It wasn’t the finish they wanted.
All year, the Bellevue boys basketball team had their eyes on the 3A state championship game. For the latter half of the season, it appeared the Wolverines were on a crash course with Franklin, the two teams destined to play again a week after the Quakers handed Bellevue its only in-state loss of the season.
Then came the Chieftains of Columbia River.
Using a slow deliberate style and the might of 6-foot-10 Nevada-signee Steven Bjornstad, the Chieftains derailed Bellevue’s title hopes in the semi-finals, knocking off the Wolverines 52-51 in overtime despite an improbable Bellevue comeback.
Bellevue trailed unranked Columbia River (22-7) by 11 points with 52 seconds left but a pair of Aaron Bright three-pointers – in the span of eight seconds – and a pair of Chieftain turnovers turned into Wolverines baskets, leaving Bellevue trailing by only one.
“I told them that this game is far from over,” said Bellevue coach Chris O’Connor. “I told them to keep fighting, and I knew they would.”
After Bjornstad hit two free throws, it all came down to a designed play for Bellevue – a three-point setup to senior forward Matt Olson, who sunk the game-tying shot with just four seconds left.
But Columbia River didn’t let the comeback become complete. Chieftain senior Zack Bjork hit a baseline runner with 16.3 seconds left in overtime to give Columbia River the win and a shot against Franklin for the state championship. Bright, who scored a game-high 21 points, missed a potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.
“We came here with our hearts set on the championship,” said Bellevue senior Alex Schrempf.
(Columbia River went on to lose handily to Franklin, 51-34 in the championship game.)
The semi-final loss sent Bellevue into the third/sixth place game against Meadowdale of Lynnwood. Bellevue easily handled the Mavericks 60-50 in the consolation finals to finish in third place.
“It’s something to be proud of,” O’Connor said. “But coming into this tournament, we expected to be in the championship game.”
Schrempf scored a game-high 27 points for the Wolverines, who finished the season with a 26-3 record. Bellevue trailed early after Meadowdale (22-6) senior Roger O’Neill scored the Mavericks first nine points, but after Bellevue took a 10-9 lead, the Wolverines never trailed again.
“It was nice to leave with a win,” Schrempf said. “We owed it to ourselves to go out and leave everything on the court.”
Schrempf is one of four Bellevue starters among the eight seniors who played their final game Saturday.
“It’s kind of a bittersweet feeling,” said senior Cam Warren, who scored two points off the bench. “It’s not the game we wanted to be in, but we’ll take it. We came out and finished the season right.”
The third place finish is the highest finish in Bellevue High School history.
“No doubt, what we wanted, we didn’t get,” Schrempf said. “But we still had an unbelievable season.”
