Eastside Catholic moves past Garfield, and in position to defend Sea-King boys basketball title, 2 takeaways

Virginia signee Jacob Cofie busts out for 22 points to lead the No. 9 Crusaders' charge in 59-53 district semifinal win at Bellevue College

BELLEVUE, Wash. - The season score is even - 2-2.

And who knows, maybe Eastside Catholic and Garfield have one tiebreaker left in them two weeks from now in the Tacoma Dome

The ninth-ranked Crusaders exacted some payback from last week's 3A Metro League tournament by handling No. 6 Garfield, 59-53 on Thursday night in the Sea-King District semifinals at Bellevue College.

Eastside Catholic will play another Metro foe - West Seattle - in the district finals Saturday night on this same court.

Virginia signee Jacob Cofie scored a game-high 22 points, including five dunks and other highlight moves for the Crusaders, who went on an 8-0 run early in the fourth quarter to break open a tight game - 52-42.

The Bulldogs went cold from the floor for nearly three minutes in that quarter, and that was enough for Eastside Catholic to pad a lead. Legend Smiley led the Bulldogs with 15 points.

Here are two takeaways from the Garfield-Eastside Catholic game:

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NO DENYING CRUSADERS' BIG MAN

About 80 percent of the time, Eastside Catholic boys coach Brent Merritt can tell if Cofie has that look - that right level of energy - for battle.

And before the game Thursday, Merritt could tell his 6-foot-10 standout was ready.

"I could tell ... because he was excited to leave the locker room," Merritt said.

His first dunk came 1:05 into the game as he was aggressive in finding offense, making three field goals in the first three minutes.

But his signature stretch came early in the second quarter.

Aggressive with his pressure, he collected a midcourt steal and went unabated in with a double-clutch dunk to cut Garfield lead to 20-19.

The longer the game went on, the more energized he became.

"I love playing that team - a great team," Cofie said.

Added Merritt: "When there is no answer for that (Cofie), there really is no answer."

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RIVALRY SWINGS OTHER WAY

After Eastside Catholic beat the Bulldogs, 75-67, in early December to extend its series winning streak to three games, Garfield bounced right back.

It won in Sammamish - 78-72 - in mid-January. And the Bulldogs eked out a 59-58 win in the league tournament semifinals before they defeated O'Dea for the Metro crown.

"Yes, 2-2 now," Merritt said. "I always expect a battle with Barndon (Roy, Garfield's coach). We’ve had a lot of battles. But it's taken me a while to get to a level to actually compete with him.

"Now we can actually compete with him, and that is alway fun."

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