For three quarters against the Liberty Patriots, Mercer Island appeared to be cruising to its third-straight victory to start the season. Shots were falling, and the Islanders were on pace to break 80 points for the second game in a row.

But in the final four minutes of the contest, the hot shooting that had been working throughout the night suddenly went cold.

Liberty held Mercer Island to six fourth-quarter points, as the Patriots rallied to deal the Islanders a 72-69 loss Tuesday evening at MIHS.

Liberty forced Mercer Island into eight turnovers in the game’s final quarter, a statistic that weighed on Mercer Island coach Gavin Cree after the loss.

“We didn’t have good execution in the fourth quarter and we didn’t defend. That’s going to make it hard to win,” he said. “We gave up 15 offensive rebounds. That’s just too many, and a lot of those led to buckets.”

The Islanders (2-1, 0-1) were firing on all cylinders to start the game, claiming an early 18-4 advantage and knocking down four 3-pointers in the opening quarter. The Patriots (3-1, 1-0) turned to their outside shooting to cut the deficit to four before the Islanders closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 27-17.

Mercer Island extended its advantage to 43-30 at the half and led by as many as 19 in the third quarter. But the Patriots finished the period with a 13-4 run, narrowing the Islander lead to 63-53 heading into the final quarter.

Three minutes into the fourth, Mercer Island center Andrew Pickles picked up his fourth foul, and would later foul out with just over a minute left in the game. With Pickles limited in action, the Islanders went cold, scoring one point in the final four minutes.

Liberty meanwhile got six points from big man Michael Walter and five more from guard Nick Chung. A layup from Chung with 5.7 seconds remaining gave the Patriots a 70-69 lead, their first lead of the game.

It was Chung’s ability to drive into the paint that Cree said proved to be the difference.

“We talked in huddles and talked at halftime about stopping penetration, and we gave a lot of penetration to [Chung],” Cree said. “[Chung] was getting to the basket and finding guys. He made Mikey Walter’s day really easy.”

Mercer Island turned the ball over twice in the final minute, yet after two free throws from Liberty’s Noble Cooper, had one more possession with 2.9 seconds remaining and a chance to tie. But Josh Stenberg, who knocked down four 3-pointers in the game, saw his final 3-point look hit the back of the rim as time expired.

Walter led all scorers with 21 points, while Cooper and Connor Chapman each had 12 for the Patriots. Sam Nordale led the Islanders with 19 points. Stenberg and Griffin Emanuels each had 14.

With the Mercer Island starters logging big minutes and frontcourt depth being an issue through the first three games, Cree said he was looking forward to getting backup forward Ethan Chen back this Friday against Stanwood. But if the Islanders expected to see improved results on the hardwood, he said it’d have to come on the defensive end.

“We’ve been scoring in bunches, but we’ve been giving them up in bunches, and we’re not used to that,” Cree said. “It’s been good to see us be able to score the ball, but we have to defend, and we have to take pride on that end of the court.”