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Mt. Spokane boys comeback against physical Rainier Beach falls short in State 3A semifinal

Mt. Spokane
Mt. Spokane's Maverick Sanders, left, looks for somewhere to go with the basketball against the defense of Rainier Beach's Josh Conerly Jr. during action in the 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament in Tacoma, Wash. on Friday, March 4, 2022. Mt. Spokane lost the game 50-53. (Photo by Patrick Hagerty) (Patrick Hagerty)
By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

When the best player on the team you’re facing is a Power 5 offensive line prospect, you expect a physical game.

Mt. Spokane got it. And when its best offensive threat on the night picked up his fourth foul with 2:51 left in the third quarter, the complexion of the game completely changed.

Rainier Beach turned up its pressure defense and went on a 9-0 run immediately following Maverick Sanders heading to the bench. Though the Cats made a charge late, its wasn’t enough.

DeMar Johnson scored 17 points, five-star football prospect Josh Conerly Jr added 14 points with 13 rebounds, and fourth-seeded Rainier Beach (19-4) outlasted seventh-seeded Mt Spokane 53-50 in a State 3A semifinal at Tacoma Dome on Friday.

Mt. Spokane (22-8) faces fifth-seeded Seattle Prep in the State 3A third-place game on Saturday at 11:15 a.m.

Rainier Beach (18-4) gets second-seeded Auburn in the title game at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

“They are ridiculously quick and very active with their hands,” Mt.Spokane coach David Wagenblast said.

“They had their run there in the third quarter and we couldn’t stop it,” Kamalu-Vargas said. “Tonight’s gonna be a rough night for us, but we’ve got one more game for the rest of our season.”

“I’m so happy for him in his senior year to be able to lead his team and to the semis,” Wagenblast said of Kamalu-Vargas, who finished with 13 points and six boards.

Sanders led Mt. Spokane with 16 points and was tasked with slowing down the 6-foot-6, 285-pound Conerly. Rainier Beach took full advantage when Sanders was forced to the bench.

“That type of game, where nothing is a foul, then you have to have your big horse inside – and (Sanders) was playing really well,” Wagenblast said. “That really hurt not to have him in there.”

Mt. Spokane trailed by eight with under 2 minutes left. Back-to-back Kamalu-Vargas layups made it a four-point game with 35 seconds to go.

Beach’s Ziggy Holmes missed a pair of free throws but consecutive Wildcats turnovers ended the comeback attempt.

“I’m proud of our kids because we never gave up,” Wagenblast said. “I’m just disappointed in the end result.”

Sanders and Kamalu-Vargas both converted three-point plays and Mt. Spokane took a 19-14 lead midway through the second. Johnson’s personal seven-point streak made it a one-point game late and Sanders’ floater with 6 seconds left put the Wildcats up 25-22 at intermission.

Conerly made a pair of free throws to put Beach up 34-33 with 2:51 left in the third. Sanders picked up his fourth foul on the next time down the court and headed to the bench.

A 9-0 run made it 41-33 and Wagenblast asked for timeout. Ryan Lafferty ended the run with a floater but the Cats trailed by eight entering the fourth quarter.