Eastside Catholic continues surprising run by beating Rainier Beach for Metro boys title

The Eastside Catholic boys basketball team left no doubt in the second half with its stout defense.

That meant the fourth-seeded and often-overshadowed would improbably be crowned Metro League champions.

Jacob Cofie supplied 24 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots as the Crusaders finished off a surprise postseason run to fend off Rainier Beach 62-56 in the Metro League boys title game on Friday night at Seattle Pacific University.

Both teams pulled off upsets to reach the title contest. No. 10 Eastside Catholic had the biggest stunner, knocking off previously unbeaten Garfield, the top-ranked team in Class 3A, 64-56 in the semifinals Wednesday.

Rainier Beach outlasted No. 4 O’Dea 49-48 in the other semifinal.

Eastside Catholic (15-8) trailed 32-25 at halftime, but the Crusaders rallied to outscore the Vikings (12-8) 38-24 in the second half.

Miles Gurske led Rainier Beach with 22 points and Ryan Mpouli added 19.

Crusaders’ guard Ishe Kanhukamwe led a furious third-quarter rally with eight of his 10 points in the period. EC outscored Beach 19-8 in the third and turned that into a 34-12 second-half run.

Cofie, a 6-foot-9 forward ranked the state’s No. 2 player in the Class of 2024 by 247Sports.com, tallied 17 of the Crusaders’ first 23 points and Eastside Catholic led 23-16 before Rainier Beach closed the half on a 16-2 run over the final 6:13.

EC played the second half under protest, contending the official book omitted two points from their first-half total.

This story will be updated.