On February 7th, 2023 at O’Dea High School, the O’Dea Fighting Irish will play their second Metro League semifinal in 2 years, and they will face a familiar foe: the Rainier Beach Vikings. These two teams have had plenty of recent history, as last season, the Vikings defeated O’Dea in a 49-48 heartbreaker in the 2023 semifinal, and made it to the Metro Championship.
O’Dea had a strong 2023-24 season, finishing 15-6 overall and 12-2 in Metro League play, second only to the 14-0 Roosevelt Rough Riders. When it comes to team stats, they are dominant. They were fifth in points overall, with 66.2 points per game. They were also fourth in points against, with 56.9 points allowed per game. Their margin of victory per game was +9.3 points, which was third best in the Metro League.
After finishing 2nd in the Metro League in 2022-23, Rainier Beach came back with another solid campaign in 2023-24. With 63.2 points per game and exactly 58 points per game, their scoring stats aren’t quite as strong as O’Dea’s, but they are still a formidable squad, as they finished 11-6 overall and 8-6 in Metro League games. In their previous game, the Vikings blew out West Seattle 74-48, and they will look to carry the momentum from that game into this game.
These 2 teams played twice during the regular season, with incredibly varied results. In their first matchup, on December 5th, the Vikings manged to squeeze out a 65-62 win in front of the Irish home crowd. However, in their second game on December 19th, the Fighting Irish traveled to Rainier Beach and demolished them by 31 points in a 61-30 win.
Both the Vikings and Irish look quite solid coming into this game, and with the recent history between these two teams, this game looks like it could be a classic. O’Dea is likely favored to win due to their recent blowing out of the Vikings, but both teams are capable of winning this game and moving on to the Metro Championship. Overall, it is certainly a game to watch, and the team that wins should be on your radar for being a competitive squad at Districts or even State.
