King Classic Boys | Mount Rainier gets noticed

Before Mount Rainier High School's boys basketball team played Garfield on Saturday, some wondered about where the Rams are from.

Now they know.

Behind 20 points and a buzzer-beater from senior guard Mark Otero, Mount Rainier defeated Garfield 62-56 in the King Classic at KeyArena.

"Everybody before the game was like, 'Mount Rainier who? Where are you guys from?' " Rams coach Brian Johnson said. "They think we live over by Mount Rainier."

The Rams — from Des Moines, by the way — got out to an early lead and appeared ready for a blowout. But the Bulldogs (3-5) went on an 8-1 run — with all points scored by sophomore Aaron Dotson — to open the second quarter and close the Rams' lead to two.

Dotson stayed hot, scoring 14 of his game-high 25 points in the second quarter. Dotson's scoring burst had Garfield in position to go in to the locker room with a 28-26 lead, but Otero hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to give the Rams (5-2) a one-point lead at the half.

"We started to fall apart a bit," said Johnson. "Garfield got the lead. They were taking over the game. To go in up at halftime with that big three was huge for our confidence."

Mount Rainier's Bruce Fuller had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

"This win put us on the map," said Otero. "Not too many people know about Mount Rainier, so it felt good to beat a dominant team like Garfield."

Other games

Bellevue Christian 47, King's 41

The Vikings withstood a late charge to hand King's (8-1) its first loss of the season. Bellevue Christian (6-3) appeared to have the game in hand in the final minutes, but a Spencer Clark four-point play cut the lead to three points, and after Bellevue Christian made one of two free throws, Cameron George cut the lead to two with 17 seconds remaining.

David Downs made a pair of free throws to end the threat, however. Downs, a freshman guard and younger brother of Bellevue Christian's leading scorer, Jeff Downs, finished with nine points. The elder Downs was held to a season-low 12 points, but had nine in the fourth quarter.

Federal Way 65, Renton 34

Terrell Smith scored 20 points, and Aaron Broussard had 18 as the second-ranked Eagles (9-1) beat the Indians (5-3).

Smith, a 6-foot-5 guard who will play at the University of Pacific next season, had 13 points in the first half as Federal Way built a 33-16 lead at intermission.

Broussard, a junior wing, had 14 of his 18 in the second half.

Bainbridge 57, South Kitsap 49

Gonzaga-bound Steven Gray led all scorers with 23 points, helping the Spartans stay undefeated.

Bainbridge (9-0) had a six-point lead with about four minutes to play, but after Tippy Burk of South Kitsap (7-4) hit three free throws as part of a Bainbridge technical foul, the Spartans' lead was 49-46. But solid free-throw shooting down the stretch cemented the win for Bainbridge.

Lynden 54, Foss 41

The Lions opened with an 11-0 run and never trailed against the Falcons of Tacoma. Senior guard Dirk Dallas led Lynden (7-1) with 17 points. Foss (5-4) was led by reserve Jonathan Payne's 15 points.

Freelancer John Boyle

contributed to this report.