More Than a Court: Rainier Beach Basketball’s Unbreakable Bond
The Vikings beat Eastside Catholic, 90-62, on Senior Night, the team's final regular-season game on its historic home floor.
SEATTLE – Mike Bethea’s fondest memory of Rainier Beach’s home gym doesn’t have anything to do with one of the many wins he’s amassed over more than 30 years as the Vikings’ coach. It doesn’t involve one of the program’s many stars, ranging from Jamal Crawford and Dejounte Murray to Nate Robinson and Terrence Williams.
The moment Bethea thinks of every time he steps on Crawford Court involves a player, a bicycle, and a commitment to not being late.
“I told the guys they couldn’t be late,” Bethea said, standing on “The Beach” logo at mid-court after the Vikings’ 90-62 win over Eastside Catholic on Saturday night.
There was a player on the roster who attended an alternative school near Green Lake but lived in the neighborhood around Rainier Beach. Determined to be on time, he rode his bike from Green Lake to Rainier Beach. It was snowing.
“He came flying around the corner and slid all the way across the floor,” Bethea said, laughing. “There are all the basketball memories, but that one – that was hilarious.”
As much as it’s a fun moment to reflect on, it speaks to how much the program means to the players, coaches, alumni, and community.
That support was evident on Saturday inside a packed gym.
When asked to describe what the night meant, former longtime Rainier Beach athletic director Dan Jurdy (now the AD at Cleveland High School) said, “This is the frosting on my life. It is the cherry on the sundae because every one of those kids I see is such a success, and Coach Mike Bethea is the catalyst for all that.”
In a game with no shortage of highlights for the home team, the loudest cheers of the night were for senior Ray Proctor-Mills Jr., who made a fourth-quarter free throw despite a hand injury.
Fellow seniors Jaylen Petty and Nyale Robinson celebrated the shot like it was a buzzer-beater to win a state championship.
After the game, standing on the court that bears his name, former NBA star Jamal Crawford wasn’t thinking about being in a gym with his name on the floor, scoreboard, and hanging in the rafters. He was just another member of the family, enjoying yet another memorable moment for a storied program.
“Beach is such a family,” Crawford said. “Yeah, my name is on the court, but it’s all of ours. We all take part in it, and that’s what makes this thing special.”
Years ago, Beach’s gym was jokingly referred to as an ice rink. There were slick areas and dead spots on the court, and Bethea and the Vikings game-planned around them to build a truly unique home-court advantage. Over the years, the gym has improved, and next season, the program will christen a brand-new gym.
“It’s going to be really, really hard to transition to the new gym,” Bethea said. “You look forward to going into a new place, but the memories we have here, that feeling of invincibility in this gym – we’re going to miss that.”
While the gym is changing, the program remains the same. With Bethea at the helm, this year’s Vikings are 18-2 and poised to make another state-title run.
“It’s an honor,” Petty said. “Coach Mike, he’s leaving a great legacy. The fact that he’s poured so much into us as a team means a lot. We all love him. We love the team. We love this program. We love what this school has done for us, so it’s just fun to be together and keep winning.”
