Last 'Hood Classic' in old gymnasium becomes another (Rainier) Beach party, 3 takeaways

Led by Jaylen Petty's 24 points, 3A favorite Vikings defeat Metro League rival Garfield, 81-71

Mike Bethea has Rainier Beach in position to think WIAA boys basketball championship in March. / Photo by Vince Miller

Jaylen Petty scored a game-high 24 points, including a 3-pointer than capped the decisive Vikings' run with 21/2 minutes remaining, and top-ranked Rainier Beach held off No. 3 Garfield, 81-71, on Friday night in front of a packed house at Crawford Court.

Kaden Powers added 19 points, including a pair of buckets as the Vikings scored 11 unanswered points to grab a 75-61 lead with 2:31 to go.

K.J. Hightower led the Bulldogs with 20 points, and Doni Burkett chipped in with 14 while Tripp Haywood had 13, all in the second half as Garfield erased an 11-point deficit by taking a 41-39 lead early in the second half before the teams went down to the wire.

"Playing in that (level of rivalry) is what you dream about as a kid," Petty said. "All the energy, all the setbacks, being with your team - we truly came together and got the ‘W’."

Here are three takeaways from the Rainier Beach-Garfield boys basketball game:

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PLAYMAKERS EVERYWHERE FOR BEACH

Longtime Rainier Beach coach Mike Bethea said he was fine with all the experience he had returning from last year's state runner-up squad - but welcomed Petty, a transfer from Auburn who signed with New Mexico, and Keaundre Morris, a transfer from Curtis.

"Whenever you can add somebody like (Petty) to the lineup, all it does is strengthen it," Bethea said.

"The new way (in basketball) is having a starting eight or starting nine, and that is what we feel we have."

The obvious question with the bevy of scorers the Vikings have - how is one basketball going to be shared?

Bethea said having the different voices of ex-NBA guards Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson, both Rainier Beach alums, in the gym daily has helped steer that transition.

"Coach Crawford brought this to us, ‘Everybody eats, everybody is going to get theirs and have their night,'" Bethea said.

"We don’t care who gets it as long as we all eat."

Petty is a lightning-rod scorer from all spots on the floor. But when the Vikings built big leads twice in the first half, their impatience on offense opened the door to Garfield comebacks.

But during the determining span, Rainier Beach went right to Powers, a bigger guard who flashes big mid-range scoring capability. And he hit a pair of tough jumpers in halfcourt sets to add to the Vikings' lead.

For now, Morris - a sophomore - seems fine just being a third option, and consistent, smooth scorer from the perimeter.

"(It's easy) just knowing basketball is not one man," Petty said. "You have fie dudes on the court. Sharing it is just fun."

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CRAZY NIGHT MARKS END OF ERA

For this final 3A Metro rivalry on this court, if fans didn't buy a ticket online early Friday, or show up four hours beforehand, they were not getting into the sold-out building.

And the Rainier Beach-Garfield game brought out a few who's-who in Seattle: Mayor Bruce Harrell, a Garfield graduate and some of his city staff; University of Washington men's basketball coach Danny Sprinkle and assistant Tony Bland; and, of course a few notable Vikings' alums, including Oregon Ducks lineman Josh Conerly Jr., ex-track record-holder Ginnie (Powell) Crawford and Jamal Crawford and Robinson.

If you thought the basketball was going to be intense, so were a few of the sideshows.

Twice, an outside disturbance sent spectators sprawling out of the grandstands - once with a few minutes remaining in the junior-varsity game and a second time just minutes after the main-attraction game concluded.

Even the opposing cheerleading squads got fiery with a few minutes to go in the varsity game - so much when a referee stopped the game moments later to ask that cheerleaders remain off the court during the game, it sparked a confrontation - and 10-minute delay.

Full moon out?

"The night was really weird," Bethea said.

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NEW HOME SOON COMING

Seattle voters passed a 2019 school levy to fund the construction of a new Rainier Beach High School.

And the near-$275 million project is so close to being finished, school officials are expecting a move into their new next-door digs sometime in April.

Which means the official end of Crawford Court as the Vikings' home gym - which Bethea has mixed feelings about.

"Of course we are going to miss this place. This is where I got it started, so it's almost like when the 'Boston Garden' closed down," Bethea said.

"I mean, we know where all the dead spots (on the floor) are here. We’ve got to go over there and figure it out where the new ones are."

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