This time, it's Rainier Beach's defense that propels Vikings to Sea-King District boys basketball championship

Vikings lock up Bellevue, 71-57, as Kaden Powers supplies offense with team-high 23 points at Bellevue College

Top-ranked Rainier Beach boys won Class 3A Sea-King District championship with 71-57 win over No. 3 Bellevue. / Photo by Todd Milles

BELLEVUE, Wash. - The No. 1 Rainier Beach Vikings just keep checking off boxes.

Last weekend, the Vikings took down Garfield to win their first 3A Metro League championship since 2018. It was the first of three goals the Vikings have this season.

On Saturday, they completed another goal, defeating No. 3 Bellevue, 71-57, in the Sea-King District championship game.

The Vikings hope to check the final box on March 8, with yet another state championship.

“It’s going to be tough,” Rainier Beach senior wing Kaden Powers said. “It’s the state championship. Everybody has already played there like three or four times, so we really just have to push up the intensity even more. We wanted the first one and we got the second one, but the third one is going to be even harder.”

Rainier Beach (21-1) was tested by the Wolverines (17-6), but thanks to a stellar defensive effort, the Vikings never let Bellevue get to within closer than seven points in Saturday’s win over the Wolverines at Bellevue College.

The Vikings pressured the guards from Bellevue on the perimeter throughout the game, making whatever scoring opportunities came along more challenging on the Wolverines.

“Defensively, we were just working on containing and trying to be aware of where shooters are,” Rainier Beachcoach Mike Bethea said. “They did a good job for the most part of following the game plan and staying in front of our man. We just wanted to keep our people in front of us and locate our shooters.”

Powers reiterated that the defensive plan focused heavily on the Bellevue guards.

“The plan was just to stop their guards,” Powers said. “They have pretty skillful guards. We just tried to stop them and turn up the intensity to make them play out of their comfort zone.”

Powers, who finished with a team-high 23 points, including going 10-for-11 from the free-throw line.

Two of the biggest buckets for the Vikings came from senior guard Nyale Robinson, who scored nine points – all 3-pointers. Two of Robinson’s long-range shots came on back-to-back possessions with less than three minutes to play. The second coming with 2:12 to goand giving the Vikings a 12-point lead, all but sealing the victory for Rainier Beach.

“(I was) just trying to extend the lead but also take open shots to kind of get our team going a little bit,” Robinson said. “It kind of sealed the deal and killed their confidence a little bit.”

Powers said he and his teammates trust Robinson to knock down the big shots when the opportunities present themselves.

“He’s our flamethrower,” Powers said. “So, whenever we need a three. He or Jaylen Petty, we know we can count on them. He made some clutch shots and some really good shots.”

Bellevue junior Tayten Jones led all scorers with 26 points, including a perfect 9-for-9 from the foul line.

Wolverines coach Kelly Edwards wasn’t discouraged by the loss and is looking forward to the opportunities his team has coming its way in the next two weeks.

“I thought our guys battled,” Edwards said. “I thought we played well and made some adjustments on the run. We got a good feel in terms of adjustments we need to make.

“We can play with anybody. They’re ranked the No. 1 team, and we had them right there. We had a lot of opportunities to go take advantage of the game. It gives us a lot of confidence that we are who we thought we were and puts everybody on notice.”