MIHS girls basketball team forms tight bonds during solid season

Published 7:30 pm Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Ariel Sciammas is thankful to serve as head coach of the Mercer Island High School (MIHS) girls basketball team during what he calls an amazing ride this season.

Three days after the Islanders ended their season one win short of qualifying for the 3A state tournament, the second-year MIHS head coach said that it’s unfortunate that this year’s hoops campaign is over.

Sciammas quickly turns the conversation into one of positives and growth that the Islanders achieved as not only players but people during their regular season and playoff runs through KingCo and district. The team finished its season 19-7 overall, took second in the 3A KingCo tournament and made it to the final day of the 3A District 2 tourney.

Following the team’s season-ending 56-48 loss to Bishop Blanchet on Feb. 21, Sciammas told the girls that the moment is hard and it hurts.

“But don’t let that diminish all of the positives you guys had,” said Sciammas, adding that the Islanders set and notched a host of their goals this season. These included competing in every game and bringing joy to the court, making it to the 3A KingCo championship game (they lost to Bellevue, 74-34, on Feb. 11) and winning the KingCo Mountain Division (they tied with 4A Skyline for first with 10-2 records).

At the KingCo tourney, MIHS beat Interlake, 71-45, and Liberty (Renton), 51-38, and qualified for district. After losing to Lakeside (Seattle), 65-64, to tip off the district tourney, MIHS downed Liberty (Renton) again, 55-45, to set up the Bishop Blanchet winner-to-state, loser-out contest.

While MIHS worked on its skills and playing as a team, the girls also focused on the mental and emotional side of basketball while creating a sisterhood, according to the coach.

Sciammas said it was all about, “Playing for each other and handling stressful situations, and the girls showed so much growth in those moments.” The coach added that a great example of the Islanders flourishing came during the second half of the Liberty loser-out district game. The teams were tied at halftime and MIHS rose to the occasion by playing hard and winning by 10.

Senior captain Anna Mock said that beating Liberty at districts was an exciting experience for the Islanders.

The four-year Islander starter worked hard every single day to hold players to a high standard.

“(I) never let my performance drop. I’d always bring as much energy as I could and welcome everyone as much as I could,” Mock said. “It just came from, honestly, the bonding and the connections of the team.”

Added junior captain and two-year varsity player Sam Campbell: “To me, this season was so special because of how close we all have gotten. Compared to other teams, there was only a few of us, so we all had to work twice as hard to get where we did. Especially with our five seniors, we all wanted to get as far as we could go and put in the work every day for each other.”

Campbell loved big-game preparation with intense practices and locker rooms filled with energy and excitement. During her high school seasons, she’s learned about perseverance and dedication from the upperclassmen and coaches and noted that those qualities are valuable on and off the court.

Mock said the MIHS girls basketball family was built on team members supporting each other and buying in to what the squad aimed to achieve.

“Now I feel like I can count on these girls that I’ve played with the past four years. Probably the most important thing to me was just the friendships and connections I made,” Mock said. “I still remember the seniors from when I was a freshman. And that was sort of the impact I wanted to have, leaving and being a senior this year was to make sure I could be someone that would be remembered in a positive light as someone who was inclusive and joyful and always put my best foot forward.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Sophomore Izzy Russell led the squad with an average of 15.5 points a game, followed by Mock with 14.3 and sophomore Dillyn Prescott with 7.4. Campbell led the way with an average of 9.3 rebounds per game, followed by Russell with 5.2 and sophomore Olivia Simpson with 4.1. In the assists-per-game and steals-per-game realms, Russell led the team with averages of 3.6 and 4.3, respectively. On the field-goal percentage front, Russell led MIHS with 44% and Mock had 37%.