The home team had clawed itself back into the game once more and with the crowd screaming, all the Interlake Saints needed was one stop.
They’d cut the lead to a mere two points and conventional wisdom felt the momentum shift back to the Saints. But with 1:12 left in the game, Sammamish freshman guard Sami Jarjour found himself, yet again unguarded, at the three-point line with the ball in hand.
No hesitation.
Jarjour hit his third three-pointer of the second half and on the next possession sunk two crucial free throws as the Totems rallied from an early deficit to beat Interlake 57-52 on the road.
Jarjour, who was scoreless in the first half, scored 15 points which included four-straight buckets that finally put the Totems up for good early in the fourth quarter.
“Sami hit those big shots, and that really helped,” said Sammamish coach Wes Newton, a former Totems player himself. “He is going to give me a lot of gray hairs with those shots.”
Fans from both schools – separated by less than four miles – packed the stands and watched as Interlake quickly jumped out to a 20-13 lead late in the first half. Senior guard Toby Wellman hit a three-pointer late in the half for Sammamish (7-11, 3-7 KingCo 3A/2A) that cut the deficit to three points going into the half.
“Our guys were just playing with too much emotion in the first half,” Newton said. “In the second, they just started to concentrate mentally.”
Sammamish rode the hot three-point shooting of Wellman – who scored 12 points in the game, nine of those coming from beyond the arc – to quickly take the lead on the Saints (6-9, 1-8). The Totems eventually went up by as many as eight points and the dagger may have come when Wellman hit a three-point shot while being fouled. The senior completed the four-point play by sinking the free throw.
“I get in first half-slumps, but in the second, I just started to get hot,” Wellman said. “And when I get hot, I start to hit shots.”
Interlake would cut Sammamish’s lead to two points twice more during the game, but each time the Saints got close, Jarjour would knock down another big shot.
“I was kind of nervous because of the big crowd,” Jarjour said. “But in the second half, I couldn’t miss.”
Aaron Sweat led Interlake with 18 points in the loss, the Saint’s second-straight to Sammamish. The Totems beat Interlake 42-40 on Jan. 9 thanks to an offensive put-back by 6-foot-10 center David Wink with only four seconds remaining.
Sammamish finishes its regular season by hosting Bellevue on Thursday.
Elsewhere
Bellevue 58, Mercer Island 53
Bellevue hit eight free throws in the fourth quarter to hold off Mercer Island on the Island.
Aaron Bright scored 17 points and Colton Christian had 14 for the Wolverines (17-1, 10-1), who went 19 of 36 at the free throw line.
Peter Zajac had 12 points, five assists and two steals for Mercer Island (12-6, 7-2).
Bellevue trailed 26-25 at the half but outscored Mercer Island 21-12 in the third quarter.
Lake Washington 73, Newport 55
Greyson Blue, a 6-foot-9 senior, scored 31 points and Preston Fawcett had 16 as the Kangs defeated Newport in Bellevue.
Richard Woodworth had 20 points in the loss for the Knights (4-13, 3-10 KingCo 4A), while Connor Witt had 10.
Spencer Wozeniak had 10 points for Lake Washington (6-11, 4-9).
Bellevue Christian 73, Overlake 58
David Downs scored a game-high 24 points and Aaron Iseman had 18 as Bellevue Christian (11-5, 9-0 Emerald City League) picked up a home win over Overlake (8-8, 4-5).
