It wasn’t a state championship but the Eastside Catholic Crusaders will take it.
Eastside Catholic cruised to a 68-56 victory against the Seattle Prep Panthers in the third place/fifth place game at the Class 3A state tournament at the Tacoma Dome on March 7. Eastside Catholic senior sharpshooter Max Hudgins finished with a team-high 22 points in the final game of the 2014-15 season against the Panthers. Fellow senior Mandrell Worthy added 15 points in the win. Worthy had mixed emotions as he left the court for the final time during his high school career. The goal of winning the Class 3A state title wasn’t achieved but the Crusaders ended their season with a victory and a third place finish.
“We’re definitely disappointed. We wanted to win a ring obviously. That was the goal but it was good for all of our senior class to end our careers on a win. There is a lot of teams not playing right now so to end it with third place is pretty good,” Worthy said.
Eastside Catholic head coach Bill Liley was thrilled to see his squad get on track after getting blown out by Rainier Beach in the semifinals.
“That is how we usually play. That is us. It was about time,” Liley said. “To be able to beat a really solid club in Seattle Prep, that means a lot.”
Worthy said Hudgins performance in the season finale will be something he will always remember.
“I know he had been struggling throughout the tournament but that is how it is sometimes. We just told him to keep shooting. He is going to be a college basketball player and that (shooting) is what he does best,” Worthy said. “He came up big for us today.”
Hudgins went 7-for-14 from the floor and hit four three-pointers.
RAINIER BEACH DOMINATES EASTSIDE CATHOLIC IN SEMIFINAL MATCHUP
The Rainier Beach Vikings derailed the Eastside Catholic Crusaders aspirations of winning a state championship.
Rainier Beach’s formidable defense held Eastside Catholic to just 10 field goals in a 61-33 win in the Class 3A semifinals on March 6 at the Tacoma Dome. The Vikings outscored the Crusaders 22-6 in the fourth quarter of play. Worthy had a team-high 12 points in the loss and senior Matisse Thybulle added 11 points as well. Thybulle went 2-for-12 from the field.
“A lot of it was on me for missing. Sure they contested those shots but those are the kind of shots I need to make,” Thybulle said.
The Crusaders went 10-for-42 from the field as a team.
“When you shoot 23 percent from the field that’s not going to win you very many basketball games against anyone. Especially against a team like Rainier Beach,” Liley said. “That’s a good team. They were ranked No. 1 in the state for a quite a bit of the season and for good reason. They are a very good basketball team.”
Rainier Beach started the game with a 5-0 run, which threw off the Crusaders game-plan of slowing down the pace of the game while limiting Rainier Beach’s fast break and transition game. Rainier Beach star Dejounte Murray scored a team-high 16 points for the Vikings in the contest.
“We were going to try to shorten the game and make all of the possessions really long to get them frustrated. We wanted to keep the game close. We’ve done pretty well in close games lately,” Liley said. “It didn’t help when they got the 5-0 lead.”
Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com
