3A boys tournament wrapup: Beach the state's all-time best?

So, let the debate begin. Where does this year's Rainier Beach boys basketball team belong in the pantheon of the state's greatest teams?

The Vikings finished a 25-3 season Saturday night by wearing down stubborn Issaquah in the fourth quarter to beat the suburban team 65-56 in the Class 3A state-championship game at the Tacoma Dome.

Normally, any squad with a 25-3 record wouldn't merit consideration among the state's all-time elite, but two of Beach's losses were to national powers Oak Hill Academy of Virginia and Rice of New York City at a Houston tournament.

In December of 1999, The Times ranked the best teams of the 20th Century: 1) Cleveland, 1976 (Future NBA player Jawann Oldham and Carl Ervin were among four Division I college players on this team that won back-to-back state titles); 2) Garfield, 1974 (undefeated team with amazing speed); 3) Mercer Island, 1985 (Quin Snyder, who played at Duke and now coaches at Missouri, is the most remembered player but Brian Schwabe played at Northwestern, and Eric Brady at Washington and Gonzaga).

Another team frequently mentioned is Sehome of Bellingham, 1996, which went undefeated and is remembered for its slick passing.

Rainier Beach was 28-1 last year and won the state 3A title with current Husky Nate Robinson, and also gets mentioned. But that squad is overshadowed by this year's team, which is considered better.

This year's Beach juggernaut is considered superior because the Stewart twins, Rodrick (all-tournament team) and Lodrick (tournament MVP), were seniors and because this team had height with 6-foot-10 junior center C.J. Giles (ineligible last year) and 6-8 transfer Josh Love.

Mercer Island Coach Ed Pepple played on the state runner-up Lincoln of Seattle team in 1950 and has coached in the state since 1957.

Pepple isn't on the "Beach is the greatest" bandwagon.

"If you ask me if this Rainier Beach team is the most athletic team, I'll give you that," Pepple said Saturday after his MI team finished third. "They are definitely the most athletic team. But the best team? I'm not buying that."

Pepple noted that Beach lost a game to a state opponent (Cleveland) and that other teams in the argument didn't. He also noted that the 1985 Mercer Island team — like Rainier Beach — was ranked No. 1 nationally by USA Today at one point of the season.

Pepple's 1985 team also rolled through the big-school (now 4A) tournament, winning by an average of 19 points. Beach struggled with Issaquah (21-7) in Saturday's title game before pulling away in the fourth quarter to win. Another argument against Beach as the best team is that its reserves players were merely good instead of special.

The Rainier Beach staff this season included Al Hairston, who won five state titles at Garfield from 1979-91 after coaching community-college basketball and later was coach at Seattle University and a University of Washington assistant.

Hairston's assessment of Beach:

"They've got to be right there (in the middle of any who's-the-greatest argument). ... They are as talented as any team I've ever been around in Seattle."

And right in the middle of such arguments is where this Beach team will be. After all, this isn't the 100-meter dash where the answer to "best-ever" can be found on a stopwatch dial.

Lakeside girls rule

The Lakeside Lions won their fifth girls state title under Coach Sandy Schneider by beating defending champion Seattle Prep 55-48 in the 3A finale at the Tacoma Dome on Saturday night.

Eleanor Miller, a Yale-bound Lakeside senior, scored 17 points and had nine rebounds and three assists in the triumph and was named tournament MVP. Junior Mikaela Cowles, another all-tournament first-team choice, finished with 15 points and six rebounds.

Senior Katie Urban of Seattle Prep scored 19 points and was an all-tournament selection as was junior teammate Che Oh, who scored 12.