PUYALLUP — Given both sets of Titans in Saturday’s 4A bi-district girls basketball title game are in the top-5 in RPI, there’s a good chance the Todd Beamer Titans and Union Titans will clash again.
Possibly for a state trophy if both teams play their cards right.
Union’s lead on Todd Beamer slipped away after a 13-minute stretch without a field goal and a big second-half scoring output from all-league guard Aaliyah Alexander led to Todd Beamer’s eventual 45-38 victory at Puyallup High School.
With both teams ranked in the top 5 in RPI after Saturday, both are guaranteed spots in the Tacoma Dome of the Class 4A state tournament regardless of the outcome of next week’s state regional games.
And if the Titans clash again, Mason Oberg believes things have a good chance to be different.
“They’re a good team, and they’re ranked for a reason,” she said. “Offensively, we couldn’t do much today, but if we play them again, we can get our offense going a lot better and adapt to what they were doing.”
Oberg scored eight of her 10 points by halftime when Union built a 26-19 advantage. But the tides turned in the second half when Union went nearly 13 minutes without a field goal. Mackenzie Lewis’ shot down low at the 5:58 mark of the fourth quarter ended the field goal drought. By that time, Beamer’s lead was 34-29.
“At halftime, we were in a good spot,” Oberg said. “But we came out and didn’t hit shots. I thought we had great energy, just offensively, we couldn’t get anything to fall.”
And by that point, Todd Beamer took control for good behind Aaliyah Alexander.
Union held the all-league forward in check for the first half, but the senior powered for 15 of her game-high 22 in the second half. She had eight of her team’s 11 points in the third quarter that gave Beamer a 30-27 lead, which pushed to 36-29 by the 5:25 mark of the fourth. Union cut the deficit to two at 36-34.
Lewis also had 10 points for Union, and Lolo Weatherspoon and Abbey Kaip had eight apiece.
TODD BEAMER 45, UNION 38
UNION (19-5) — Lexi Raymore 0, Olivia Euverman 0, Mason Oberg 10, Lolo Weatherspoon 8, Mackenzie Lewis 10, Abbey Kaip 8, Kaneyl Carpenter 0, Caitlyn Leake 0, Sydney Cowling 0, Ariel Ammentorp 2. Totals 13 (6) 6-8 38.
TODD BEAMER (23-2) — Alexus Jackson 3, Sharay Trotter 4, Halo Parks 14, Najahia Forks 2, Aaliyah Alexander 22. Totals 16 (5) 8-8 45.
Union 8 18 1 11—38
Beamer 13 6 11 15—45
