The KingCo basketball league standings will not be decided anytime soon, especially if games like Tuesday’s between Mercer Island and Lake Washington keep happening. Despite Mercer Island winning by 10 points with a 58-48 final score, the game was close throughout.

After starting the game with an 11-2 run, Lake Washington edged back in to end the first quarter with an 11-8 score. The Islanders played their game in the second quarter, controlling the tempo to outscore the Kangs 22-13.

After the break the Kangs came onto the court with renewed pressure, which helped the team outscore Mercer Island 12-8 and close the gap within seven points with two minutes left in the third.

The Islanders pulled away early in the fourth, holding the lead at 10 points, but Lake Washington in the final minutes held off the Islanders offense, which went several possessions without a basket. With 3:16 left in the game, the gap had closed to four points, but a 3-point basket by Joe Rasmussen lifted Mercer Island farther ahead, giving the team the final lift of the match.

Rasmussen amassed 21 points during the game, a game high, while Darien Nelson-Henry posted 16 for the Kangs and Matt Staudacher added 11. Sam Cohn had eight for the Islanders, while Brian Miller and Kaleb Warner each had seven. Sean Hughes and Jeff Lindquist had six and Nick Nordale added three.

For Lake Washington, Guy Lynott had nine points, Jamal Muhammad had seven, Kelly Guy had three and Cody Bernstein posted two.

The Islanders will host Mount Si on Friday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. at MIHS and will travel to Bellevue on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. for a make up from earlier in the season.

The Kangs will travel to Interlake Friday, Jan. 13 for an 8 p.m. KingCo match.