The Todd Beamer Titans’ girls basketball season came to an end on Wednesday in a loser-out game against Kentridge in the state tournament.
The Chargers spent most of their time in the paint against the Titans in a competition centering around who had the better pair of forwards. In the end, it was Kentwood in its 57-40 dismantling of Beamer at the Tacoma Dome.
The duo of JaQuaya Miller (11 points) and Jordyn Jenkins (15 points) were just too much for Titan forwards Makenzie Bond and Darion Brown.
The pair led Kentridge on a 10-0 run in the first quarter before Beamer coach Corey Alexander called timeout.
“We let Kentridge get comfortable on the boards,” Alexander said. “That was our downfall as we went away from our game plan, letting them get boards.”
In her final performance in a Titan uniform, however, senior captain Japhera McEachin left her mark on the Tacoma Dome floor.
McEachin finished with 14 points, leading Beamer in scoring. She opened the second quarter with a steal and an easy layup.
McEachin’s spark helped cut the Kentridge lead down to 30-21 at the half.
“She’s our floor general, our floor leader,” Alexander said. “She gets everybody involved, just a coach’s dream to give 110 percent every time. She will be missed.”
The Titans (21-7) struggled this year in postseason play. They finished the season 3-4 in the month of February. In two of its three losses in this stretch, Beamer had the lead going into the fourth quarter.
The motivational phrase Alexander used for his team this month has been “finish.” Beamer proved it could finish in its previous game, a 73-61 win over Rogers on Feb. 25.
“We just communicated with each other so much better,” McEachin said of the Rogers’ performance. “As a team, we had that dip in the fourth quarter (of those previous games). We let teams come back. In this one, we emphasized communicating with each other throughout the whole game consistently.”
Just as she had in the win over the Rams, McEachin had the hot hand down the stretch in both of the Titans last two games.
“She’s been on fire,” junior forward Bond said. “We had to find her, and we did that and did a good job of still staying within our offense.”
Beamer now looks toward the future. It will be without some major pieces next year after losing McEachin and Brown.
The future is bright, though. The team’s leading scorer, Bond, will be back for her senior season, and Chastity Spady could likely take over the point guard position.
Jaylea Christian and Averia Miller will have the opportunity to battle for Brown’s position at the five.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” Alexander said. “They faced adversity head on, and they handled it. This one hurts, but I know this team. They’ll come back and be stronger because of it.”
