Totems Rally To Beat Islanders

Riding high in a , the took the home court on Tuesday night and looking to with the Sammamish Totems. But thanks to their never say die attitude of the Totems (10-4, 5-3 KingCo 3A/2A), Sammamish was able to prevent that sweep from taking place with a 52-47 come from behind victory.

Prior to tip off Sammamish head coach Wes Newton talked to two teams optimistically, “they have one style, we have another. Hopefully ours will prevail.” Junior forward George Valle did his part to make sure the Totem’s style prevailed leading all scorers with 16 points and pulled down 8 rebounds.

The Totems led by seven after the first quarter and Valle and pushed their first half lead to nine points when he intercepted a pass from junior forward Brian Miller and took it coast to coast for a layup half way through the second quarter. The bucket made it 21-12 but Mercer Island (11-3, 6-2) started a rally immediately after which was sparked by senior guard Derek Newhof’s first basket of the game. The Islanders cut the lead to just two points when junior forward Parker Scott hit a 3-pointer with the shot winding down. Shortly after that Mercer Island got the ball back after junior Sean Hughes drew a charge against Valle. Jeff Lindquist made a layup on the ensuing possession and the two teams broke from halftime in a 25-25 tie.

When the teams emerged from their locker rooms junior guard Sam Cohn set the tone for the third quarter by hitting a 3-pointer to give the Islanders their first lead since the score was 2-0. Mercer Island maintained their lead through the third quarter which was extended to seven when Newhof it a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the period.

Mercer Island extended their lead to nine points and had all the momentum in the world when Valle fouled out of the game with five minutes to play as Sean Hughes drew an offensive foul. It was the third time of the night that Hughes induced a charge from Valle.

“That team is never out of it with the way they shoot the ball and their determination,” Islander head coach Gavin Cree stated after the game. “George Valle fouled out and we thought the game was over.” It wasn’t.

Sammamish bounced back and cut the lead to three when junior forward Jacob West hit a 3-pointer. Moments later the Totem’s junior captain Steve Perkins sank two free throws to pull Sammamish within one and Coach Newton immediately signalled for a time-out.

“Believe in yourselves,” Newton said.

They certainly did. After the timeout junior guard Sami Jarjour made a layup to give the Totems the lead. Following a Mercer Island turnover John Steinberg made a 3-pointer to extend the Sammamish lead. The Islanders would not score again and the Totems got one more point to finish on an 11-0 run that gave them the 52-47 victory.

Newhof led the Islanders with 15 points while Miller scored 13 and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Both teams will play again on Friday night as Sammamish will face Interlake and the Islanders will host the Bellevue Wolverines. Both tip offs are scheduled for 8 p.m.