Matt Phelps
Mercer Island Reporter

The Mercer Island girls basketball team clinched the fifth seed in the KingCo tournament this week despite losing two of three games.

The Islanders took on Skyline High School at Bellevue Community College on Tuesday night (after Reporter deadline) during the first round of the tournament.

With a win, the Islanders will play No. 1 seed Issaquah at 8:15 p.m. on Friday at BCC. A loss sets up a loser-out contest at Sammamish High School tonight at 7:15 p.m. The winner will move on to districts with the No. 5 seed.

Mercer Island’s week began with a loss on Feb. 4 at Newport, 49-42. The Islanders ran out of steam during the fourth quarter, when they were outscored 19-10. Hannah Lilly (14 points) and Jae Shin (12) led the Mercer Island scoring.

The Islanders were defeated on Wednesday by Skyline, 55-48, in a rescheduled game. Mercer Island fell behind during the first quarter and never fully recovered. Lilly (14) and Shin (12) led all Island scorers.

The addition of the Skyline game made for a long week as the Islanders played their third contest in four days on Thursday, when they hosted winless Sammamish. The Islanders rode a 36-10 halftime lead to the blowout 74-29. The lopsided score allowed Islander coach Jamie Prescott to rest some of her starters. Janelle Chow (17), Lilly (11) and Chloe Snethen (10) led the Islanders in scoring. Only one player for Sammamish, Ashley Martin (20), scored more than two baskets.