This was just passed along to me from MIHS Athletic coordinator Ann Meisner about Friday’s dedication of the MI gym to former boys head coach Ed Pepple. On the night the Islanders host league rival Bellevue the community is going to get a chance to say thanks for Pepple’s many years of service.

The school is expecting the gym to be standing room only for the event, which will take place between the girls and boys varsity games Friday night. The girls tip off at 6:30 p.m. and sometime likely between 7:50 and 8:15 p.m. the ceremony will start, which Meisner said they expect to last 15 to 20 minutes.

The presentation is going to include Pete Nordstrom, of the Mercer Island basketball alumni group, Gary Plano, MISD’s superintendent, Janet Frohnmayer, MISD board member, Craig Olson, MIHS athletic director and Pepple. During the ceremony the gym will be dedicated and a plaque will be present to Pepple.

Following the ceremony the varsity boys teams will have 15 minutes of warm up in the main gym and approximately between 8:25 and 8:45 p.m. the boys game will start.

Because the school is expecting so many people there will be two ticket selling stations for the evening and those who plan to attend either the games or the ceremony are encouraged to arrive early and plan for a crowd. There is no pre-sale of tickets for the evening. Parking is available at any of the high school lots, as well as parking in the neighborhood around the high school.

Meisner also said the concession stand (featuring pizza, soda, water and snacks) will open at 5:30 p.m., but that only water is allowed in the gym, so tables and chairs will be available in the commons for people to eat.

Should make for not only a good night of basketball, but a great chance to see the school and community thank Pepple for all his work.

Here’s some notes on last night’s losses for Mercer Island against 4A Issaquah:

Girls basketball – assistant coach Beth Christofferson

On game standouts: Sarah Taylor is a fighter. She walked away with a mild concussion after an elbow to the head. She’s a battler.

Christofferson said Taylor’s concussion is very mild and she will likely only miss two or three days as a result.

Kate DaPron did not play last night and as a result the girls had some rebounding trouble, but Christofferson said they will be working on it and did come out stronger in the second half of the game.

Boys basketball – head coach Gavin Cree

On the team’s first official game with the 35 second shot clock. The Islanders never ran out of time, but Issaquah did at one point in the game.

We’ve spent a little bit of time with it, but not too much. To be honest, 35 seconds is a long time. We’ve played with it on trips to California many times. The shot clock has it’s biggest impact at the end of the game. In the past, teams have stalled when they have a lead. Now, coaches and players have to take the shot clock into consideration. We’ve talked most about using our defense to run down the clock for the opposing team.

On nerves: I really didn’t feel any nerves. I felt some adrenaline with the band and the fans there. We have such a great high school basketball atmosphere at Mercer Island. We remind our players to be thankful for that. As a player I think you are always anxious to tip-off and get started. I think our guys were a little tight, but I don’t think it was a big factor. As I’ve said before, it’s a long season. One of our focuses this year is moving to the “next play.” We’ve got to learn from this one and flush it away. I think we understand what we need to work on in order to be at our best later in the year.

See next week’s print edition for a full review of the game against Issaquah.

The march to state continues this week and next for many teams in the area. Many of Mercer Island’s fall sports are finished (boys golf, volleyball, football, water polo, cross country), but a couple will continue through this weekend, and depending on the success they have, possibly next weekend.

The MIHS girls volleyball team fell to Mount Si during the district tournament last weekend, but because state volleyball takes place this weekend in Kennewick, hears a quick look at how the coaches association ranked the top 8 3A teams.

Volleyball Coaches Association Class 3A rankings

1. Camas 2. Seattle Prep 3. Mount Spokane 4. Capital (Olympia) 5. Timberline (Lacey) 6. Bishop Blanchet (Seattle) 7. Lakes (Lakewood) 8. West Valley (Yakima)

The Islanders soccer team is still alive in the hunt for some state hardware. Last night the team took down Auburn Mountainview in the first round. They next play Glacier Peak, a state favorite this season. To watch the complete 3A girls soccer bracket visit the WIAA’s bracket or the WIAA state soccer tournament page.

In Northwest swimming action the Mercer Island girls team heads to Federal Way this weekend for the state tournament. Last year the girls finished third overall, and after sweeping KingCo and Districts this year it’s anyones guess how high the team could finish. The prelims begin Friday for the 3A event with the finals on Saturday. To get more info on the state swimming schedule check out the WIAA’s state swimming page.

I wasn’t able to get these stats before the paper was finished this week, so here’s an update with more specifics from the Islander’s loss last Thursday. This week they are preparing to face off against Interlake at home. Kick off is scheduled at 7 p.m.
Thursday’s final score was 51-13, with sophomore quarterback Jeff Lindquist making a 2-yard sprint in the second quarter, after the Islanders gave up 23 unanswered points in the first 12 minutes. Kicker Alex Wood made a solid kick to give Mercer Island 7 points, against Liberty’s 14 in the second quarter. Wood punted for 112-yards during four kicks for the team.
The next Mercer Island end zone appearance wasn’t until the third quarter when senior captain Kurtis Rosengreen made an 81-yard trip down the side of the field.
Throughout the night the Islanders had 50 passing yards overall and 156 rushing yards during the loss. The team had two penalties resulting in 10 yards.
Three Islanders were responsible for seven solo tackles during the game, David Kuhn, Trevor Reed and Greg Williams each also assisted on a tackle. Junior Ben Emanuels had six solo tackles and three assists. Sophomore Phil Frazier sacked Liberty’s quarterback resulting in a Patriots loss of 6-yards.
Currently, the Islanders are 1-2 in the season and 0-1 in the league. As of Tuesday morning the team sits in fifth place in the KingCo league. Interlake is at the top of the league with a 4-0 non-league record, after beating Hazen and Yelm in non-league games. The team also picked up an easy win after Ingraham forfeited the first game of the season. Interlake won their first league game of the season with a 50-28 win over Mount Si.