This afternoon the Mercer Island boys basketball team will take on Mt. Si in the second round of the KingCo playoffs. They outlasted Juanita in a loser out game on Tuesday. Here are some of head coach Gavin Cree’s thoughts on Tuesday night and what the team needs to accomplish today.

“At half time we felt like Juanita had outhustled us.  We challenged the players to play harder and with more energy, but also to play smarter.  The first half was littered with turnovers and a lack of ball movement.  In the second half, we moved the ball better and were able to break down their zone a little bit easier.  Juanita’s coaching staff does a great job of taking their opponents out of their comfort zone.  They make you play sloppy, they have done it all year.  We were able to hold on and beat them going away by 17 which was a nice accomplishment.”

On the fact that MI beat Mount Si in their last meeting:

“Having beat them last week gives us confidence going into the Kingco playoff matchup. We need to outrebound them and take care of the basketball. Any time we can do those two things, we become a very difficult team to beat.  I know Mount Si will come out hungry though and we will need to exceed their will to win.  That was the case last week and it will be the key this time as well.”

On standout players during the Juanita game:

“Sloan Aikens and Ben Emanuels played terrific defense on Ryon Cunnigan all night.  Cunnigan averages close to 20 a game and we were able to hold him to 15 and a very low shooting percentage.  Those two guys have been stoppers for us all year.  They are doing a great job.  It helped us to hold Juanita to 33 points.”

Now that teams have finished their regular season games the KingCo basketball bracket and schedule is pretty much set to go. Both the Mercer Island teams made the cut for the league tournament, which starts Tuesday night at higer seeded schools.

Boys tournament

The MI boys will play Tuesday, against Juanita at MIHS starting at 7 p.m. in a loser out game.

“Tuesday’s Kingco playoff game versus Juanita is a loser out game and you can throw the records out.  They are going to come in and play hard and they have some dangerous weapons.  We can’t be looking ahead,” said boys head coach Gavin Cree after Thursday’s home win over Mount Si.

Sammamish will take on Liberty in the No. 4/No. 5 game at Sammamish on Tuesday. The winner of the Mercer Island/Juanita game will play Mount Si at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18 at Bellevue College, while Bellevue, the No. 1 boys seed, will take on the winner of the Sammamish/Liberty game.

Girls tournament

Mercer Island earned a bye in the first round after clinching the KingCo title, heading into the tournament as No. 1. They will play on Thursday night at Bellevue College at 8:15 p.m. against the winner of the Liberty/Mount Si game which takes place Tuesday night.

For the rest of the KingCo teams, Tuesday is the big day with Juanita hosting Interlake and Mount Si hosting Liberty. The winner of the Juanita/Interlake game will play Bellevue on Thursday evening.

Championship round

The KingCo tournament will finish up on Friday, Feb. 19 at Bellevue College. The 3rd/4th place boys game will be at 3 p.m. Friday, with the 3rd/4th girls tipping off at 4:45 p.m.

The boys championship will be at 6:30 p.m. and the girls is scheduled to start at 8:15 p.m.

Prices

Due to the fact this is a league tournament students will not be able to get into games free with their ASB cards (as they can throughout the regular season). Here’s the price breakdown from KingCo:

Adult/students without ASB       $6.00
Students (with ASB)                     $4.00
Children K-8                                  $4.00
Pre-school                                      N/C
Senior Citizens (60 yrs +)           $4.00

This is a little delayed, but between weird schedules, deadlines and the upcoming holidays (which always seem to send things into chaos) I guess better late than never!

Here are Gavin Cree’s thoughts on the last week of games, including the win over Juanita last Friday and the team’s loss to top ranked O’Dea at Bellevue College.

“I thought we got better this weekend. We defended very well in both contests. Against Juanita, I think our size was a little overwhelming for them to handle. With our length, we are able to contest shots really well – it is hard to shoot over us. We outrebounded them 42-16, which is the way it should be. We’ve still got to take better care of the basketball on the offensive end.”

He said O’Dea was a nice test for the Islanders. O’Dea is currently ranked 6th in the Reporter sportswriter’s basketball poll.

“O’Dea was a nice test for us. If we connect at the free throw line and block out down the stretch I think we win that game. O’Dea is one of the more athletic teams in our district, and we know that we can play with them. Despite the loss, I think our team gained a great deal of confidence from that game. Any time you hold your opponent to 43 points you expect to win the game. Right now our defense is ahead of our offense which isn’t unusual early in the year. We’ve got to develop a chemistry offensively which will come with time. There are a lot of guys out there without much experience, so we will keep getting better.”

The Islanders are 2-2 so far this season and will play Interlake tomorrow night (Friday, Dec. 18) with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

Just chatted with Mercer Island football coach Brett Ogata about last Friday’s win over Ingraham in the pouring rain. The Islanders earned their second win of the season 45-0 (click here for a full recap of the game).

Overall, he said it came down to the fact the team believed in itself.

“The kids played with a lot of confidence,” Ogata said. He said the defensive line had their best game of the season, keeping Ingraham from scoring all night. Ogata also said despite lots injuries on offensive line (and really just the team as a whole) the guys stepped up and made it happen.

This week the Islanders head to Sammamish for a KingCo basement showdown. Mercer Island football currently sits in the sixth spot in the KingCo league with a 0-4, 2-5 record while the Totems are 0-5, 1-6 this season. But Ogata said rather than focusing on Sammamish, Mercer Island is focused on what they need to do, as has been the trend all season.

“Really it’s about what we need to do to get better each week,” he said. “We worry about Mercer Island, not the other team and that’s how we’ll get to the highest potential for us.”

One thing this rebuilding year has shown, especially younger players, is that opportunities abound. The team has battled injuries and sickness throughout the season, along with many of the other teams at the school. But it’s been specifically hard on football as Ogata said the team lost “crucial players” to season-ending injuries.

“We have had a ton of them,” Ogata said of injuries to players. “A lot of younger players are hurt too, but the majority of the season ending injuries have been seniors.” Of that group of six who now find themselves stuck on the sidelines four are seniors, a junior and a sophomore.

After Sammamish on Friday night the Islanders will host Juanita in the last home game of the regular season. Ogata said mathematically the team is not slated to make the playoffs. He said if they had beat Mount Si there was a chance, but now it looks a lot less likely. After the Juanita game on Oct. 30, the Islanders will play a crossover game with one of the Metro 3A teams. Who exactly it will be depends partially on how the team plays this weekend and how the Metro league shakes out.

Ogata said the most likely scenarios for the crossover game are if the Islanders beat Sammamish, most likely they will play their last game away against the Metro #8 team OR if the Islanders lose Friday night to the Totem they would host the Metro #9 team on Nov. 6.

It all just depends on the numbers.