The Mercer Island boys earned a solid KingCo win on Friday, Jan. 27 when Juanita came to the Island. The final score was 72-46.
Mercer Island was up 15-9 at the end of the first quarter, which was followed by a 16-4 run to end the half.
Juantia made it’s move in the third quarter, gaining 21 points to the Islanders 19, but the Rebels momentum wasn’t enough in the final minutes of the game to earn the win.
Mercer Island’s Joe Rasmussen hit 18 points during the game, while Juanita’s Ryan Reid had 14 points. Sam Cohn and Nick Nordale had nine for the Islanders, while Kaleb Warner added seven. Sean Hughes, Jeff Lindquist, Brian Miller and Espen Platou all had four points for Mercer Island, while Justen Altaras, Chris Lawler, Parker Scott and Jake Shaddle all had three points.
For Juanita, Devan Jackson had nine points, followed by six from Brett Hamre, four from Avery Britton, and Oren Shalev and Alex Stokes each had three points. Trevor Andrews and RJ Ellingsworth had two points, while Landyn Milburn added one.
The following night the Islanders traveled to Sammamish, winning 72-44.
The Islanders were up 22-10 at the end of the first and never looked back. They had a 19 point second quarter, to be up 41-22 at the half.
In the third quarter the Islanders hit 15 to the Totems 13, while going 16-9 in the final minutes.
Cohn had 16 points for the team’s high, while Hughes hit 12, as did Warner. Lindquist added 11, Rasmussen eight, Miller had six and Scott posted five points.
In other KingCo action, Lake Washington toppled Bellevue, a team which had held the No. 1 spot in the league. The Kangs won 54-46.
Bellevue held a 10-7 lead at the end of the first, but a 17-6 second quarter for the Kangs moved them into the lead. The team never looked back, despite a 19-15 fourth quarter for the Wolverines.
Darien Nelson-Henry had the game’s high with 22 points for the Kangs, while Guy Lynott added 12. Matt Staudacher added 11 points, followed by four from Cody Bernstein, three from Jeff Staudacher and two from Kelly Guy.
