BASKETBALL: Beamer finishes in fifth-place at 4A State Tournament

The Todd Beamer boys basketball team picked up the school's first-ever state tournament trophy Saturday. It just wasn't the trophy they had hoped to be holding after advancing into the semifinals after a win over Gonzaga Prep in the quarterfinals Thursday of the Class 4A Hardwood Classic State Boys Basketball Tournament inside the Tacoma Dome.

By Casey Olson • March 9, 2014 12:06 am
Todd Beamer senior Trey Burch-Manning drives to the basket against an Issaquah defender during Saturday's third/fifth game at the 2014 Class 4A Hardwood Classic inside the Tacoma Dome.
Todd Beamer senior Trey Burch-Manning drives to the basket against an Issaquah defender during Saturday's third/fifth game at the 2014 Class 4A Hardwood Classic inside the Tacoma Dome.

The Todd Beamer boys basketball team picked up the school’s first-ever state tournament trophy Saturday. It just wasn’t the trophy they had hoped to be holding after advancing into the semifinals after a win over Gonzaga Prep in the quarterfinals Thursday of the Class 4A Hardwood Classic State Boys Basketball Tournament inside the Tacoma Dome.

The Titans (22-6) finished in fifth place Saturday afternoon with a 60-49 loss to the Issaquah Eagles after losing to Richland a night earlier in the semifinal. Issaquah lost to Garfield, the eventual state champions, in the other semifinal Friday.

The appearance at the state tournament was just the second in the history of the school. The Titans’ other appearance came in 2009, when they lost their only two games at the state tournament. Thursday night’s win over Gonzaga Prep was the first-ever state tournament win by a Beamer basketball team.

Against Issaquah, Beamer played solidly during the first three quarters. The Titans clung to a 36-33 lead entering the final eight minutes of the game. But that’s when Issaquah and star senior guard, Ty Gibson, took over.

The Eagles started the fourth quarter with a 13-0 run to take a commanding 10-point lead and put the game away. Gibson hit several clutch 3-pointers during the fourth-quarter run and finished with 18 points after scoring just three during the first half.

 

Trey Burch-Manning led Beamer with 16 points and seven rebounds. Bogdan Bliznyuk had eight points and five rebounds. The Titans were outscored 27-13 in the fourth quarter.

The loss ended the most successful season in Beamer history. The Titans won the school’s first-ever South Puget Sound League South Division championship and the program’s first West Central/Southwest District Tournament title.

 

Richland 75, Beamer 61

The Bombers remained unbeaten on the season with the impressive win over the Titans Friday night in the Class 4A semifinals at the Tacoma Dome.

That they did from the start, leading 14-12 after one quarter and then 33-20 at the half, shooting 52 percent from the field. Beamer was never really in the game during the second half of play.

The closest the Titans got during the third quarter was when a Bliznyuk 3-pointer cut the Richland lead to 10 points, 48-38 with two minutes remaining. But the Bombers doubled the lead to 20 points midway through the fourth quarter.

Richland shot 49 percent from the field (25 of 51) and 36 percent (7 of 19) from 3-point range for the game.

Steven Beo led Richland with 29 points, while Jacob DeVries added 18. Quadir Williams’ 14 points led the way for Beamer.