Islanders Boys handle Liberty and Advance to KingCo Championship Game

The Mercer Island boys basketball team will face Bellevue in the KingCo league tournament final after defeating Liberty on Tuesday night in a lopsided 56 - 25 victory in the legaue semi-final game.

The Islanders (19-2, 14-1) raced out to a 14-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, holding the Patriots scoreless for the first 6:45 of the game, and never looked back.

Espen Platou scored 10 in the first half, pacing the Islanders to a 33 - 9 first half advantage, and finished the game with a career-high 15 points. Kaleb Warner added 12 and Nick Nordale scored 10. Joe Rasmussen ended with 8 points, Jake Shaddle 5, Jake Stenberg 3, Daniel Sims 2 and Max Tilden 1. The Patriots (8-13, 6-10) were led by Robert Thomas who scored 11 points. The Islanders showed tremendous energy on defense, holding Liberty's leading scorers Mathew Campbell and Tynan Gilmore to 6 and 5 points respectively.

Coach Cree said he was pleased with his team’s effort.

“Our overall intensity level tonight was tremendous," he said. "We sustained defensive effort for 32 minutes. I was really pleased with that. Espen Platou came to play tonight. He was tough. We need him to continue that throughout the playoffs. He can be a special player for us when he's playing that way.”

The Islanders face Bellevue in the KingCo Championship game this Thursday, Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Bellevue College.