HS Boys Basketball: Auburn Mountainview-Bellarmine Recap

2/19/26

(Tacoma, WA) District 3 3A boys basketball took center stage on Thursday night with the two semifinals taking place at Mount Tahoma High School. All four semifinalists had already locked up their spot in the state tournament but now it was about getting as good of a seed as possible and earning that title as district champions.

Last year saw the Lincoln Abes defeat the Auburn Mountainview Lions in the district title game and both of those teams were in the semifinals once again and on opposite sides of the bracket which made a rematch possible. However, standing in their way would be the Enumclaw Hornets who would try to reach the district title game in just their second year back up in 3A and got their chance at the defending champs in Lincoln in the first semifinal.

In the second semifinal, Auburn Mountainview would look to get another crack at a district title but it would be far from easy. In their way stood the #2 team in the 3A RPI in the Bellarmine Lions. It would be Lions vs. Lions in the nightcap to see who the true kings of the jungle and advance to the championship game on Saturday night would be.

Lincoln 54, Enumclaw 48

The Lincoln Abes and Enumclaw Hornets faced off in an intense showdown at Mount Tahoma High School in the District 3 3A semi-finals. Both teams are coming off amazing regular seasons and are two of the top teams in the 3A classification. Lincoln came into the game coming off a 67-54 win over Todd Beamer in their first game of the tournament, as they looked to have back-to-back appearances in the district championship. Enumclaw came into the game off a 72-58 win over Lakes High School and booked which booked their ticket to state, and had a quick turnaround to face the Abes. In an action-packed and intense battle, both teams showed why they belong in the state tournament.

First Half

The first half was slow starting for the two high-powered offenses to begin with. In the first quarter, there hadn’t been a score for the first couple of minutes of the game. After the game was tied 2-2, Lincoln went on a scoring run, but not from field goals. Their free-throw shooting kept them afloat amid early struggles and gave them a five-point lead. It didn’t take long for the Hornets to go on a short spurt of their own as Kannon Kuzaro would single-handedly score the bulk of Enumclaw’s points in the first. Both teams remained relatively cold and were tied going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, Enumclaw came out hot and went on a 9-0 run minutes into the clock. Kannon Kuzaro held down the fort with his finishing and free-throw shooting, as well as good perimeter shooting from Trey Kuzaro and Travis Leonard. Lincoln was still struggling to complete possessions as the quarter went on and foul trouble started to mount for the Abes as well. One of the only things keeping them in the game was the offense of Justus Holt along with his great rebounding leading to second chance opportunities. Frustration started to mount for Lincoln and Enumclaw took advantage quickly. Travis Leonard would cap off the great quarter with a last second contested three pointer to end the half. Enumclaw would go into halftime with momentum and the 24-17 lead over the 5th ranked team in the state for 3A.

Second Half

With the high-powered offense of Lincoln, there was no question that it was only a matter of time before they got back into a rhythm. Justus Holt continued to put in work down low while Oshea Lamar and star player Davion Shareef-Dulanaey started to heat up from beyond the arc. This did not deter the Hornets, though; they continued to draw fouls and go blow for blow with Lincoln, with Kannon Kuzaro continuing his great game and Esias Goodlet getting into the action with multiple buckets. Both teams did what they had been doing all year so well and were once again tied going into the fourth quarter, 35-35.

This is where momentum took a shift for Lincoln. Even with foul trouble, the Abes went on small scoring runs to inch their lead more and more. Their offense was fully awake, and their defense became impenatrable it seemed. As the Hornets went cold, Davion Shareef-Dulanaey started to take over the game. Getting to the basket at will and drawing contact for free throws, as well as getting hot from three.

This all culminated with a massive throw-down dunk from Shareef-Dulanaey that brought the house down. He would then follow up with a heat check three-pointer from way beyond the arc that gave Lincoln a nine-point lead as time ticked off the clock. Enumclaw would finally pick up a couple of scores, but was forced to put Lincoln into the bonus and shoot free throws. The Abes would make it a two-possession game and take home the 54-48 win, advancing to the district championship for the second year in a row.

MVP and Stats

The Sumner Holiday Inn Express MVP of the game went to Davion Shareef-Dulanaey, who finished with a game-high 24 points and went scorched earth in the fourth quarter to help lead the Abes to the win. Justus Holt had an amazing game as well, with 13 points to his name and a monster rebounding performance. Oshea Lamar has 10 points and two threes on the game, and Kasey Williams, as well as Noah Dennis, each had two points. A great performance where at times they were down by multiple possessions but showed their resilience and are going back to the district championship in a rematch of last year’s against Auburn Mountainview

Kannon Kuzaro finished with 18 points for the Hornets and played a large part in their offensive success. Travis Leonard had nine points and 3 three three-pointers. Esias Goodlet finished with 7 points, Trey Kuzaro with 6, Gavin Trachte with 4, and Jason Feddema with 3. Enumclaw has already booked a state tournament appearance despite the loss and will be seeded in time as the regional brackets are released on Sunday, February 22nd.

Lincoln will face Auburn Mountainview for the second year in a row in the district championships on Saturday, February 21st at 5:00 pm at Mt Tahoma High School

For the full game replay, click here (Subscription Required)

ESN Postgame Show

Highlights

Leonard Three at Buzzer Gives Enumclaw Momentum into Halftime

Lamar Gives Lincoln 4th Quarter Lead

Shareef-Dulaney Steals the Show

Auburn Mountainview 58, Bellarmine 55

Our second semifinal would be an epic battle as Auburn Mountainview would look to spring an upset while Bellarmine would try to finish their season strong and potentially get the #2 seed in the loaded 3A bracket. Winners of 21 in a row since starting the season 0-2, Bellarmine would look to use their size to overwhelm their fellow Lions to get a third meeting this season with Lincoln. Auburn Mountainview would try to earn a rematch of last year’s district title game by using their speed to counter Bellarmine’s size.

It was a strong start for Bellarmine as they came out of the gates strong behind Birk Johnston who used his 6’6 height to score at will at the basket. Auburn Mountainview struggled out of the gate on offense but star guard Kolven Posey showed their is more to just height in basketball. The 5’8 senior used his speed, touch, and dribbling skills to weave through traffic and attack the basket. The height was the difference early however as Bellarmine led after the 1st quarter 15-14.

Auburn Mountainview began to find more offensive balance in the 2nd quarter with Markel Lowery running point. Dale Jones was a big difference maker for Auburn Mountainview with three huge blocks in the first half and helped even out the rebounding numbers as well with his tenacious pursuits on the boards. Ben Heisel and Luke Heisel began to work very well for Bellarmine on drive and dishes with the two becoming a dominant force in the quarter. Kolven Posey was still the guy for Auburn Mountainview with a couple of circus shots to tie the game at halftime 26-26.

The Heisel-to-Heisel connection continues to work wonders for Bellarmine but Elliott Stevenson also got going with a couple of three pointers which was the one thing missing from Bellarmine’s first half performance. However, there was no breathing room to be had for either team as the largest lead at any point of the game was just four. It was extremely tight the whole way but Jarrick Matthews was a big reason why in the 3rd. The sophomore caught fire from deep and began to rain threes down to answer every Bellarmine run. It would still be tight after 3 quarters with Auburn Mountainview leading 43-42.

Luke Heisel was a monster late for Bellarmine as they showed they didn’t need the threes the new school way with Heisel being an “and-1” machine for the Lions. They continued to feed him while Auburn Mountainview got a third scorer going in Markel Lowery who began to find lanes to the basket. Free throw shooting was not good for Auburn Mountainview as they went 8-17 from the line in the game. However a Cody Bennion three seemed to give the Auburn Mountainview Lions momentum late. Markel Lowery would score late to put Auburn Mountainview up by two and they would get a stop and Lowery headed to the free throw line. He split the pair to make it 58-55 with Bellarmine having time for a look to tie it. The defense was absolutely perfect from the Lions however and Bellarmine had to call an audible which resulted in a missed three to end it. In a back-and-forth phenomenal high school basketball game, Auburn Mountainview had just enough to hold off Bellarmine in an upset for the 58-55 win.

Now the District 3 3A basketball championship games are set. While Enumclaw and Bellarmine will wait to see their matchups for regional weekend, we will have a doubleheader streamed here on ESN on Saturday. First, at 3pm it will be the girls championship game as the Enumclaw Hornets look to dethrone the reigning champs in the North Thurston Rams. In the nightcap at 5pm, it will be a rematch from last season’s District Championship game on the boys side as the Lincoln Abes look to repeat against the Auburn Mountainview Lions. You can click the link below to go to our broadcast page for the links to the games on Saturday night.

Link to Broadcast Page

Link to District 3 3A Bracket

Scoring

Auburn Mountainview: Kolven Posey 22, Jarrick Matthews 15, Markel Lowery 12, Cody Bennion 6, Tavish Harrell 3

Bellarmine: Luke Heisel 19, Ben Heisel 11, Elliott Stevenson 10, Birk Johnston 8, Ronnie Wiggins 7

Link to watch full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)