Rainier Beach earns 2nd straight boys championship

TACOMA — It was expected to be an easy victory lap, but Rainier Beach had to work hard and come from behind last night to win its second straight Class 3A state boys basketball title.

Rainier Beach, ranked No. 16 in one national poll and considered one of the best teams in the history of Washington high-school basketball, beat Issaquah 65-56 at the Tacoma Dome.

Rodrick Stewart scored 35 points and his brother Lodrick was named tournament MVP as the Vikings from Seattle's Rainier Valley ended their season 26-3. Lodrick finished with seven points, five steals and four assists.

"I have to say this was the hardest game I've played in my high-school career," Rodrick said.

Hans Gasser, Issaquah's 6-foot-10 center, scored 28 points and collected a game-high 11 rebounds.

Rainier Beach only led 48-47 entering the final period but held the Indians without a field goal for nearly the first seven minutes of the final quarter until Gasser made a three-pointer from the corner to cut the Beach lead to 59-52.

The only other Issaquah field goal in the final period came with 40 seconds to play by sophomore guard Garrison Carr, who had 11 points at halftime but finished with only 13.

"They wore us down," said Issaquah Coach Jeff Patrick. "You almost have to play a perfect game to beat them, and we didn't."

Beach Coach Mike Bethea said, "They made us work for this one."

It was a week of private grief for the Stewart twins, who were told Thursday that their paternal grandmother had died Tuesday in Mississippi.

After the semifinal victory over Meadowdale, Lodrick Stewart said he would "run through" a Tacoma Dome wall if necessary to win the game to honor his grandmother's memory.

After last night's game had ended and his teammates were holding up the championship trophy, Lodrick was sobbing on the bench.

Later, he said, "This was for my grandma. I wanted to win it for her. The last words I heard her say were, 'Win it for me.' "

Lodrick said, "I just let Rodrick take over. It was his game tonight."

As he walked off the court dejectedly with the runner-up trophy, Gasser contemplated how close Issaquah came. "We had them until the end of the third quarter. And then they just got away from us," he said. "They are an amazing team."

Gasser, who hit 10 of 13 shots from the field, made the all-tournament first team along with the Stewarts, Issaquah's Carr and Skyline's Matt Nelson.

Issaquah led 16-12 after one period, trailed 35-34 at halftime and was behind only 48-47 after three periods.

Beach had beaten Issaquah 86-65 the previous Saturday in the championship of the Sea-King District tournament.

Beach had struggled at times in all previous first halves of the tournament, leading West Valley of Yakima 26-23, Skyline 36-30 and Meadowdale 25-16.

Last night, the Vikings needed three free throws with 1 second left by Rodrick Stewart to take their 35-34 lead at intermission. The Indians hit 61 percent (13 of 21) of their first-half shots.