The Todd Beamer Titans hope the third time is the charm Wednesday night.
That’s when the Titans will take on the third-ranked Curtis Vikings in the opening round of the double-elimination West Central District Boys Basketball Tournament in University Place. The South Puget Sound League South Division-champion Vikings dominated the Titans during their two regular-season meetings, winning both by double digits.
But the Vikings are reeling a little bit after losing two-straight games at the SPSL Tournament. Curtis, who lost only once during the regular season, was beaten by Federal Way in the SPSL title game Thursday and then lost to Kentwood Saturday. The two losses dropped Curtis into the third seed from the SPSL into the West Central District Tournament. Beamer is the league’s seventh seed.
Beamer (15-6) earned the opening-round district game against Curtis by beating up Auburn Riverside, 72-55, in an SPSL Tournament seeding game Saturday morning at Kent’s ShoWare Center. The two teams both finished fourth in their respective divisions of the SPSL.
Against Auburn Riverside, the Titans got 17 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots from senior forward Kevin Davis, who was named the SPSL South’s Most Valuable Player earlier in the week. Terrelle Loggins had one of his biggest scoring games of the season. The senior guard finished with 18 points on 7 for 11 shooting from the field for Beamer. Junior Napa Mefi chipped in 15 points.
Auburn Riverside led 16-15 after the first quarter, but the Titans outscored the Ravens, 17-12 in the second quarter to take control.
Puyallup 55, Decatur 44 (Saturday)
For the second game in a row at the SPSL Tournament, the Decatur Gators struggled to score points. This time the struggles led to an 11-point loss to the Puyallup Vikings Saturday at the SPSL Tournament in Kent. Decatur also lost to Kentwood, 62-42, Thursday.
The loss dropped the Gators into the fifth seed from the SPSL. Decatur will host the Narrows League’s fourth-place team, Olympia, at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The winner will take on the winner of a game between Lincoln (Narrows 1) and Auburn (SPSL 9) on Friday.
Saturday, Puyallup took an early lead and never looked back. The Vikings led 34-20 at halftime and cruised in the second half to snare the SPSL’s fourth seed to districts.
The Gators got 15 points from junior Jerron Smith and senior Jordan McCloud chipped in 10.
West Central District Boys Basketball Tournament
First round (Wednesday)>
Game 1: Narrows No. 6 (Gig Harbor) at SPSL No. 2 (Kentwood)
Game 2: Narrows No. 4 (Olympia) at SPSL No. 5 (Decatur)
Game 3: SPSL No. 7 (Beamer) at SPSL No. 3 (Curtis)
Game 4: SPSL No. 9 (Auburn) at Narrows No. 1 (Lincoln)
Game 5: SPSL No. 8 (Auburn Riverside) at Narrows No. 2 (Wilson)
Game 6: Narrows No. 5 (Mount Tahoma) at SPSL No. 4 (Puyallup)
Game 7: SPSL No. 6 (Kentridge) at Narrows No. 3 (Bellarmine Prep)
Game 8: SPSL No. 10 (Bethel) at SPSL No. 1 (Federal Way)