| 16 January 2012
The excitement and tension continued to build up in the Metro division after another week of league play. Bainbridge pulled off a big upset by defeating Eastside Catholic 79-72 in a thriller. Chris Bell scored 29 points for the Spartans, leading his team to its biggest win of the year.
What happened to the Crusaders? A couple of weeks ago they were the hottest team in Metro and were pushing to be with the elites of the division. Since the ugly loss to Rainier Beach, Eastside has lost winnable games to Lakeside and Bainbridge. Coach Bill Liley will need to go back to the drawing board and get the Crusaders back on track because the playoffs are right around the corner.
In the game of the week, Beach easily defeated Franklin, 80-72. The Vikings led the entire game and led by eighteen at one point. Franklin would not quit and made a late comeback, but the closest they would reach was within five points. Anrio Adams had a couple of flashy dunks and finished with 19 points — Adams got his teammates more involved and it paid off.
Check out the rest of action in the Metro Conference in my Power Rankings, Player of the Week and Predictions AFTER THE JUMP!
Player of the Week: Gadisa Margarsa, Nathan Hale- Margara carried his team to victory in both games last week against Ingraham and West Seattle. The sophomore scored a combined 54 last week. He scored a season-high 34 points against West Seattle. I don’t care who it is against, scoring 34 in a high school game is ridiculous.
1. Rainier Beach (13-0) Beach blew out a terrible Blanchet team 81-36, and should have blown out Franklin, but they let an eighteen-point lead slip away, and only won by eight points. The Vikings are showing no signs of weakness. Maybe they need to work on closing out games and securing their leads, but other than that they look like the No. 1 team in the state.
This Week: Beach will have their toughest game this year against Long Beach Poly (Calif.) in the King Holiday Hoopfest. This will be a close one, but Jordan Bell and Long Beach Poly will win. The Vikings also play Chief Sealth (9-4) in a game they’ll win easily.
2. Seattle Prep (11-2) The Panthers did not have a challenging week; blowing out West Seattle 67-42, and Chief Sealth 73-44. Good news is Mitch Brewe is back to his normal self. After a slow start, the senior is picking up where he left off last year, as he scored 24 against Sealth.
This Week: Prep plays Federal Way (7-3) in the King Holiday Hoopfest. Brewe is becoming more of a dominate threat now and he’ll help the Panthers come out victorious. Prep’s next opponent will be Blanchet (1-13) which will be more like practice for the Panthers as they will win in large fashion against the Braves. Friday’s matchup at Franklin (11-3) will be another tough test, but I still like Prep in this game.
3. O’Dea (9-5) The Irish finally got off to a fast start last week; outscoring Ingraham 42-19 in the first half. O’Dea continued to put a hurting on the Rams, winning 89-51. Dana Abe had another 30 plus point performance and right now is the Irish’s hottest player. It all starts with point guard Jalen Ward who continues to set up his teammates for success. If O’Dea plays like they did last week, expect them to make a run at the Metro championship.
This Week: The Irish have a couple of great matchups this week. They play Franklin (11-3) at the King Holiday Hoopfest, and get a rematch at home with Eastside Catholic (9-6), They also play Cleveland (2-10) on Friday. With Abe, and Ward playing strong, O’Dea finishes the week 3-0. Plus, Sekou Wiggs is due for another big game and should get it this week.
4. Franklin (11-3) Franklin played like I thought they would last week, taking care of Chief Sealth 72-65 and losing to Rainier Beach 72-80. The Quakers could have won at Beach if they didn’t fall behind by such a large margin. Franklin’s star Arell Hennings helped lead the late comeback, scoring 23, but needed more help from Cody Russell who only scored 10. This team still remains at No. 4, but could slip if they don’t see more production from Russell and other key players.
This Week: Franklin has a tough schedule as they play O’Dea (9-5), in the King Holiday Hoopfest and then they host Prep (11-2) on Friday. Franklin has an opportunity is move up or fall back with these two games. The Quakers make it close in each game but fall short.
5. Chief Sealth (9-4) Sealth lost two games last week, but they were against Franklin (11-3) and Seattle Prep (11-2). The Seahawks almost knocked off the Quakers but a slow start killed their chances of wining. Their game against Prep wasn’t even close at tip-off, losing 44-73. If Sealth wants to keep their spot at No. 5, they need to show me something this week.
This Week: Sealth faces Rainier Beach (13-0) and Lakeside (8-6). Beach game won’t be close for the Seahawks, but the Lakeside game is winnable. I like Lakeside to knockoff Sealth, and take the No. 5 spot next week.
6. Lakeside (8-6)
This Week: West Seattle (6-7), Chief Sealth (9-4)
7. Eastside Catholic (9-6)
This Week: O’Dea (9-5), Ingraham (5-8)
8. Nathan Hale (9-4)
This Week: Cleveland (2-10), Blanchet (1-13)
9. Bainbridge (7-6)
This Week: Ingraham (5-8), West Seattle (6-7)
10. West Seattle (6-7)
This Week: Lakeside (8-6), Bainbridge (7-6)
11. Ingraham (5-8)
This Week: Bainbridge (7-6), Eastside Catholic (9-6)
12. Cleveland (2-10)
This Week: Nathan Hale (9-4), O’Dea (9-5)
13. Bishop Blanchet (1-13)
This Week: Seattle Prep (11-2), Nathan Hale (9-4)
Game of the Week: King Holiday Hoopfest: Jan. 16, 2012 at University of Washington Basketball Arena 9:00 A.M.
There were too many matchups to consider a specific game of the week. This event is all day and features a full day of quality high school basketball. From 4A to 3A and even out of state, this is a must-attend event. Metro teams will start play at 2 p.m. Tickets are set at 10 dollars which you can purchase at the gate, or you can watch the O'Dea-Franklin and Long Beach Poly-Rainer Beach games on ROOT Sports. I will also be attending and will give updates from my twitter account.
(9-5) O’Dea vs. (11-3) Franklin 2:00 p.m.
This game features great guard play with Jalen Ward (O’Dea) and Arell Hennings (Franklin) and will be a great one to watch. Prediction: 60-50 O’Dea
(12-1) Long Beach Ploy. (Calif.) vs. (13-0) Rainier Beach 4:00 p.m.
According to the ESPN rankings Long Beach is ranked No. 26 in the country and Rainier Beach is ranked No. 27. Long Beach has one of the top players on the West Coast, SF Roschon Prince who averages about 23 points a game. We can’t forget about Rainier Beach's G Anrio Adams. This will be a fun one to watch. Prediction: Long Beach Poly. (Calif.) 74-72
(7-3) Federal Way vs. (11-2) Seattle Prep 7:30
This is considered the “main event” and should play out like it. This game also features talent with Brewe and Fenner. Bragging rights are on the line in this one between 4A and 3A.
Prediction: Prep 55-45
--Evan Baron (@BaselineBaron09)
