Eastside Catholic wins against Prairie in 2nd round of boys basketball state tourney
On Saturday, the Eastside Catholic Crusaders won 52-50 against the Prairie Falcons in the second round of the 2025 3A boys basketball championship.
The game started off in favor of Eastside Catholic. The Crusaders immediately took to the court with a drive for 20 points, supported by two 3-pointers from Steven Sun and Achilles Reyna. Many of these points came after the Crusaders’ initial struggles at the hoop with the ball changing possession, until centers Yabi Aklog and Achilles Reyna were able tapped the ball in four times to give them the edge. While Prairie’s Jamir Jones tried his best to steal the ball and score, they struggled to battle Eastside Catholic’s speed. The first quarter ended with the Crusaders leading 20-7.
The Falcons started to show some life in the second quarter, and they closed the gap slightly. Prairie started by capitalizing on 4 steals and 3 rebounds from numerous players, and coming within 6 points of Eastside Catholic. Supported by two 3-pointers from Riley Burke and Griffin Smith, it seemed like Prairie had taken control of the quarter. But their gain motivated the Crusaders, and they immediately got to work with two 3-pointers from Sun and Tytan McNeal. Eastside Catholic then started pressing the Falcon offense and maintaining possession by forcing steals and primarily controlling the ball through the rest of the quarter to help them maintain the lead at 32-22.
The Crusaders came back strong in the 3rd quarter, starting with a 3-pointer from Sun and a dunk from Reyna. Eastside Catholic’s man-on-man defense and speed allowed them to get a lead of 16 points at one point in the quarter. Prairie, seeing the gap widen, decided to come back with a collection of fouls, 2-pointers, and two 3-pointers from Jones and Burke. But the gap was too large to close, and Eastside Catholic’s defense was too strong. They maintain the lead at 47-36 by the end of the third quarter.
While it seemed that Eastside Catholic was heading to an easy victory, the fourth quarter turnout to be a nailbiter. The Falcons slowly caught up with the Crusaders by adding 14 points with two 3-pointers coming from Tavin Timperley and another from Ben Nkansah. The game was neck and neck, but the Crusaders managed to find gaps in the Prairie defense to score 5 points, their lowest scoring quarter of the game. With only one minute left, Prairie tried their best to steal a victory, but Eastside Catholic’s defense proved to be too strong. The Falcons struggled to put the ball into the basket before the buzzer rang.
Despite a strong effort from Prairie, Eastside Catholic survived with the two-point win.
Eastside Catholic plays Rainier Beach at the Tacoma Dome on Wednesday, March 5, at 9 p.m.
