Girls hoops fourth in Oregon

The Mercer Island High School girls basketball program finished the end of the academic year with a fourth-place finish at a prestigious off-season tournament.

The Mercer Island High School girls basketball program finished the end of the academic year with a fourth-place finish at a prestigious off-season tournament.

The Islander girls competed in the Class of the Field tournament, June 19-21, held each year in Oregon City, Ore.

Both the varsity and JV teams took fourth place in their respective brackets at one of the biggest high school team tournaments on the West Coast. The tournament featured a total of 64 top state finishers from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska.

The Islanders played five teams in total, each of which placed fourth or higher in its respective state tournaments last March. In the opening round, the Islanders avenged last year’s semi-final loss by beating Central Catholic of Oregon by over 40 points. The second round featured double-OT action, as the Islanders were saved from an early exit by Jae Shin’s half-court shot in the closing seconds of regulation.

Mercer Island cruised passed Juneau-Douglas of Alaska to earn a spot in the semi-finals, before losing to Jesuit of Oregon, 84-94. In what tournament organizers said was “one of the best [girls] basketball games seen in years,” Mercer Island’s Kate Dapron and Sarah Taylor battled inside on defense, while on offense the team combined for 18 three-pointers. But the Portland-area team’s combined height was a factor that the Islanders couldn’t overcome.

Mercer Island faced host 6A State Champs Oregon City in the consolation final for their last game, but the exhausted seven-player roster allowed the game to slip away in the closing minutes.

The JV team also finished the tournament with a record of 3-2, including a victory over a varsity level team.