Wolverines clinch league title with win against Islanders

Bellevue fends off Mercer Island's third quarter rally

By Shaun Scott • February 10, 2015 2:48 pm
Bellevue Wolverines senior point guard Kyle Foreman drives to the hoop while being guarded by Mercer Island's Sam Nordale in the first half of play.
Bellevue Wolverines senior point guard Kyle Foreman drives to the hoop while being guarded by Mercer Island's Sam Nordale in the first half of play.

The Mercer Island Islanders didn’t get discouraged despite trailing the Bellevue Wolverines 31-16 at halftime with the Class 3A KingCo league regular season title on the line.

Mercer Island went on 10-0 run at the beginning of the third quarter, cutting the Wolverines lead to 31-26 with 5:42 left in the third period.

It was the closest the Islanders would get the rest of the way.

Bellevue got on track, outscoring Mercer Island 28-19 in the final 17 minutes of regulation en route to a 59-45 win on Feb. 6 at Bellevue High School in Bellevue. The Wolverines clinched the Class 3A KingCo regular season championship with the win and improved their overall record to 18-2. Mercer Island dropped to 15-6 overall. Wolverines’ guard Kyle Foreman said his team regained its focus after calling a timeout midway through the third quarter.

“We just had to keep our composure and slow things down. We weren’t moving the ball on offense. We needed to get everyone touches and wind the clock down. Moving the ball is the key to finding open shots. That’s what we did. We persevered,” Foreman said.

Bellevue head coach Chris O’Connor was glad to see his team rebound from its woeful showing during the onset of the third quarter.

“We started to gamble too much on defense and just weren’t very solid. We gave up too many opportunities to the basket. We just had to clean that up,” O’Connor said.

Capturing a league title was a legit feeling for the Wolverines but defeating the rival Mercer Island Islanders to do it was especially sweet.

“Its better than ever. We had a packed crowd tonight. The fans were behind us. It was a great team win,” Foreman said.

Foreman believes the Wolverines have the talent to make a run during the playoffs.

“As long as we’re playing together, I don’t think anyone can beat us,” he said. “When we play together its good ball and no one can stop it.”

O’Connor is excited about his team’s chances for success in the playoffs.

“We can’t take winning for granted. We got to keep working hard and get better every day. If we can do that, I think we will be pretty tough,” he said.

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com