In their second league basketball game of the season, the Mercer Island boys fell 72-69 to Sammamish in a tight game.

During the win, Totems’ George Valle posted 32 points for the team, with two other players earning more than 10 points.

The teams were tied after the first quarter with a 19-19 deadlock. The Islanders used their home court advantage to earn the lead at the half with a 34-31 game.

Sammamish tried to even things out in the third quarter, keeping the score within two points for a 48-46 game with one quarter left to play. A big fourth quarter, in which saw many fouls, gave the Totems the edge, earning 26 points to the Islanders 21.

During the game for Sammamish Dakota Olsen had 21 points, while John Steinberg added 12. For Mercer Island Brian Miller had 17 points, Sam Cohn earned 15, Kaleb Warner put up 12 and Sean Hughes had 11. Joe Rasmussen had six points before fouling out late in the game, and Nick Nordale added five.