Boys basketball
Bellevue 46 Mercer Island 44
Coach Chris O’Connor’s Wolverines erased a six point deficit in the final minutes with a 11-3 run, capped on a layup from Timmy Haehl off a steal from Tyler Hasty, to escape with a two point win over Mercer Island in the 3A KingCo tournament semi-finals.
O’Connor said his team’s increased intensity on the defensive end was the difference in the second half after the Wolverines trailed by six at the break.
“We felt we didn’t play with much urgency or energy and were just lackadaisical,” O’Connor said. “We challenged the guys at halftime to show some leadership and they did.”
After converting the steal into the go-ahead bucket with only 21 seconds remaining (the first Bellevue lead since 29-28 early in the third quarter), Haehl swatted away another Islanders attempt in the paint before his teammates swarmed the ball handler after another inbounds pass to seal the win.
“We just picked it up in the second half,” Haehl said of his team’s defensive effort. “We got it done and came out with a win.”
Bellevue, in the 3A KingCo tournament title game for the fourth straight year, now awaits Lake Washington. The Wolverines fell twice at the hands of the regular season champion Kangs.
But that doesn’t mean Bellevue will shy away from another shot at their conference throne.
“We’ve been waiting for LW,” Haehl said. “We couldn’t help but get another chance at them and we want it really bad.”
Lake Washington 65 Sammamish 60
Guy Lynott and Matt Staudacher both put in 21 points as the Kangs, which trailed all evening, erupted with a 16-3 fourth quarter to get the win and advance to the 3A KingCo tournament title game against Bellevue.
George Valle scored 18 to lead the Totems and Jacob West added 14 more. Sammamish will face Mercer Island on Thursday at Bellevue College in the third place game of the tournament.
Girls basketball
Juanita 50 Bellevue 52 (OT)
The Wolverines survived a buzzer beater from the Rebels Kate Cryderman in the final seconds of the fourth quarter to escape with the two point win and advance to the 3A KingCo tournament title game on Thursday at Bellevue College.
Cryderman finished with a game high 29 for state-ranked Juanita while Kate Holmes finished with 17 to help the Wolverines to the win. Katie Savard added 10 and Erin McGowan finished with eight.
Bellevue will face Liberty in the title game after the Patriots held off Lake Washington by one in the other semi-final.
Seattle Academy 33 Bellevue Christian 66
Paige Knight scored a game high 17 for the Vikings, which led throughout in the blowout win. Bree Oldham added 14 more for BCS while Evan Taylor led SAAS with 11.
