With the KingCo league title already decided, league rivals Mercer Island and Bellevue were playing for bragging rights Friday at Bellevue High School. After a hard-fought first half between KingCo’s top two 3A girls basketball teams, the Wolverines used a couple second-half scoring runs to pull away from the Islanders, beating Mercer Island 59-41 Friday night at Bellevue High School.

Mercer Island coach Kaela Yuen said afterward she expected to see a tough, physical game, but saw too many mental lapses from the Islanders in the second half.

“I always tell the girls that defense is what’s going to get us back into it and with that many lapses that we had defensively, [like] giving up on the boards, not keeping people in front of us, not having those rotations, that’s what allowed Bellevue to slip away,” she said.

The Islanders (13-7, 8-4) kept things close throughout the first half and only trailed the Wolverines (18-3, 12-0) by two at halftime, down 22-20. But coming out of the break, Shelby Cansler led a 6-0 Bellevue run, scoring four points and assisting on a Mandy Steward basket, as the Wolverines took their largest advantage of the game up to that point, leading 28-20.

After a Mercer Island timeout, Jess Blakeslee responded with aggressive drives to the hoop, drawing three trips to the line and eventually bringing Mercer Island within two. But Bellevue closed the quarter with an 8-0 run to take a 36-26 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Islanders continued to chip away at Bellevue’s lead in the fourth, twice cutting the deficit to seven, but couldn’t get the necessary stops on the defensive end. Scoring five points off back-to-back Islander turnovers, the Wolverines extended their lead to double digits to close out the game.

Bellevue had three players reach double figures, with Shelby Cansler leading the way with 20 points. Mandy Steward had 15, and Tatiana Streun had 13. Taylor Krause led Mercer Island in scoring with 12.

Despite not getting a win against the conference rival, Yuen acknowledged the loss didn’t change anything for her team. The Islanders locked up KingCo’s second seed for the postseason tournament, which would’ve been the case win or lose.

“Really, the regular season is over and we’re starting a whole new season now,” she said. “No one has wins, no one has losses. Just fresh bodies, fresh minds and we’re gonna go get it done.”

Mercer Island will host its first round KingCo matchup at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10 at MIHS.