The Mercer Island Boys Basketball Team tipped off against rivals, the Bellevue Wolverines on Tuesday, Jan. 10. MI started the game off strong, maintaining a small lead against their opponents, and managing to play a close game until the last quarter–where Mercer Island lost 48-61.
This was the first and only home rivalry game of the season–with a lively and massive student section to show for it. The bleachers were stacked top to bottom with an energetic crowd. The MIHS animal band, along with the MIHS Drill team’s impressive halftime performance, also showed out, hyping up the energy of the game.
“The energy from the student section always pushes the boys to go harder. The rivalry game really brings the best out of all of us. Most of us are boys with the Bellevue guys off court but it’s a whole different energy when we’re battling it out on the court,” senior Grayson Conder said.
As for the team’s performance in general, both Bellevue and Mercer Island played an impressive game, staying close in score for the majority of it. Both teams played extremely hard, consistently scoring and keeping the crowd engaged.
“I thought our team came out ready to play and we showed that when we are focused and intense, we can beat those guys. Bellevue deserves credit for keeping us off balance by changing defenses constantly, which is their game plan. Despite our poor second half, we were within five points with just two and a half minutes left. We know we can beat those guys next time on Jan. 31.,” Head Coach Gavin Cree said.
Looking at the rest of the season, the MIHS Basketball team has high hopes of making it through KingCo and to State. The team has been working hard on getting better and improving their skill–and the team’s bond has been making the experience all the more enjoyable.
“Our goals all year have been to win Kingco, win the Kingco tournament and make it to State. Those are really achievable but challenging goals for us to continue to shoot for this season. We’ve just got to keep improving and it is as much on the mental side as anything else. I love our group of players and these seniors have been wonderful leaders and team-first guys. They are fun to coach,” Cree stated.
The Mercer Island Boys Basketball team plays Lake Washington High School next, on Jan. 12., and Bellevue again on Jan. 30.
