MIHS girls basketball takes title in first home tournament

Recently, Mercer Island High School hosted its very first high school girls basketball tournament on the Island. The 2009 MIHS Summer on the Rock Tournament includes 21 teams. The MIHS varsity team beat Ballard and Gig Harbor on June 6 to take first in its pool. Mercer Island continues to work on developing a deep bench, which opposing teams are finding hard to match. Hannah Lilly had the hot-hand against Ballard, finishing the game with 30 points. Against Oak Harbor, it was Heidi Black and Jae Shin with 20 and 19 points, respectively.

On Sunday, June 7, the varsity squad had two big matchups against Skyline and its rival, Bellevue. Mercer Island played a solid defensive game against Skyline, with Kate Dapron and Sarah Taylor coming up big with rebounds and Ashleigh Diamond forcing a few turnovers. Mercer Island saw action from incoming freshman Kris Brackman, who ended the game as the second leading scorer with 11 points. The win over Skyline took the Islanders to the championship game against Bellevue. Always a tough opponent, Mercer Island worked hard to shut down the Wolverines. Lindsay Benster scored a basket right before the buzzer, finishing the game 52 to 41. Contributing help in the game were Junior Varsity players Patty Chew and Carly Andersen.

The MIHS JV team also competed, finishing the tournament 2 and 2. JV players were Maggie Paulich, Lindsey Benster, Sarah Marr, Marlo Cafarelli, Caroline Carfi, Savanna Reid, Patty Chew, Christina Williamson and Carly Andersen.

Comment on this story.