3A/4A WIAA boys semifinals highlights, recaps: Auburn, Rainier Beach win in 3A, 4A down to Mount Si, Curtis
TACOMA, Wash. — The stage is set for the 3A and 4A WIAA state championship, which take place Saturday afternoon and evening at the Tacoma Dome.
Top-ranked Mount Si will play in its third consecutive 4A state title game, this time against No. 2 Curtis at 3 p.m.
No. 2 Auburn draws its fourth straight Metro League opponent inn Saturday's 3A title at 7 p.m.: No. 4 Rainier Beach.
Here is a closer look at what happened — recaps, highlights and photos — on the boys court in the 3A and 4A semifinal games:
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3A SEMIFINALS
FINAL: No. 4 Rainier Beach 53, No. 7 Mt. Spokane 50
Trailing by three at halftime, Beach outscored the Wildcats in 21-10 in the third quarter and forced 23 total turnovers to reach its fourth 3A state championship appearance in the last eight years on Saturday at 7 p.m.
In the middle of all of that was senior guard DeMar Johnson, who led the team in scoring but whose contributions were meaningful in terms of his energy, and quick hands.
Johnson scored 17 points and finished with eight steals — one shy of the state tournament record (nine) set by Franklin’s Jason Terry in 1994.
“It’s something new for me,” Johnson said. “First time out here I was definitely nervous, everybody was nervous. I had to make sure my team was together and we handled business today. We’re going to make sure and finish the job (Saturday).”
Read the full game story here.
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FINAL: No. 2 Auburn 45, No. 5 Seattle Prep 34
Up next: Auburn vs. Rainier Beach/Mt. Spokane, Saturday at 7 p.m. in the 3A state championship.
Maleek Arington scored a game-high 12 points, Junior Tyrell Nichols had all eight of his points in a second half spurt and Kaden Hansen hit a late 3 to help the Trojans pull away and advance to the 3A state title.
After a low-scoring first half — Seattle Prep led 17-14 at halftime — Nichols helped Auburn find a rhythm in the third quarter and outscore Prep 17-6.
Read more about the game here.
—Aaron Lommers
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4A SEMIFINALS
FINAL: No. 1 Mount Si 53, No. 11 Olympia 39
Photo by Vince Miller
Typically an offensively prolific group, Mount Si rallied to win on a night when the shots weren't falling.
The Wildcats shot 34 percent, and held Olympia to 28 percent shooting from the field.
Bennett O'Connor scored a team-high 15 points and pulled down seven rebounds and junior big man Miles Heide added nine points and 13 boards and sophomore guard Blake Forrest chipped in 12 points and four rebounds.
Bears standout junior point guard Parker Gerrits had a game-high 19 points and seven boards.
FINAL: No. 3 Union vs. No. 2 Curtis, 9 p.m.
Curtis sophomore Devin Whitten admitted after Friday’s 4A state semifinal victory over Union that seeing opponents playing a 2-3 zone pleases him.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise. Zones give shooters an opportunity to show off their skills, which Whitten took full advantage of the zone the third-ranked Titans played on Friday, knocking down five 3s and scoring 16 points to lead No. 2 Curtis back to the state championship for the first time since winning the title in 2013.
“When teams go zone, I know it’s a day that I can stand out,” Whitten said. “Today the day, and I just know that I’ve got hit shots in those moments.”
The Vikings (26-3) led 43-40 with the ball and just under two minutes to play in the game. Whitten pulled up from eight feet beyond the 3-point line on the left wing, knocking down his fifth 3-pointer of the game and getting hit on the elbow in the process.
Read more about the game here.
—Aaron Lommers
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4A state championship
No. 1 Mount Si vs. No. 2 Curtis, 3 p.m.
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(All photos by Vince Miller)
