By Jeremy Martin
Sports Reporter

For most of the day prior to Tuesday night's Chief Sealth boy's basketball game, West Seattle found itself covered in a layer of dense fog. By the time the Seahawks tipped off in the evening, the mist had subsided but taking its place was a suffocating Garfield high squad roaming baseline to baseline at Seatlh Gymnasium.

The Bulldogs' tenacious full court man to man defense, and unceasing physicality forced the Seahawks into a harried tempo, never allowing the hosts to hold momentum, let alone catch a breather during the 96-55 loss.

“They're good, they’re aggressive, we didn't really rise to the occasion overall. We had some okay stretches, but overall not what we're looking for,” Chief Sealth head coach Colin Slingsby said.
Trailing 57-34 at the half, Sealth stormed off the blocks in the third quarter, hoping to match the Bulldog's energy and aggression. The effort accounted for a quick 5-0 run with two steals and a new found dedication to crashing the offensive glass.

The streak however was halted by a pair of turnovers that allowed Garfield to regain momentum and once again hold serve over the game.

By the the time the buzzer sounded at the end of the third quarter Sealth found itself in a 40 point hole that even the hardiest of fourth quarter efforts proved impossible to dig out of.

“We didn't match their aggressiveness, we have a number of seniors but we didn't really rise up. I still think we're going to be very good team down the stretch,” Slingsby said.

The Seahwk attack was led by Hafid Yassan and Khaleef Griffin. The senior duo played with fire, several times finding their way to the rim despite being draped with Bulldog defenders.

Yassan finished with a a team high 13 points and 6 rebounds while also throwing down a thunderous late game dunk forcing fans from both teams to their feet in hysterics.

The point guard, Griffin, netted eight points including a fourth quarter triple while also dishing out three assists. Big man Ahmed Mohamed dropped 11 points and snagged three rebounds for Sealth.

From the get go, the Seahawks had a difficult time matching the bulldogs combo of physicality and hot shooting, but that didn't stop the hosts from putting forth a valiant effort or from Slingsby making adjustments as needed.

Trailing 24-11 late in the first quarter the Seahawks moved to a 1-3-1 zone in an attempt to slow the pace of play as well as ice a set of Bulldog shooters that seemingly couldn't miss, including junior wing Alphonso Anderson who drilled three triples during the first eight minutes of play.

The move paid immediate dividends as Yassan stole the first Garfield pass following the switch, racing down court for an easy layup. But that too was a short lived victory as the Bulldogs were able to shoot their way to a 20 point lead early in the second quarter.

“They shot well, had we done a little better job of closing out or if they didn't shoot as well, maybe it would be a little different story, but they just hit too many shots for us, especially early on for us to stay close,” Slingsby said.

The Bulldogs' ultra aggressive play came at the expensive of several whistles, as the Seawhawks were able to spend some quality time at the free throw line, finding their way into the bonus as early as the first quarter.

Despite racking up 10 points from the line, an inability to stop the Bulldogs from crashing the offensive glass and picking up second chance points played large during Sealth's largest defeat of the season.

Jaylen Nowell led the way for the Bulldogs with 24 points and 10 rebounds. He was joined in double figures by Anderson who netted 29 points to go with 7 rebounds. Point guard Jashaun Agosto added 18 points and five assists for Garfield.