KENT - Holding the ball and cutting off the corner proved difficult for the Mount Rainier boys' basketball team in a 65-56 loss to Benson Tech of Oregon in an encounter at the Valley Medical Showcase presented by UW Medicine and the Vally Medical Center Sports Medicine Clinic.

Benson (10-2) improved to 1-1 against Washington state schools after losing last month to Mercer Island. The loss was the fourth in a row for the Rams (9-6).

"We had a hard time early and turned the ball over," said Ram head coach Brian Johnson. "Eleven turnovers in the game gave them 15 points."

The Techmen from Portland erased Mount Rainier's final lead of the game at 11-10 in the first quarter with three consecutive points to lead 14-11 after one quarter at the Showare Center. It was an equal opportunity situation that Benson Tech cashed in with better execution.

After Malik Rodgers horsed home a rebound basket to draw the Rams within 14-13 to open the second quarter, the Techmen began to steal the ball and capitalize on poor Mount Rainier shooting to outscore the Rams 8-2 for a 22-15 lead.

Mount Rainier rallied within 22-19 to begin a pattern of closing in and falling back that would plague the Rams for the entire game.

Adrian Davis hit a close range hoop that brought Mount Rainier close at 25-23 before the Rams fell back to trail 31-25 at the half.

In second half opening play, Malik Rodgers popped home a basket to trim Mount Rainier's defict to 31-27, but Benson Tech cleared away to a 34-27 and mainatined at least a five-point lead the rest of the way with the Techmen opening up leads of 11 twice and a margin of 13 points once in the fourth quarter.

Mount Rainier was within nine points at 56-47 although it never truly threatened Benson Tech's control.

"Their pressure bothered us," concluded Davis. "They got picks off our dribbles and we didn't handle the defensive pressure well. Their guards got by us on the cornerners while we didn't shoot the ball well. We've been losing recently and need to pick it up."

Mount Rainier shot 30.8 per cent from the field in the second half to drop into a 36.2 per cent range for the game. The Rams were also hurt by 0-for-10 shooting from beyond the three-point arc.

Benson Tech blistered the net for 58.8 per cent second half shooting to lift itself to a 46.8 per cent game ending statistic.

Freshman guard Jazz Johnson came off the bench to pick it up for the Techmen with 18 points. Frank Borman and Jordan Ewell earned 11 points apiece for Benson Tech.

Davis kept the Rams competitive by amassing 22 points on 6-for-13 shooting from standard field goal range. Rodgers came in with 12 points for Mount Rainier and Caden Rowland added 10 points on the strength of 8-for-8 free throw shooting.

Dr. Martin Luther King celebration
Following this game, participating teams congregated in a full court length line as part of the ceremonie honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mount Rainier High School student Zhane Condly sang "Amazing Grace" as part of the celebration and later gave an emotional rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" before the next game.

Kennedy Catholic defeats Clover Park
In the game ahead of the Mount Rainier match up, Seamount League 3A Kennedy Catholic (11-2) overcame a low field goal shooting percentage from the field with strong offensive rebounding to hold off defending 2A state champion Clover Park 61-58 in a boys' basketball feature. For the game, the Lancers shot 27.3 per cent from the filed, but claimed 29 offensive rebounds and notched 25 second chance points. Clover Park (10-3)shot 40 per cent and had three second chance points. Total rebounds favored Kennedy Catholic 62-33.

Kennedy Catholic led 7-3 before the Warriors from Lakewood ran off eight consecutive points en route to a 19-14 lead after the first quarter.

The Lancers rode back to eventually tie the game at 23-23 in the second quarter on AJ McGrew's three-pointer.

Following a Clover Park basket, KC's Jason Thompson, AJ McGrew and Cole Madison worked the Lancers into a 28-25 lead that became a 28-27 halftime margin.

The Lancers owned the boards and stretched their control to six points on three different occasions, the last at 39-33, but Clover Park refused to yield and trailed only 39-37 with the fourth quarter in the offing.

McGrew's basket had the Lancers ahead 45-38, but again, the Warriors worked their way back to trail by two, including a 49-47 defict with just more than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

It was McGrew with a putback basket that ignited the Lancers to a 5-0 run and 54-47 lead. Clover Park kept closing in. David Crisp earned 11 of his game-high 25 points for Clover Park in the fourth quarter, but Kennedy Catholic survived on the strength of 10-for-15 free throw accuracy in the final quarter.

Mitch Penner played strongly for 21 points and 23 rebounds to lead Kennedy Catholic. Cole Madison scored 12 points and corralled 10 caroms while McGrew added 10 points and nine boards.
Ahmaad Rorie torched the nets for 22 Clover Park points.
Kennedy Catholic shot 23-for-33 from the free throw line compared to CP's 8-for-15.