Class 3A boys basketball: No. 1 Bulldogs cut down Islanders by 10
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
TACOMA - On the eve of the Class 3A boys state basketball tournament, Mount Vernon's Scott Skjei allowed teammate Josh Reisman to give him a special haircut.
It's a two-layered crewcut, the same style worn by Mount Vernon's Mark Hendrickson in 1992 when the Bulldogs went undefeated and won the state title.
Skjei and teammates hope to do the same, and last night they cleared a major hurdle by beating Mercer Island 59-49 in a semifinal in the Tacoma Dome.
"We're on a mission," said point-guard and barber Reisman. "We know how it feels to lose."
Top-ranked Mount Vernon will play No. 2 Rainier Beach in tonight's 9 o'clock championship. Rainier Beach earned an impressive 73-52 semifinal victory over Stanwood last night.
The Bulldogs lost last year's title game to Seattle Prep, the team they dispatched in the quarterfinals Thursday.
Skjei thinks the haircut is working. At least it better be.
"I'm not doing this for looks," he said.
Mount Vernon never trailed last night but needed a spurt after MI closed to 37-36 on a three-point basket by sophomore Brandon Burmeister with 6:37 to play. The basket completed a streak in which Burmeister personally outscored the Skagit County team, 9-5.
The Bulldogs then went on a 6-0 run to rebuild the lead to 43-36 with 4:56 to play, but MI wasn't done. The Islanders closed to 43-40 with 3:30 left after the second of two baskets by Justin Waldie. Mount Vernon responded with a free throw by Reisman, a 6-footer who then made a put-back basket in traffic for a 46-40 lead.
MI never got closer than four points and the Bulldogs pulled away by sinking 8 of 11 free throws in the final minute.
The Islanders didn't shoot a free throw until the third quarter and made 4 of 9 for the night. Mount Vernon hit 20 of 29.
Mercer Island lost its most athletic player, Stanford football recruit Justin McCullum, when he was ejected for rough play on a layup attempt by Tyler Amaya with 36 seconds to play. McCullum led all rebounders with 11 boards.
Amaya led four Bulldogs in double figures with 17 points. Troy DeVries, who had been held to six points in the Bulldogs' first two tournament games, scored 14. Reisman scored 12 and Skjei 10. The only other Bulldog to score was the fifth starter, Chris Thompson, with six.
Waldie led MI with 15 points and Burmeister and McCullum each scored 11. Kevin Tempest, who scored 20 points in MI's opening two wins in the tournament, was held to four on 1-for-10 shooting.
Mercer Island Coach Ed Pepple, who was in pursuit of his fifth state title, praised the winners.
"We wanted to see how they (Mount Vernon) would respond to a team that wouldn't back down," Pepple said. "We brought out the best in them and their best was certainly good enough."
It was the fourth tournament meeting between the two basketball hotbeds and evened the March series at 2-2.
MOUNT VERNON -- Tyler Amaya 6-7 5-9 17, Josh Reisman 5-14 1-5 12, Scott Skjei 3-4 3-4 10, Troy DeVries 3-10 7-7 14, Chris Thompson 1-3 4-4 6, Kyle Kendrick 0-0 0-0 0, John Lee 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Roetcisoender 0-0 0-0 0, Eric Powell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-38 20-29 59.
MERCER ISLAND -- Justin McCullum 5-11 1-5 11, Justin Waldie 6-8 2-2 15, Kevin Tempest 1-10 1-2 4, Michael Huhs 1-3 0-0 2, Brandon Burmeister 5-10 0-0 11, Austin Yuen, Duke Biggers 3-5 0-0 6, Taj Matthews 0-2 0-0 0, Kevin Chirls 0-0 0-0 0, Blair Becker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 4-9 49.
Mount Vernon 16 10 9 24 - 59
Mercer Island 8 12 11 18 - 49
Three-point field goals -- Mount Vernon 3-14 (DeVries 1-5, Reisman 1-4 Skjei 1-2); Mercer Island (Matthews 0-1, Burmeister 1-3, McCullum 0-4, Waldie 1-1, Tempest 1-5). Fouled out -- Matthews (MI), Thompson (MV). Rebounds -- Mount Vernon 29 (Amaya 8, Skjei 8), Mercer Island 26 (McCullum 11). Assists -- Mercer Island 11 (McCullum 3, Waldie 3), Mount Vernon 7 (Kendrick 2). Total fouls -- Mercer Island 22, Mount Vernon 12.