Through two games, Mercer Island boys basketball coach Gavin Cree wanted to see more “personality” from his team, particularly on the boards. Chasing their first win, the team with the advantage on the glass in the Islanders’ first two games was the team that went on to win.

The trend continued Friday, but this time, in Mercer Island’s favor.

The Islanders beat the Stanwood Spartans 63-47 Friday at Mercer Island High School, getting its first win of the season. Outside the locker room after the game, the Islander coaching staff was thrilled with one stat: Mercer Island’s 42-19 rebounding edge over Stanwood.

“We were outrebounded our first two games,” Cree noted. “We weren’t going hard enough on the offensive end and we weren’t blocking out on the defensive end the last two games, and we changed that tonight.”

Mercer Island (1-2) certainly looked different from the outset, having much success early against the Spartans’ zone defense. The Islanders jumped out to a 17-2 first quarter lead and got nine first-quarter points from big man Andrew Pickles. Though Cree attributed the early offensive execution to the Islander defense creating turnovers.

“We decided to ramp up the pressure. We didn’t come out strong our first two games, so we wanted to get a personality to us early,” he said. “They’re a young team like we are, and we wanted to rattle them a little bit early if we could.”

The Spartans (3-2) managed to slowly close the gap after the first quarter, bringing the score within eight points near the end of the third quarter and trailed 50-43 after a basket from Carlton McDonald midway through the fourth. But a 3-point play from Emerson Schulz pushed the Islander lead back into double digits, as the Islanders finished the game with a 13-4 run.

Mercer Island saw four players reach double figures in scoring, with Andrew Pickles posting a game-high 18 points. Nick Taylor had 14, and Josh Stenberg and Emerson Schulz each contributed 10.

Next, Mercer Island will host the touring Australian prep basketball team Mornington Breakers at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13 at MIHS.