It lived up to the hype.
For four quarters, the standing-room-only gym at Bellevue Community College watched Franklin and Bellevue, the top two teams in 3A, go full tilt for the Sea-King district title.
Bellevue held a 25-24 lead with 2:07 remaining in the first half when Franklin’s Peyton Siva – a Louisville commit – scored 10 straight points, including three-straight NBA-range three-pointers, that gave the Quakers (24-1) a half-time lead and propelled them to a 74-66 victory.
Siva’s 10-point explosion, part of his game-high 35 points, did most of the damage to Bellevue, who never regained the lead.
“He waits to find his spots,” said Franklin coach Jason Kerr on his star senior. “When it’s time for him to take over, he does it and he does it well.”
Although the Wolverines fought back to briefly tie the Quakers at 61-61 with 3:13 remaining, they were never able to recover after the flurry of scoring late in the first half.
“That was a big momentum boost for them,” said Bellevue coach Chris O’Connor.
Bellevue (23-2) was able to get back into the game thanks to junior Aaron Bright, who scored 21 of his team-high 32 points in the second half. It was Bright’s fifth three-pointer of the game that tied the score at 61 before the Quakers pulled away at the free throw line.
“My kids are hard workers and tough kids,” O’Connor said. “I knew they would keep playing hard and battling.”
Bellevue’s Colton Christian ran into foul trouble for the second-game. Unlike the last game, when he returned after missing the second quarter to score 13 points, the Quakers held the 6-7 forward to a season-low two points.
The silver-lining for Bellevue is that the team had already qualified for the state tournament. The Wolverines will take on Foster of Tukwila in the first round at 3:30 p.m. as the tournament returns to the Tacoma Dome after being played at Key Arena and Bank of America Arena last season. The Bulldogs from the Seamount Conference are 16-7 this season.
“The best thing for us right now is that we are still hungry,” O’Connor said. We still have a goal to get into the championship game. We don’t want to get complacent, we want to win four games.”
Franklin was drawn into the opposite half of the bracket – meaning a rematch between the two teams could only occur in the championship game.
“I’d love a rematch,” O’Connor said. “I know my guys would love one too.”
Joel Willits can be reached at 425.453.5045.
