.
Davis, like many of Mount Si’s challengers, couldn’t keep up. The Pirates rallied early to tie Friday’s 3A semifinal by halftime, but No. 1 Mount Si pulled away in the closing minutes for a 57-45 win at the Tacoma Dome.
The Wildcats, two-time state champions, most recently in 2020, will play Saturday for a third.
“We just use our athleticism to our advantage,” Forrest said of his lightning-quick offense. “That’s how most of our offense is. And we like to build momentum that way, too.”
Forrest scored 15 points with six rebounds and two assists. He was 3-of-5 from downtown. And with Friday’s contest within two possessions in the fourth quarter, he poured in five straight points (and a clutch trey) to put the Pirates out of reach.
Mount Si’s student section, perhaps rubbing salt on the Davis wound, chanted and clapped in unison toward opposing spectators: “We can’t hear you! We can’t hear you!”
“We talked about it in the locker room. It was just a 0-0 game at halftime, so we just had to prevail and overcome,” Forrest said.
No. 7 Richland 70, No. 4 Glacier Peak 59
During his postgame interview with SWX Sports, Richland guard Joshua Woodard was surrounded by teammates. He was the only Richland player interviewed on the baseline — but all 11 teammates stood by Woodard’s side, unwilling to celebrate Friday night’s win without him.
Senior guard Christopher Daniels placed his hands above Woodard’s head in the shape of a crown, as if to anoint him as royalty. In a 4A semifinal that featured 15 lead changes, Woodard facilitated a late-game surge – posting a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double to push Richland over No. 4 Glacier Peak in the Tacoma Dome.
“You’ve got to value every possession against a team like that,” Woodard told The News Tribune. “(Glacier Peak has) lots of great scorers… We’ve got to make sure we get a good shot.”
In a contest that featured 15 lead changes and 12 ties, Richland emerged from a 59-59 draw and scored the game’s final 11 points to advance to Saturday’s 4A state championship.
Woodard was 6-of-12 from the field and 3-of-7 from three-point range. Richland forward Lucas Westerfield dropped 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, both team-highs, with two blocks.
“He’s dominant,” Woodard said. “Any time he touched the ball, you almost knew he was gonna score. And defensively, he’s getting five, six blocks a game. It helps us a lot.”
Richland meets No. 1 Mount Si in the 4A championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Consolation
No. 11 Skyview 80, No. 2 Tahoma 77 (OT)
After Tahoma came back in the fourth quarter and forced overtime, Skyview was able to escape with a win.
Skyview guard Demaree Collins, who has been one of the tournament’s top guards, scored a game-high 34 points, shooting 6-of-14 from 3-point range. Malakai Weimer added 20 points.
Adam Davis had another strong outing, scoring a team-high 29 points in the loss, including 3-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc.
No. 8 Kentwood 72, No. 3 Gonzaga Prep 68
Buy stock in Kentwood now, because the Conquerors are going to be a factor next season at the Tacoma Dome.
Guard Brandon Tagle scored a team-high 21 points, Blake Stempniak added 20, Corey Tita had 17 and Mason St. Louis had 12 in a balanced Kentwood effort.
Nate Christy led Gonzaga Prep, scoring a game-high 27 points in the loss.
Kentwood plays No. 11 Skyview in the fourth/sixth place game on Saturday.
CLASS 3A GIRLS
Semifinals
No. 3 Snohomish vs. No. 1 Mead, 7:15 p.m.
No. 6 Garfield vs. No. 2 Lakeside, 9 p.m.
Consolation
No. 5 Arlington 53, No. 7 Bonney Lake 50
The Eagles overcame a big game from Jazmyn Shipp, came back from four points down over the final 2:38 of the game, and earned a trophy with a loser-out game victory. Shipp scored a game-high 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had five assists for the Panthers, whose season came to a conclusion.
Arlington will play Everett at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning for fourth and sixth places. Against Bonney Lake, the Eagles had three double-digit scorers with Khari Deberry and Samara Morrow each scoring 16 points. Kierra Reese added 13 points and seven rebounds.
No. 12 Everett 56, No. 8 North Thurston 48
Alana Washington poured in a tournament-high 37 points, scoring 25 in the first half, and the Seagulls survived a right shoulder injury to Washington’s sister, Mae, that took her out of the game with 2:51 to play in the third quarter.
Soraya Ogaldezz scored 23 points and had four steals for the Rams in the loss.
Everett faces Arlington for fourth and sixth places at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.
This story was originally published March 1, 2024 at 3:40 PM.
