3A Boys | O'Dea stifles Rainier Beach

Imagine Tiger Woods shooting 45 for nine holes. Now imagine Rainier Beach scoring eight points in a half.

The improbable happened Thursday and, as a result, the Vikings are out of the running for the Class 3A state boys high-school basketball championship.

No. 2 O'Dea parlayed a 12-point halftime lead into a 51-46 win over the No. 5 Vikings at Edmundson Pavilion.

O'Dea (23-5), which plays Southridge (21-5) in today's 7:30 p.m. semifinal, is a win from appearing in its fourth consecutive championship game. The Irish won in 2004 and 2005 and lost to Seattle Prep last year.

Everything Beach coaches feared might go wrong in Wednesday's 9 a.m. opener but didn't, happened in the first half of this 4 p.m. game on Day 2. The first two quarters were a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" of mistakes and dreadful shooting.

Beach shot 20 percent (3 for 15) in the first half. The Vikings shot 65 percent for the game in their opening win over Lakes. The Vikings also lacked energy.

"We came out like dead, we were so lethargic," said Beach coach Mike Bethea. "We were just going through the motions."

Beach finished the first half with as many turnovers as points — eight.

Beach seemed flustered by O'Dea's variety of defenses and having to play at the Irish's preferred slower pace.

"It was important to try to control the tempo and get them out of rhythm," Lumpkin said.

Among Beach's many problems was having its No. 1 offensive threat ineffective and then sidelined because of injury. Senior DeAngelo Jones, who averages 17.5 points, had to leave the game after reinjuring the ankle he sprained in the opener. The New Mexico State recruit played 15 minutes and was held scoreless.

"That's my state championship, walking right there," said Bethea dejectedly after the game as Jones hobbled toward the team bus. Jones was limping so badly that Bethea stopped talking to reporters and told Jones' teammates to serve as his crutches.

The difference for O'Dea was 6-foot-7 senior forward Josh Scott, who came off the bench to score 17 points and grab seven rebounds.

"He played with a lot of energy and a lot of force," said Lumpkin. Scott was benched for the second half of O'Dea's Sea-King District loss to Bainbridge last Saturday.

Jamelle McMillan scored 13 points for O'Dea but had six turnovers and got whistled for a technical foul.

Metro League champion Beach (19-8) plays Mount Rainier (19-7) at 12:30 p.m. today. Starting with the 1998 tournament, the Vikings have placed first, seventh, third, second, first, first, second, sixth and fourth. If they lose today, they leave the tournament without a trophy, which is like Tiger Woods not making a cut.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com