With the Bellevue Wolverines trailing the Lakeside Lions 57-54 and eight-seconds left in regulation in the Class 3A fourth place/sixth place game, Javon Jefferson hoisted a three-pointer from the corner in an attempt to tie the game.

Unfortunately for the Wolverines, the jumper didn’t fall. Lakeside guard Isiah Brown corralled the rebound before being fouled with 5.5 seconds in the game. Brown made 1-of-2 free throws to clinch Lakeside’s 58-54 victory against Bellevue on March 7 at the Tacoma Dome. Brown scored a game-high 31 points in the contest. The Wolverines were in the game despite shooting 17-for-49 from the field. Bellevue junior guard Sharif Khan, who finished with 14 points in the loss, said he wished the seniors had experienced a victory in the last game of their high school careers.

“It is very disappointing we couldn’t send them out with a win,” Khan said. “We worked really hard and we really wanted it. Unfortunately we just fell a little short.”

Bellevue head coach Chris O’Connor was proud of his team for capturing a sixth-place finish at the Class 3A state tournament.

“I told them even though in the end it wasn’t the outcome we were hoping for that they had a lot to be proud of. We had a great year. It’s hard to win a state championship. They have nothing to hang their heads about,” O’Connor said. “The fact that most of these guys have been playing together since grade school is pretty special. They have shown a lot of improvement through their four years of high school. It was very rewarding to be part of and see their growth.”

Khan concurred with O’Connor’s sentiment. The Wolverines will graduate five seniors off of this year’s squad this June.

“We had great team chemistry. It got us to this point,” Khan said of the state tournament. “We always worked together and we never gave up. It was great playing with these guys. It’s going to be different next year without the seniors. I’m going to miss them.”

Bellevue dominates Marysville-Pilchuck in loser-out game

After suffering a 74-65 loss to the Rainier Beach Vikings in the Class 3A quarterfinals on March 5, the Bellevue Wolverines got back on track with a convincing 81-45 win against the Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks on March 6 in a loser-out contest. Four different Bellevue players consisting of Kyle Foreman, Gunther Klimes, Mikey Henn and Andrew Kenny all scored in double figures. Foreman finished with a team-high 15 points in the win.

“We just played our game today. Yesterday we slipped up a little bit but today we got to our lead and we just kept extending it,” Henn said. “Everybody was on fire. Everybody was hitting their shots.”

Foreman said his team was determined to right the ship after losing  to Rainier Beach.

“We moved the ball and we didn’t rush shots. We knocked down shots today and that was the difference,” Foreman said. “We just played great team ball. I’m proud of these guys.”