Todd Beamer bests White River on back of Walker’s double double

Published 5:11 pm Tuesday, January 27, 2026

When Todd Beamer High School began its 2025-26 campaign, one thing was clear. There is talent within this group, but how it was going to shape up on the court wasn’t quite clear.

But what is evident now: there is an incredible amount of potential as the Titans (10-5) rolled through White River (9-6) on Jan. 24 to a 85-63 win.

“I’m excited, I love these guys. They are great kids, we just have to execute better,” said Brent Brilhante, the Titans’ head coach. “We ran some offense tonight, it wasn’t just watch and hero ball, throwing stuff up. That was really nice to do and we dug in defensively.”

The Titans were recovering from one of their largest defeats in recent history earlier in the week to Auburn Mountainview, in which the Lions scored 90 points on the Titans. That number hadn’t been put up by an opponent against Todd Beamer since February 2022, when it was set by Auburn, who went on to win the state title that season.

White River entered with the same number of league losses as the Titans, and for Todd Beamer, a win would put them one game behind Enumclaw for the top spot in the 3A NPSL. The league is starting to get tighter as Mountainview defeated Enumclaw earlier in the week.

The Titans are led by senior guard Doni Burkett, who might be one of the more fun players to watch in the NPSL. His offensive ability is captivating — he can get points inside, he has a pull-up jumper, and will launch more threes than anyone in the state.

Burkett was heavily double teamed early and was face guarded by White River’s Ray Palmer and Jorden Goethals early and often. Burkett still found a way to impact the game, despite all that attention.

“We knew they were going to face guard Doni and put two guys on him. He did a really good job and played in the post a lot and he’s strong and a bigger guard. He’s going to finish down there, so we attacked that,” Brilhante said.

He has a nonchalant attitude that makes it look like basketball is almost boring to the senior. But then, if someone challenges him, he turns on a gear. That player for White River was Palmer, and Burkett took off.

In the win over White River, Burkett finished with 36 points.

The two guarded each other on both sides of the floor and there was a bit of trash talking, which Burkett got the better of.

“It’s super fun to come out and play super competitive games. That is what we live for, what we prepare for. So, I love it,” Burkett said.

Todd Beamer got a big piece back in the form of Jeremiah Johnson, who had been sidelined with an illness. But he was back in the starting lineup, finished with six points and had his fingerprints all over the game.

“He’s huge for us, he’s our glue guy. He’s such a good, smart, high IQ basketball guy. He does a ton for us. It was nice to have him back,” Brilhante said.

White River took their only lead of the game, 5-4, before Todd Beamer jolted out to a 11-0 run. Michael Edwards had five first quarter points on his way to a nine point game and a 10 point first half.

The Titans took a 37-27 lead into the locker rooms and had really outplayed White River in all areas of the game. But in the third quarter, the Titans came down to Earth and the Hornets went on a 14-5 run to cut the Titans’ lead to just one.

With 4:09 left in the third quarter, Todd Beamer had no momentum and was facing a team that was starting to ooze confidence in White River. But thanks to veteran leadership from Burkett, the Titans persevered. Over the next two minutes and change, the Titans went on a 13-0 run to regain control and head to the fourth quarter with an eight point lead.

Burkett would further haunt the Hornets in the fourth quarter as he finished the game with a 10-point final frame. But the real killer was De Tre Walker for Todd Beamer — he was right with Burkett as he finished with 10 points in the fourth as well. Walker finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

“It opens it up for everybody, they have to help out. I feel like we can beat any team off the dribble,” Burkett said.

The two seniors have played a lot of basketball in their careers and logged serious minutes. Their chemistry on the court is starting to show and has turned Beamer from and afterthought into a threat.

“They played well together tonight. We need that more. That’s a good back court when they play off each other. They were playing more for each other,” Brilhante said.

Brilhante by nature has a short rotation of players. Rarely does an eighth player ever see the floor, and the seventh player usually gets minutes due to foul trouble. Against White River, James Bea scored just three points but had two steals and drew an offensive foul.

“I don’t like to play a lot of guys, I’ve always been like that. It sucks, but we suit eight and played six. But James came out and gave us some good minutes. That was good to see,” Brilhante said.

The Titans close out the regular season with Thomas Jefferson High School on the road and finish the season with Kent-Meridian at home. But their penultimate game is on the road against the current number one team in the league, Enumclaw, on Feb. 3. Due to the flooding back in mid-December, the make-up game for their first match-up will be on Jan. 29, for their third meeting this season.

“We knew we could play with anyone and for those four minutes in the third quarter. We can also get beat by anyone in the top five in our league,” Brilhante said.

“We just come out, fight and compete every night to the best of our abilities. The rest will take care of itself,” Burkett said.