Saints lose to Islanders on senior night on the hardwood

Interlake displays tenacity in final three quarters.

By Shaun Scott • January 23, 2019 12:08 am
Interlake Saints junior Ibrahim Ibrahim, right, scored a team-high 10 points in a loss against the Mercer Island Islanders on Jan. 22. Mercer Island defeated Interlake 63-46. Photo courtesy of Patrick Krohn/Patrick Krohn Photography
Interlake Saints junior Ibrahim Ibrahim, right, scored a team-high 10 points in a loss against the Mercer Island Islanders on Jan. 22. Mercer Island defeated Interlake 63-46. Photo courtesy of Patrick Krohn/Patrick Krohn Photography

Senior night didn’t go according to plan for the Interlake Saints boys basketball squad.

The Mercer Island Islanders earn their fifth consecutive win courtesy of a 63-46 triumph on the road against the Interlake Saints on Jan. 22 in Bellevue. Mercer Island improved its overall record to 13-4 with the win while Interlake dropped to 8-10. Mercer Island led Interlake 23-4 at the end of the first quarter. Interlake didn’t record their first bucket of the game until sophomore Derek Kramer hit a lay-up with 2:12 remaining in the first period of play.

Interlake junior Ibrahim Ibrahim scored a team-high 10 points against Mercer Island. Kramer added eight points in the loss.

Despite trailing by a staggering 19 points after the first eight minutes of the game, Interlake never folded. The Saints outscored the Islanders 42-40 in the final three quarters of the contest. Mercer Island head coach Gavin Cree wasn’t surprised the Saints rallied.

“This was an up and coming Interlake team. They have that big sophomore inside (Kramer). He is scary and they have some good shooters on their team. We were not taking this lightly at all. I think that showed in the first quarter. The guys came out how we wanted to and they responded,” Cree said of his team. “It is a big road win. We got three games left in (3A KingCo) league play and we’re taking it one game at a time.”

Interlake senior forward Myles Chandler, who was one of the Saints six seniors suiting up for the final time in front of their hometown fans on senior night, was proud of his squads effort in defeat.

“I think as a team we bounced back really well together. It was just us understanding who we are as a team and our strong suits. We were able to capitalize on those things in the second half,” Chandler said.

Chandler had mixed feelings about the final home game of his high school basketball career following the loss to Mercer Island.

“It is a good but a bad feeling,” Chandler said of senior night. “It was a great four years and was really fun but its sad to look back and feel like it went by so fast.”