Mariner reverses state trend
Published 11:17 pm Thursday, March 5, 2009
TACOMA — Anyone who has roamed the halls of Mariner High School on a weekday afternoon probably knows that Dexter Griffen has an engaging smile.
Not that anyone who has spent time at the Tacoma Dome in recent years would know.
On Thursday morning, the Mariner health and fitness teacher/boys basketball coach finally had reason to smile at a state tournament. For the first time since a 1999 trip to the 3A state semifinal, Mariner won a tournament game with Thursday’s 37-32 win over Roosevelt.
“It’s about time,” a visibly relieved Griffen said after snapping a seven-game tournament losing streak that dated back to 2001. “Last year, we played Franklin on the second day and lost in the last second. The year before that, Bethel beat us on a last-second shot. And in 2001, Federal Way did it.
“(On Thursday,) I was like: here we go again.”
Fortunately for Griffen and the Marauders, the script had a different ending this time. Senior Damascus Purnell came to the rescue during a horrific second half that saw Mariner miss 14 of its first 17 shots from the field.
After teammate Ayanle Yusuf tied the score at 30 on a steal and layup with 3 minutes, 41 seconds remaining, Purnell gave Mariner the lead for good on a traditional three-point play with 2:05 to go. The senior post added a lay-in off a Michael Minor pass 43 seconds later to give Mariner a 35-32 lead.
Roosevelt missed four 3-point attempts over the final 1:13 to help Mariner (17-5) end its state-tournament losing streak.
“It feels great,” said Purnell, whose nine points and 10 rebounds led the team in a game that saw both teams combine to shoot 32.8 percent from the field and go 0-for-16 from beyond the 3-point arc. “It feels best for coach Griffen because it’s been a long time. But everyone in that locker room is real ecstatic.”
Griffen engineered a successful run to the semifinals of the 1999 state tournament, but that marked the only time Mariner had ever won a single game at the annual event. The Marauders went 3-1 in that 3A tournament but had lost 11 consecutive games as a 4A participant.
Until Thursday, that is.
“It feels good. No one likes to lose,” Minor said of the win over Roosevelt. “Everyone in school was talking about it: ‘Let’s win a couple games.’ So there was a lot of pressure on us.”
The historic win was not exactly pretty. The Marauders controlled most of the first half but couldn’t shoot straight for most of the final 16 minutes. During one stretch over the third and early part of the fourth quarter, Mariner went 1-of-12 from the field while Roosevelt pulled out to a 30-25 lead.
But three free throws allowed the Marauders to pull within two points before Yusuf’s backcourt steal-and-layup. That tied the score at 30, and Purnell took over from there.
“I was thinking: I’ve got to pick it up. And I knew my best chance of doing that was to really hit the boards,” said Purnell, who scored six of his nine points during the fourth quarter.
While guards Minor and Tevin Dillon shot just 4-of-18 from the field, Mariner got the job done by playing aggressive defense and taking care of the basketball. After giving away 15 turnovers in a first-round loss to Kentridge the previous day, the Marauders had just six turnovers in Thursday’s win.
Now Mariner faces Redmond in a consolation semifinal at 11 a.m. today.
“It’s good to get a win,” Griffen said, “but now we want to win another one. We want to keep it going through Saturday.”
At the Tacoma Dome
Roosevelt108104—32
Mariner1110412—37
Roosevelt—R. Voorhees 2, L. Voorhees 8, Hoyt 12, Noteboom 4, Hohlbein 6, White 0, Lacalli 0, Tshering 0, Andrews 0. Mariner—Yusuf 7, Minor 9, Doerscher 2, Dillon 3, Hall 0, McCulloch 2, Malysheff 5, Purnell 9. 3-point goals—none. Records—Roosevelt 14-13 overall. Mariner 20-5.
