Basketball: Beamer will keep on grinding after loss to Auburn Mountainview

The Todd Beamer High School boys basketball team fell for the second time in their last three games in a 79-64 loss to Auburn Mountainview High School on Jan. 17.

Coach Brent Brilhante isn’t too worried about his squad.

“We’re playing fine,” he said. “These guys are worrying too much about the big picture when they just need to focus on one game at a time.”

Auburn Mountainview is a team that coach Brilhante is very familiar with: “We know each other really well. We played each other last year twice, over the summer three times. So we know it’s always going to be a close game.”

It was a game that started out the Titans’ way — senior Mumu Basmeh and junior Will Tellis shot extremely well from beyond the three-point arch in the first quarter. The first quarter ended with Beamer out in front, 22-16.

In the second quarter, the Lions clawed their way back into the ballgame. Good play from Mande Wanlemvo and Jamaal Elliot really made it difficult for Beamer. The shots just didn’t seem to fall for Beamer.

At the halfway mark, Mountainview took the lead, 38-36, into the break.

The game’s physicality stayed prevalent and active throughout the second half including double technical fouls in the fourth. It is the type of game Beamer can learn from and use that experience in the future, Brilhante said.

At the end of the third quarter, the Titans trailed, 58-50, after the Lions went on an 8-0 run after Beamer closed the gap to 50-50.

In every quarter after the first, the Titans never scored 14 points in every period. It was a night that seemed to have a lid over the basket for coach Brilhante.

“They just made about two more (scoring) runs than we had. We had a couple of breakdowns on inbounds plays and defensive plays … The kids played hard. It was just one of those games,” Brilhante said.

The playoffs are just over three weeks away and the Titans know they are right in the thick of things, the coach said: “We’re on a crash course for Auburn Mountainview, Kent-Meridian, Lincoln and teams like that. I believe in my heart that one or maybe two of those teams will go to the Tacoma Dome.”