The Todd Beamer Titans had a good season. As a matter of fact, they made it to the postseason in boys basketball for the first time in the school's four-year history.

But now the bad news. It was anti-climactic, with a last regular season 66-43 loss to the host Puyallup Vikings Friday.

"They (Viks) played really hard," said Titans head coach Conner Richardson.

And here's the flip side: The Viks were the ones needing to really play hard in this one, not the Titans.

The loss or win was giving the Titans the fourth seed in the South Puget Sound League South Division, which means they play the SPSL North No. 4 seed, Tahoma, next this Friday. The winner goes on to the West Central District tournament that starts Wed., Feb. 15.

So, the score difference was big, and the play was not good. As the Titans captain, 6-5 junior forward Evan Cook, stated, "We could have come out more focused."

But really that didn't matter so much. It was not do-or-die for them, but it was a lot closer to that kind of scenario for the Viks.

The Titans had already made the playoffs coming in and did not have to win this game to get in with their 7-6 SPSL South record while the Viks needed this victory to avoid a playoff to get in against the team below them, Rogers, which would have been a loser-out affair for the Viks.

The Titans accomplished what they wanted this year, now speaking of stuff that really matters.

"I have a good coaching staff," said Richardson, also mentioning last year's manager for the Washington State Cougars basketball game, Brian Graham.

The staff was good all season, but this game was not what the doctor would probably order even with it being a less motivating game than for the foes of Puyallup.

Still, it would have been nice to not start out with a 7-0 deficit that became a 14-8 first-quarter favoring the Viks. So that all explains the focus, in fact, the Titans finally scored with the clock showing 3:15 left in the first quarter and Cook scored those first two points and mysteriously disappeared the rest of the game.

Cook did pick up two fouls early in the game three minutes before halftime, but he still could have done more than that boxing out and using his Barkley-esque body inside the paint for rebounds that favored the foes a whopping, 37-17, in this one.

The Viks continued to play with the motivation that comes from knowing they would have to play one more game to get in the playoffs if they lost. They grabbed seven rebounds in the second quarter to the Titans' three and that helped them lead 29-17 at halftime.

The third quarter was the Titans' best quarter but they still were outscored 20-19 and had four turnovers to three for the Viks. What helped the Titans stay halfway close was their making 3-for-4 from three-point land. Markiese Short, Dakin Wanquist and Andrew Winton knocked them down.

But the production of the third, five points for Short, Wanquist, and Winton, and four from Dre'Vaughn Bentley, all but disappeared in the fourth.

The Titans went from 5-for-7 (71 percent) shooting from the floor in the third to 2-for-8 (25 percent) in the fourth. All the while, the Viks' third quarter floor shooting percentage was 4-for-9 (44 percent) along with a three-point shot and three more free throws than the Titans too.

"I'm hoping to get more production from everyone (next game)," said Richardson.

The Titans actually won before, as these two schools played earlier this season at Todd Beamer.

"We were ahead the whole game and beat them 76-72 in OT and they had to make a miracle shot to get it to overtime," said Richardson.

This game was different, though.

"They were way more physical," said Richardson, of the big rebounding advantage to the Viks. "They outhustled us to every loose ball."

That is something the Titans did not do on this night. They also did not take care of the basketball and made runs to the basket with it well guarded by Viks big guys standing with their arms up waiting to block shots or take it away from the would-be Titans shooter. That exact scenario happened a few times in this game and all of the advantage was to the Viks.