The Mercer Island High School boys basketball team is ranked 6th in the the state in the latest Seattle Times 3A ranking after defeating KingCo league opponents Juanita, 80-25 and Mt. Si, 60-51, over the weekend.
According to the Mercer Island Boys Basketball booster club website, the Islanders used a strong fourth quarter to notch their fifth victory and remain unbeaten.
Seattle Times reporter Jayson Jenks said the Islanders are an experienced team that "have easily looked the part of a top 10 team so far," and added that the team has a great inside-outside game, starting with 6-foot-8 senior and team captain Joe Rasmussen.
In Saturday night's game at Mount Si, the Wildcats were led by Trent Riley who led all scorers with 26 points — the Islanders mixed up their defenses all night, but Riley proved difficult to stop. In the first three quarters and the Wildcats led the Islanders 41 - 38 going into the fourth quarter.
The Islanders dominated the boards and slowed down Riley in the fourth. Joe Rasmussen wore down the Wildcats front line and took over the final period, pulling down rebounds on both ends of the floor and finishing with a game high 20 points. Nick Nordale added key free throws in the fourth quarter and ended with 15. Kaleb Warner and Will Taylor both played key defensive roles and contributed 10 points each.
Jake Shaddle scored 5 and kept constant pressure on their backup point guard. Espen Plateau and Alex Emanuels kept the Wildcats front line in check and pulled down key rebounds. Daniel Sims distributed the ball and applied constant defensive pressure coming off the bench at point guard.
The Islanders next travel to Liberty High School in Renton on Tuesday night to take on the Patriots.
