The Mercer Island Girls Basketball team faced a 58-70 defeat to their rival, the Bellevue Wolverines, on Dec. 2 in the third game of the MI Basketball Quad Night and home opener.
The first Quad Night of the 2022-23 season proved to provide a large fan turnout. On Quad Night, four of the five Basketball teams play, with the first start time at 3:30 p.m., and the last at 8 p.m. The order of teams goes Boys Junior Varsity, Girls Junior Varsity, Girls Varsity and finally Boys Varsity.
The game was fast-paced and exciting from the second the clock started. The team was down during the first quarter, but fought hard. By the second quarter they made a comeback and had caught up in points.
“I think we played well on offense, swinging the ball … We had a lot of open threes from our swinging it around,” freshman Anna Mock said.
Mock says that the team’s strategic offense led them to a 34-29 lead at halftime.
As the teams rested up at half, Mercer Island Youth teams were introduced. The Mercer Island Drill Team’s performance also helped rally MI supporters for the team’s second half.
When the game started again, the teams were instantly back and forth with the ball, the game had a high number of turnovers. As the score tied up multiple times, both student sections were loud and passionate.
“The energy from the stands really helped us out,” Mock said.
Number 3 on the Bellevue squad, Myana Calloway, was particularly influential on the score, making 38 points for her team throughout the night. By the third quarter, Bellevue was gaining momentum and Mercer Island began to struggle.
“We should’ve been more aggressive on defense, and if one person is only putting in the work it takes all five to stop the offense,” Mock said.
The game continued 30 minutes past the start time of the Boys Varsity game, and Bellevue won after pulling away in the fourth quarter.
“I think our defense could have been better, because they should not score sixty points on us. I think we should’ve broken their press more, because it wasn’t even that intense,” Mock said.
Even though they lost, the Quad Night was successful in other ways.
“It was great to have so many people come to one of our girls basketball games,” Mock said.
Additionally, the Mercer Island Boys Basketball team fell to the Bellevue Wolverines, 77-37.
Despite the uneven score, the game remained tense throughout. However, Bellevue’s defense proved superior over the Islanders, which was the Islanders’ downfall.
“I just don’t think we’ve practiced enough,” junior Syver Lanctot said. “We weren’t ready for their press. I think that we need to play more together on offense. We were being a little bit too selfish.”
Part of the contribution to the game’s atmosphere was the rivalry with Bellevue. The Bellevue student section was full, as was the Mercer Island section. Throughout the night, one could hear multiple different chants being shouted at each other from across the gym.
Quad Night is occasionally accompanied by criticism of the fan attendance, with many claiming that boys games get more attendance than girls games. While this statement held true for this game, many fans stayed for both Varsity games as opposed to just appearing for the boys game.
“I thought it was a great experience,” Lanctot said. “I really appreciate all the fans coming out.”
The Boys Varsity team is now looking forward to their next game. Although they did not win this game, Lanctot found some positives to take away.
“I think in the first quarter we showed some good flashes, but overall I think that is not the team that we are. I think we are gonna bounce back next game.”
Come out and support both Varsity Basketball teams in the gym on the next Quad Night, on Friday, Dec. 9 vs Hazen.
