Wroten leads Garfield past Rainier Beach in Hoopfest headliner

SEATTLE, Wash. – All the elements that have made Tony Wroten Jr. of Garfield (Seattle, Wash.) one of Washington's most polarizing high school basketball stars in recent memory were on display Monday night at the King Holiday Hoopfest.

The good: 29 points, six rebounds, three blocked shots and a steal to go along with unwavering confidence, hustle and an eagerness to please the crowd of more than 5,000 fans at the University of Washington's Bank of America Arena.

The bad: 7of 16 from the free throw line and eight of his team's 14 turnovers.

But in the end, the good far outweighed the bad as Garfield (11-2) used a late rally to overcome Rainier Beach (Seattle) (11-2) in a battle of the state's top-ranked teams in the 4A and 3A classifications, respectively.

Longtime running mate Glenn Brooks added 17 points in the rivalry win.

"These are my senior captains and senior leaders in Glenn and Tony and I'm extremely proud of them," Garfield coach Ed Haskins said. "When they needed to, they took the ball to the basket. We did the things that it took to win the game."

The Bulldogs lost to Morgan Park (Chicago, Ill.) Saturday at the Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass., and Rainier Beach looked poised to hand them their second loss in three days when by building a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Garfield roared back and took a 60-58 lead with 1:30 remaining off a steal and bucket by senior Des'Juan Newton. Wroten put it away on the next possession after beating his man backdoor and finishing a contested layup to make it 62-58.

"We lost (to Morgan Park) and felt like we should have won, but we couldn't dwell on it," Wroten said. "We have to move on. For us to mature and not worry about the past, this win is big."

Part of the appeal of Monday night's headliner was a battle between future Washington teammates Wroten and Hikeem Stewart of Rainier Beach. The local guards are part of a highly-regarded recruiting class for Lorenzo Romar's Huskies.

Stewart couldn't match Wroten's production, finishing with 14 points and hitting on just 2 of 9 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. Sophomore guard Marques Davis led the Vikings with 15 points.


Franklin (Seattle) 61, Federal Way 47

In a game that reflected the seasons of two struggling state powers, Class 3A Franklin rebounded from a humbling loss Friday night to rival Rainier Beach by hustling past Class 4A Federal Way.

The Quakers have had a tumultuous week that included top scorer Anrio Adams leaving the program for South Kent Prep (Conn.) after multiple fallouts with the Franklin head coach Jason Kerr. Then came the 30-point loss to Rainier Beach.

Anddrew Hawkins, a 6-4 junior, led Franklin with 21 points and seven rebounds. Jalen Flowers, a Federal Way transfer, added 16.

Jerry Duckworth pumped in a game-high 22 points for the Eagles in a losing cause.

O'Dea (Seattle) 69, Jefferson (Portland, Ore.) 57

Led by current Kentucky freshman sensation Terrence Jones, Jefferson knocked off top-ranked Federal Way in last year's King Holiday Hoopfest.

The Democrats' return to Seattle didn't go quite as well.

O'Dea jumped all over the young and inexperienced Portland team, leading 21-7 after the first quarter and 31-11 at the half. The Fighting Irish led by as many as 31 in the third quarter before clearing the benches and getting outscored 26-8 over the last eight minutes.

Junior guard Sekeo Wiggs led O'Dea with 16 points while senior Dustin Watts added 14. The Fighting Irish (11-1) are ranked No. 2 in Washington's 3A classification.

Lincoln (Tacoma) 77, Jackson (Mill Creek) 60

Despite 28 points from University of Oregon-bound guard Brett Kingma, Class 3A contender Lincoln was too much for 2010 4A finalist Jackson.

The Abes – ranked No. 4 in Class 3A – got 21 points from senior guard Terrell Lewis and 18 from sophomore wing Tre'shaun Lexing.

Kingma connected on just 8 of 24 field goal attempts, including 4 of 15 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Other Hoopfest scores
Seattle Prep (Seattle) 58, Lakes (Lakewood) 49
Decatur (Federal Way) 73, Bothell 64
Chief Sealth (Seattle) 60, Bellevue 58