The Todd Beamer Titans girls basketball team is looking strong after their second consecutive double digit win on Saturday as they defeated the Garfield Bulldogs 55-42.
The Titans lost their opening game 92-58 to class 3A favorite Bellevue. Since then, the Titans have put together two impressive wins that have reminded everyone why they are one of the favorites to win the title in class 4A this season.
After beating Federal Way 87-24 on Tuesday, they welcomed in the 2-1 Garfield squad. The Bulldogs themselves had a couple of impressive wins over Bainbridge and Nathan Hale, whom they defeated 67-5 and 74-24.
Their only loss was to Bishop Blanchet, the third place team from last year’s 3A tournament.
“I wanted to schedule a tough team that’s scrappy like we are,” said Titans head coach Corey Alexander.
The Bulldogs matched the Titans stride-for-stride in the first quarter. Beamer’s Nia Alexander and Garfield’s Juanita Agosto led the way as they both scored at least half of their team’s first quarter points. Nia Alexander had eight and Agosto had six.
Beamer led 13-12 after the first quarter.
The second quarter was all Beamer. They showed just how dominating their defense can be when they play to their potential, outscoring the Bulldogs 15-3.
Garfield had only six shot attempts in the quarter. They also missed three free throws. Emani Turner scored the only points in the second quarter for the Bulldogs on a 3-pointer.
Beamer forced turnovers throughout the quarter with their pressure. The tradeoff for the increase in forced turnovers was more fouls, something that did not bother the Titans much.
“We plan on that,” Alexander said. “Our bench is pretty deep. We try to teach our girls right now sometimes you have to play through it. You have to play smart. A little bit more today we trusted them to stay out on the floor and do the right thing and nobody fouled out. They didn’t foul out, so that means that they’re maturing.”
Three Beamer players finished with four fouls.
The Bulldogs cut into the lead with strong three-point shooting in the third quarter. They shot 75 percent from beyond the arc in the quarter and outscored the Titans 14-10.
The Titans responded in the fourth with their best scoring quarter of the game. They hit seven of their nine free throws and had 17 points in the fourth to close out the game.
They were led by Nia Alexander who finished with 21 points and six steals. Makenna Woodfolk came up just one point shy of a double-double as she pulled down 13 rebounds. Makenzie Bond finished with nine points as well.
As a team, Beamer hauled in more than 10 offensive rebounds.
Garfield was led by Agosto’s 17 points. Turner finished with 16 points, five steals and five rebounds. Leilani Williams finished with eight points and three steals.
“I think it’s a work in progress,” Alexander said. “They’re not where I want to be right now, but it’s a work in progress. For the most part, I thought our girls did pretty good.”
Beamer (3-1, 2-0) defeated Decatur (0-4, 0-3) 78-10 on Tuesday night. Their next game is at 7 p.m. on Friday at home against Thomas Jefferson (4-2, 2-0) in a game that will decide the early league leader. They will play at Mount Rainier (2-5, 0-2) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 22.
