Coach Cree scores his 250th MIHS hoops victory
Published 5:30 pm Thursday, January 29, 2026
Gavin Cree nailed a major slam dunk in his head coaching career by amassing his 250th victory with the Mercer Island High School (MIHS) boys basketball squad on Jan. 19.
Cree achieved the epic milestone when his 3A Islanders defeated 2A Selah High School, 59-56, at the MLK Invitational at Renton High School. MIHS and Selah stand in fifth and fourth, respectively in the their classes, in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association RPI (rating percentage index) rankings at press time.
MIHS, which is 16-3 overall at press time and finished first at 11-1 in the KingCo Mountain Lake Division, will next tip off in the 3A KingCo tournament on Feb. 4.
Against Selah (then ranked No. 2 in one poll), MIHS finished the game on a 7-0 run that featured three steals and a Caden Conklin go-ahead 3-pointer with about 30 seconds remaining in the contest.
“I consider winning 250 games to be a recognition of our program and the people involved. It takes many dedicated assistant coaches, a supportive admin and some really great families and kids to have winning seasons year after year in a program like ours,” said Cree, who is in the midst of his 17th season as MIHS’s head coach. “I want to especially shout out the hard-working players who are the ones diving on the floor, boxing out, playing defense and working hard in the offseason.”
Cree’s top-notch assistant coaches are: Bernie Morris, Ethan Eason, Stacy Edwards, Shea Robinson and Jeremy Agtarap.
At the age of 27, Cree took the coaching reins from the legendary Ed Pepple, who is Washington’s all-time winningest coach with 952 victories. Cree played for Pepple and graduated from MIHS in 2000.
After losing five starters from last season’s squad, MIHS has put together an amazing season, Cree said.
“We had limited experience and offensive production returning. However, my staff and I continue to push our own development every offseason. A new system on both sides of the ball and some really unselfish, coachable and tough-minded kids has led to tremendous success so far,” said Cree, who is an assistant coach of the back-to-back state champion boys and girls cross country teams.
