Todd Beamer girls basketball coach Corey Alexander’s pregame pep talk prior to the team taking the court against Auburn Riverside, Tuesday, was four words long.
“We can play better,” Alexander told his team.
A little more than a month removed from when the Ravens handed the Titans their second loss of the season, a one-point loss, Alexander stood there and encouraged his team to play better.
And behind seniors Makenzie Bond and Darion Brown, Beamer responded with a 58-41 win over Auburn Riverside.
With the win, the Titans (17-2, 12-1) forced the Ravens (14-5, 12-1), who were looking to secure the 4A North Puget Sound League Olympic title with a win, to wait until Friday’s final games.
As far as the challenge went, Alexander said he was hoping his words would have a domino effect on his players. The win proved that they did.
“Once I did that, they challenged each other, not just me, but each other, and those are results,” Alexander said.
It was Bond, the senior forward, who stepped up to answer the call. She was one rebound shy of a double-double, leading Beamer with 18 points and nine rebounds. Bond scored 12 of her 18 points in the second half.
And 10 of those 12 came from one spot on the floor, the elbow jumper from the free-throw line. Over a span of six minutes between the third and fourth quarters, Bond hit all five consecutive shots from that spot.
Bond’s hot shooting touch gave the Titans a 39-30 lead going into the fourth quarter.
“At halftime, coach just told me to look for my shot,” Bond said. “Once I hit that first one, I really got a boost of energy knowing I can hit that shot. After that, they just kept falling.”
While Alexander shot down the notion of a “revenge win,” Bond said the 41-40 loss to Auburn Riverside on Dec. 20 has been on the Titans’ minds since it happened.
After the loss to the Ravens, players decided they wanted to hit the reset button on their focus and their goals.
Beamer players wondered if team chemistry had dwindled during the first game against the Ravens.
Bond said the Titans worked to make sure they connected as teammates first and then were in sync on the basketball court before Tuesday’s rematch.
“We just spent time together and really listened to one another about everything on and off the court,” Bond said. “We just made sure we were on the same page. On the court, it was about working together to lock up defensively.”
The reboot worked.
It helped spark a 12-0 Beamer run in the second half, spurred by Bond and Brown. The post players increased the lead to 14 and then 17 to finish off the Ravens for good.
The conclusion of the regular season in the 4A North Puget Sound League’s Olympic division cannot be summed up in four words, however.
If Auburn Riverside and Beamer both win Friday and are tied atop the standings with one league loss apiece, they will play each other for a third time, likely on Tuesday, to determine the league’s top team heading into the district tournament.
The Titans won’t need another pep talk from Alexander to kick them into gear. They know exactly what is at stake and what they need to do.
“This game, we gave it our all. We really want to keep home-court advantage,” Bond said. “We played really well as a team. We just have to keep it going.”
