A Great Week for RBHS Star
Stokes has 147 points during a busy, physical three-game stretch
After a brutal, three-game week, Rainier Beach star Tyran Stokes is beaten up, but not beaten down.
The scorebook is verification. After leading the Vikings to a 103-67 victory over Roosevelt with 51 points on Saturday, Stokes has tallied 147 points (49 per game) in three games since Tuesday. Stokes broke the Rainier Beach single-game scoring records with 63 points against West Seattle on Tuesday’s Senior Night, then 33 points against Eastside Catholic on Friday night.
The Vikings got out of the Eastside Catholic gym — it was Senior Night for the Crusaders — at 11 p.m. or later, and had a 45-minute drive back to Rainier Beach. They then had a quick turnaround, playing a makeup game at Roosevelt at 12:30 p.m. The final score notwithstanding, the toll on the Beach players’ legs was evident, as Rainier Beach missed a huge number of inside shots and got off to a slow start.
With his team trailing 20-15 after one quarter, Stokes scored the first 15 points of the second quarter. A pair of free throws by Achilles Reyna capped a 17-0 Beach run. Stokes had 21 points in the quarter.
“I still try to go home and get some recovery,” Stokes said. “Even though we got late turn around, I always try to prepare my body, mentally and physically, for everything. My team needed me. The plan wasn’t to play all four quarters today, but I needed to go out there and make sure that we secured the win.”
Rubbery legs was only part of the story. Facing Stokes and Rainier Beach for the second time this season, Metro League opponents have employed physical defensive tactics, as witnessed by the 40 total free throws the senior shot against Eastside and Roosevelt. Stokes made 39 straight over the two games, missing his last foul shot of the game with 3:30 remaining.
“Teams are probably game planning more since they played me the first time around,” Stokes said. “So they probably try to get under my skin, or try to make it hard for me to score. But I still find ways to get my teammates involved, and still find a way to at least get to the free-throw line.
“I always feel a little sore the next day. But I just have to mentally ignore it and keep pushing. I know it’s only going to get worse at the next level.”
Kam Babbs suffered a deep knee bruise and ankle injury during a physical play the last time Rainier Beach played Roosevelt. After missing a little more than a month, he returned at Eastside, then announced his re-entry with a vicious, windmill dunk near the end of the game against Roosevelt.
“I feel like me coming back today was, like, the perfect thing,” Babbs said.
Beach finished 14-0 in Metro League play, which means they will host Seattle Prep in the league semifinals on Wednesday.
