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Islanders Prepare for Tournaments with Win Over Kangs, 67-53

KingCo tournament tiebreakers together with loss to Mercer Island push Lake Washington to fifth-place finish.

The Mercer Island Islanders took care of the Lake Washington in the final game of the regular season Thursday night by defeating the Kangaroos 67-53, thanks largely in part to a 20 point effort from .

“He got us off to a great start,” said Islander head coach Gavin Cree.

All-KingCo senior guard Sterling led all scorers in a back-and-forth game where the Islanders seemed to build momentum after key Lake Washington players got into foul trouble early in the game. Lake Washington senior guard Kramer Taylor led the Kangs with 15.

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Lake Washington controlled the opening tip and got the first points on a bucket from senior forward Robert Reyes but Mercer Island tied the game immediately when Sterling hit a long jump shot. Mercer Island (16-4, 11-3) got a defensive stop and took the lead on the ensuing possession when junior forward Jeff Lindquist showed his quarterback skills by threading the needle on pass just between two Lake Washington defenders that found senior forward Ben Emanuels for an easy layup. Sterling set the tone early with 7 points in the first quarter which combined with six early Lake Washington (13-8, 8-6) turnovers gave the Islanders a 5 point lead at the end of the first quarter.

Mercer Island seemed to have a huge advantage when the Kangaroos were forced to send 6’10” junior center Darien Nelson-Henry to the bench with 2 fouls with a minute to go in the first quarter but Lake Washington responded favorably going on a 5-0 run to cut the Islander lead to 2 points. Mercer Island pushed it to 5 just as the quarter came to a close as senior guard Derek Newhof drilled the second of his three 3-pointers at the buzzer.

The teams battled back and forth through the second quarter and the Islander led by 8 at halftime. When the teams emerged from the break, Emanuels set the tone by pushing the Mercer Island lead to double digits sinking a 3-pointer from the left corner.

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After that, the Islanders never let off the gas. By the time the third quarter ended Mercer Island led by 14 points which would also be their final margin of victory.

The Islanders defense held Lake Washington to just 22 points in the second half and under 55 points for only the fourth time this season (). Lake Washington's star shooting guard Matt Staudacher, who was averaging 16.9 points per game, was held to only 8 points.

“Our defense was really great in the second half,” added Cree.

Sophomore center Joe Rasmussen added 11 points and 5 rebounds for the Islanders.
After the game Kangaroo head coach Barry Johnson looked forward to how his team can improve heading into the KingCo tournament.

“We have to hit free throws and not get technicals at key points in the game,” he said.

Johnson referenced the two fouls junior forward Guy Lynott received in a matter of seconds. Lynott committed a reach-in foul and was immediately given a technical for a remark he made to an official. Lynott would later foul out of the game.

The Islanders secured a bye in the first round of the KingCo Tournament, while the Kangs finished in a three-way tie for third. As a fifth-seed, the Kangs will face Sammamish tomorrow (Feb. 5) at 7 p.m. in Bellevue. Mercer Island, will play the winner of the Mt. Si-Liberty game at 3 p.m. Tuesday (Feb. 8) at Bellevue College. The KingCo Championship game will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 10.

(Ed. Note: This story was corrected to reflect the result of tiebreakers used to determine seeding for the KingCo Tournament.)

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