PREP BASKETBALL: Third-ranked Beamer girls down Kentwood at King Showcase, 53-40

The third-ranked Todd Beamer girls basketball team continued its roll Monday morning with a 53-40 win over Kentwood at the King Showcase Presented by The Ram Restaurant at Kent's Showare Center.

The third-ranked Todd Beamer girls basketball team continued its roll Monday morning with a 53-40 win over Kentwood at the King Showcase Presented by The Ram Restaurant at Kent’s Showare Center.

The Beamer-Kentwood game was the first of eight games at the Showare Center. There are six boys’ games scheduled and two girls’ games. A tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King will take place at the girls game between Mount Rainier and Inglemoor at 2 p.m.

The Conquerors, who have been stalwart in the SPSL North Division for years, got going early Monday morning. Kentwood (9-4) rolled out to a 10-9 lead over the Titans (11-0) midway through the first quarter.

But Beamer took control of the game with a basket from Nia Alexander at the first-quarter buzzer to snag a 17-16 lead. Jalynn Piper then hit a pair of 3-pointers to give Beamer a 26-18 lead with 5:35 left in the first half and led 29-21 at halftime.

After the break, Kentwood tallied the first four points of the second half to cut the Titan lead to four, 29-25. But it was all Beamer after that. The Titans went on a 12-0 run to extend the lead to 41-25 with three minutes left in the third quarter and basically put the game away.

Piper led the way for the Titans withe 12 points and finished with three 3-pointers. Senior Megan Huff ended up with 11 points and 13 rebounds and Quinessa Caylao-do also chipped in 11 points.

Federal Way — The Eagles (5-7 overall, 4-6 SPSL South) were beaten by Curtis Tuesday in SPSL South play, 54-45. The Vikings took a 36-23 lead at halftime. Federal Way was led by 20 points from Kayla Smith and 14 from Zaedrea Robinson.

Decatur — The Gators remained winless with a 54-11 loss to Auburn Mountainview Tuesday. Marissa Johnson and and Makayla Lambert led the way for Decatur with three points each.

Boys basketball

Beamer — The Titan boys didn’t fare as well as the girls on Monday. Seventh-ranked Beamer (12-2 overall, 11-0 SPSL South) dropped a non-league game to Jefferson High School of Portland at the Unity in the Community Hoop Showcase at Seattle’s Garfield High School, 67-60. It was the third game of a three-game event on Monday.

Jefferson (12-1) is one of the top teams in Oregon and rolled out to a 26-point lead at halftime. But the Titans used a 16-0 run during the third quarter to pull to within eight points early in the fourth quarter, 53-45.

Beamer eventually cut the Jefferson lead to just four points with less than a minute to play in the game. But that was as close as it would get.

Jefferson was led by 23 points from Gonzaga-signee Silas Melson. Beamer got 22 points from senior Trey Burch-Manning, 11 from Bogdon Bliznyuk and 10 from Charles Frazier.

The Titans dominated Spanaway Lake in SPSL South action on Tuesday with a 102-64 win. The victory moved Beamer to a perfect 9-0 in league play and sets up a huge matchup with defending Class 4A champion Curtis at home Friday. Curtis sits one game back of the Titans in the SPSL South.

Five players scored in double figures for Beamer, led by 22 from Frazier. Bliznyuk finished with 20, Quadir Williams had 18, Burch-Manning tallied 12 and Rayvonne Freeman chipped in 10.

Federal Way — The Eagles didn’t have enough Tuesday against the defending 4A champion Curtis Vikings Tuesday night in a key SPSL South game. Curtis (14-2 overall, 11-1 SPSL South) outscored Federal Way, 26-15, in the fourth quarter to win the game, 82-74.

Federal Way (12-3 overall, 10-3 SPSL South) was led by guards Adrian Davis and Malik Montoya. The pair combined to score 51 points with Davis tallying 27 and Montoya 24. Curtis was led by 21 from Troy Causey.

Decatur — The Gators squeaked out a big win over Auburn Mountainview in SPSL 3A action Tuesday in Federal Way, 42-36. Decatur (4-9 overall, 2-2 SPSL 3A) outscored the Lioins, 14-7, during the fourth quarter to erase a one-point deficit.

Palofino Jatta was the only Gator to score in double figures with 12 points. Deonte Smith finished with nine.

Jefferson — Kentwood handed the Raiders another SPSL North defeat Tuesday, 58-41. The Conquerors jumped out to a 50-27 lead after three quarters.

Jefferson (4-10 overall, 3-7 SPSL North) was led by 13 points from Xavier Scott.