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TACOMA – Koren Johnson’s final high school game didn’t take place at the time he or his Garfield teammates wanted or expected. A heart-breaking quarterfinal loss to Auburn in the Class 3A state quarterfinal round on Thursday morning, in overtime, changed the plans.

The Bulldogs arrived at the Tacoma for the state tournament unbeaten and holding the tournament’s top seed. They left early on Saturday morning, after a dominating 80-56 victory over Mountlake Terrace, with the plaque designating a fourth-place finish.

“We’ve been good the whole season,” Johnson said. “We just fell short. We still have the opportunity to go to GEICO Nationals, too. We have just one loss. We still have the best record in the state.”

The Garfield playmaker and floor leader initially had decided to attend a prep school for his senior season, before he joins the Washington Huskies next fall. But Johnson returned before the season began to the Seattle city school that he helped to win a state title as a sophomore in 2020.

Garfield’s sights clearly were focused on a second straight championship. The 2021 playoffs were erased by the Covid-19 pandemic.

A regional loss by the Trojans altered when No. 2 Auburn and top-ranked Garfield met. Instead of the anticipated, potential Saturday night championship game, a packed Tacoma Dome got the matchup in a 10:30 a.m. quarterfinal, won by the Trojans, 64-60.

“If they hadn’t had that loss, we probably would have seen them for the title,” Johnson said.

Auburn did play for the title on Saturday. The Bulldogs (24-1) settled for another victory in the first game of the day over the Hawks (20-4).

“It’s tough,” Garfield coach JayVon Nickens said. “Our expectations were high. We fell a little short (in an overtime quarterfinal loss to Auburn on Thursday). You try to shake it off and bounce back. The next two days showed the true story about our team. Waking up at nine o’clock to compete against a good Eastside Catholic team, then to come out at 8 a.m. and put up almost 90 points, that’s pretty dang impressive.”

But the mission still remains for Nickens.

“It’s not about wins and losses,” Nickens said. “We’re building great young men here. It’s about competing in every day life. You’re going to win some, you’re going to lose some. You don’t tuck tail. You show up and you face adversity. That’s what we do.”

3A THIRD/FIFTH: Seattle Prep 76, Mt. Spokane 69

The Metro League continued to assert itself in state tournament placers, as the Panthers (22-6) rebounded from its semifinal loss to Auburn to beat the Wildcats (22-7).

Tyler Mrus posted one of the tournament’s best scoring performances all week by making eight of his 12 field goal attempts and all 13 of his free throws to finish with a game-high 31 points. Maverick Sanders scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to pace Mt. Spokane

4A THIRD/FIFTH: Olympia 57, Union 48

The Bears (18-9) built a 15-point lead after three quarters, withstood a comeback rally from the Titans (20-7) and hung on for the trophy game victory.

Trailing 43-28 heading into the final eight minutes, Union outscored the Bears by six, 20-14. It wasn’t enough to mount a serious challenge, though, as Olympia maintained control on the glass, outrebounding Union 30-20 overall.

Bryson Metz scored a game-high 18 points for the Titans. Andreas Engholm scored 15 and Caden Roth added 12 for Olympia (18-9).

4A FOURTH/SIXTH: Kamiakin 84, Tahoma 62

Tyler Bilodeau scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while teammate Trey Arland matched his scoring output and added seven boards as the Braves (22-5) beat up the Bears (17-10).

Adam Davis scored 15 points to pace Tahoma. Kamiakin dominated the game inside, owning the boards. The Braves collected 46 rebounds to just 19 for Tahoma. The Braves also shot it well, making 33 of 58 shots for a 56.9 percent clip.

TOP PERFORMANCES

Tyler Mrus, Seattle Prep: 31 points, 4 rebounds

Tyler Bilodeau, Kamiakin: 21 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists

Trey Arland, Kamiakin: 21 points, 7 rebounds

Maverick Sanders, Mt. Spokane: 20 points, 10 rebounds

Zaveon Jones, Mountlake Terrace: 19 points, 5 rebounds

Bryson Metz, Union: 18 points

Jeffrey Anyimah, MLT: 16 points

Andreas Engholm, Olympia: 15 points

Raphiel Justice, Garfield: 15 points