Coming off its loss to Juanita, the Mercer Island girls basketball team responded with a convincing 71-24 win over the Mount Si Wildcats Wednesday, Jan. 22 at Mercer Island High School. The win improved the Islanders to 7-3 in the KingCo standings and 9-6 overall.

From the get-go, it was all Mercer Island. The Islanders held the Wildcats to 7 first-half points while putting up 25, and then exploded in the second half for 29 third-quarter points and 17 in the fourth to run away with the win. The Islanders had three players reach double figures, with Jess Blakeslee leading the Islanders in scoring with 15 points, while Anna Luce had 12 and Julia Blumenstein had 11. Renae Tessem pitched in 8 points, Rachel Tessem had 6, Arianna Moscatel had 5 and Taylor Krause, Jamie Mounger and Latrevian Saunders each contributed 4 points for Mercer Island.

The Islanders take on the Interlake Saints at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24 at Interlake High School.