Yabi Aklog 6'10 BIG MAN “STOCK RISER” State Champion | Eastside Catholic Sophomore Highlights

Rainier Beach had the history, but Eastside Catholic had 6-foot-10 towers Yabi Aklog and Jacob Cofie.
Aklog, a sophomore, and Cofie, a Virginia-bound senior, led No. 2 seed Eastside Catholic to the first boys basketball title in school history while denying Metro League rival Rainier Beach a 10th state championship.
Aklog had 28 points and nine rebounds and Cofie added 17 points and 13 rebounds, leading the Crusaders (23-6) to a 65-57 win Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome.
“We rode their coattails the whole season,” Eastside Catholic coach Brent Merritt said. “They delivered when we needed them. I couldn’t be happier, man. Couldn’t be happier.”
One of Rainier Beach’s titles came in 2014, when it beat Eastside Catholic, the only previous time the Crusaders of Sammamish had made it to the championship. Ten years later, it was Eastside Catholic’s night.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Merritt, whose team won three of four against the Vikings this season.
Rainier Beach coach Mike Bethea, who has won a state record eight titles, believed his team was capable of making a long run in the state tournament even though his 10th seeded Vikings (18-13) came to Tacoma with 12 losses, the most of any team in the tournament.
But 10 of those losses had come in the rugged Metro League and Bethea said that prepared his team well. And he was right, with the Vikings rolling to three fairly easy victories before running into Eastside Catholic.
The Vikings certainly made Eastside Catholic work for the win. The score was tied entering the fourth quarter, but Aklog and Cofie combined to score the first 10 points of the quarter to give Eastside Catholic a 54-48 lead.
Kayden Green hit a three-pointer off a pass from Cofie, giving EC a nine-point lead with 2:25 left and Rainier Beach never recovered.
Aklog scored Eastside Catholic’s first 16 points of the game, and single-handedly outscored Rainier Beach in the first quarter, 14-13. He hurt the Vikings inside and outside, burying a three-pointer when left alone.
“I was feeling it,” Aklog said. “I got into the paint and got a couple of layins and rebounds. Then I hit that first three, and I knew it was going to be a great game.”
He said it was the best game of his life.
“It’s great that it came in the biggest game of my life,” Aklog said.
Cofie became the second Crusader to score, giving his team an 18-17 lead with 6:38 remaining in the half.
Cofie scored six more points in the second quarter, helping the Crusaders take a 27-23 halftime lead, with Aklog and Cofie combining for 24 of their points.
Aklog and Cofie shot a combined 11 of 16 in the first half. The rest of the Crusaders were 1 of 14.
The four-point deficit was the largest of the half for Rainier Beach, which scored the game’s first five points. Dominik Robinson, the Vikings’ 6-foot-9 center, had 12 first-half points.
Eastside Catholic pulled ahead by 12 points at 37-25 midway through the third quarter, but Rainier Beach came roaring back, pulling even at 44 going into the fourth quarter.
The Vikings seemed to have all the momentum, with junior guard Kaden Powers scoring the final five points of the quarter in the final 20 seconds.
But the Crusaders’ big men took over again.
“My team came out and balled out for me - my big man (Aklog) and the whole team,” Cofie said. “Man, I feel great. I’m just proud of my team, coach Brett, everybody.”
Powers, a junior, led the Vikings with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Article by By Scott Hanson
Seattle Times staff reporter
TACOMA -
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