Kingco 3a Boys' Semis: M.I., Bellevue win

BELLEVUE -- As Thursday's first-round KingCo 3A boys' tournament game went to overtime, Skyline found itself in position to upset fourth-ranked Mercer Island.

Down 51-49 with 25 seconds to play, the Spartans had a chance to tie or take the lead with a 3-pointer. Fresh out of a timeout, they looked inside to 6-foot-7 forward Travis Frame, who had the hot hand in the second half, scoring 10 of his 12 points after the break.

Leroy Lutu, Mercer Island's leading scorer, made a heads up defensive play and intercepted the pass before it got to Frame. He leapt into the air and called a timeout with 19 seconds to go. Matt Schut then dropped 1 of 2 free throws to put the Islanders on top by three with 16 seconds left. Frame missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer and Mercer Island escaped with a 52-49 victory.

"We like the matchup, we like the play call," Skyline coach J. Jay Davis said of the decision to go inside on the deciding play. "It just didn't go our way."

Mercer Island (19-2) will play Bellevue (18-4) Friday at 6:30 p.m. for the league's top seed in next week's Sea-King District Tournament. Bellevue, the defending KingCo 3A Tournament champion, squeaked past Issaquah 60-59 in the early game.

"We set a goal at the beginning of the season," Lutu said. "We want that KingCo No. 1."

Mercer Island won for the 12th consecutive time despite scoring a season-low 52 points.

"There was some serious defense being played," Mercer Island coach Ed Pepple said.

Lutu, who scored a game-high 22 points, said Skyline's pressure was exhausting.

"I'm beat," he said with a smile. "Skyline has a knack for getting in people's faces and taking teams to overtime."

Skyline (14-8) plays Issaquah (15-8) Friday at 3 p.m. for the league's third and fourth seeds in districts.

"I told them this was an effort game, and we played like it was an effort game," Davis said of facing Mercer Island in the playoffs. "They've got tradition, but we've got 12 guys that play with pride. Don't get me wrong, we're disappointed. We came here to win."

Schut added 12 points for the Islanders, while Nick Crossan contributed nine for Skyline. He scored seven points in the first quarter to help the Spartans keep it close early.

In the first semifinal, Bellevue's Alex Schrempf made 1 of 2 free throws with 1.1 seconds left to send the Wolverines to the league title game.

Thursday's meeting between the two rivals was their fourth matchup of the season and second in six days. The Wolverines beat the Eagles last Saturday to break a second-place tie in the league standings.

"It becomes a little bit of a chess match, but at the same time it comes down to who wants it more," Bellevue coach Chris O'Connor said of facing the same team over and over. "At this point you're going to play teams three or four times because there's only good teams left."

Aaron Bright, an Issaquah transfer, scored 16 points to lead Bellevue, while Schrempf had 15 and Colton Christian poured in 10.

Bren Hobzek's 24 paced Issaquah, and Matt Lapasin added 17.

With the score tied at 59-59 and 30 seconds left, Bellevue's Cam Warren drew a charge to set the stage for the finish.

Bright ran the clock down and went to the hoop with about seven seconds remaining, finding Schrempf open underneath as the defense collapsed. Schrempf's game-winning free throw sent the Wolverines to the league title game for the second consecutive season.