Auburn Mountainview boys basketball’s first Tacoma Dome trip ends
Published 1:54 pm Thursday, March 5, 2026
In their first ever trip to the Tacoma Dome, the Auburn Mountainview Lions (19-6) were six minutes away from some chaos in the round of 12. But the clock struck midnight and the Lions ran out of gas in the fourth quarter, falling 85-71 to the Bellevue Wolverines (20-8) on March 4.
Since opening its doors in 2006, no Auburn Mountainview boys basketball team has stepped foot inside the Tacoma Dome, until Kendall White’s team did just that.
“It’s definitely a blessing. Being in here yesterday and soaking it all in was cool. Seeing the kids all wide-eyed was definitely special to watch,” White said after the loss.
Auburn Mountainview was sluggish out of the gate, and at the first quarter buzzer, the Lions trailed 23-14.
“Defensively we struggled. Offensively I think we were doing all right,” White said.
But in the second quarter, Auburn Mountainview caught fire thanks to some solid shooting from the outside. Sophomores Tavish Harrell and Jarrick Matthews both went 2 of 2 from beyond the arc in the first half and senior Cody Bennion added a pair.
“In the second quarter, we were firing on both sides. We started to get really in tune with what we were preparing for, which was huge. We just couldn’t keep it going,” White said.
Bellevue needed a buzzer-beating 3-point shot from Tayten Jones to finish the first half on level terms with Auburn Mountainview at 39.
Kolven Posey had just nine points in the first half, but found his lane in the second. The Lions’ senior guard put 21 points on the Wolverine defense in the second half, but after holding Bellevue to just 16 points in the second quarter, the Wolverines scored 22 points and 24 points in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.
With the score 61-56, Auburn Mountainview was down just five entering the fourth quarter. But the Lions let the Wolverines find time and space in the fourth to go on their longest run of the night and take their largest lead at 83-69.
“Our emotions got to us. …We started to miss shots, they started to get easy buckets. We were looking up at that giant scoreboard feeling sorry for ourselves instead of feeling motivated. The lack of experience in these types of games caught up to us and our clock ran out,” White said.
The Lions graduate three key players that all have brought their unique impact to the team’s culture: “I’m going to miss them more than they probably know,” White said.
Dale Jones, Kolven Posey and Cody Bennion — White could not speak higher of those three players and the footprint that they are leaving behind.
“Cody has been my guy since day one. He is the definition of what we have been trying to build and instill in these boys on and off the floor. Kolven showed up to us late, but with the type of talent, skill and work ethic he has, allowed me to coach him hard. The growth he had off the floor is magnificent, he responded multiple times tonight,” White said. “Dale Jones made us all better. As coaches, people, that is a kid who accepted hard coaching and stepped right into the family. It’s kids like those three that make you remember why you do stuff like this.”
With those three players graduating, White now looks to his young core of sophomores: Markel Lowery, Harrell and Matthews. Their response and reaction to the loss will say a lot to how the next two seasons will go.
“With us being so emotional, it comes down to what they feel right now and how they respond to it. If those young guys remember what this feels like and channel it in the right way, we’ll be back next year. It will become something that starts to roll because those three guys were huge for us as sophomores,” White said. “I’m excited to see what they do.”
