The Mercer Island girls basketball team rolled through the competition at the 2015 Surf ’N Slam Tournament, which took place Dec. 28-30 at Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego.

The Islanders went 3-0, winning each of their contests by double digits and defeating teams from California and British Columbia, before beating Seattle’s Lakeside 55-44 in the tournament final.

“I expected to do well, but you never really know when you [compete against] teams from Canada and California,” coach Gillian d’Hondt told the Reporter.

In the opener against California’s Davis Blue Devils, the Islanders (9-0, 3-0) stormed out to a 16-4 first-quarter advantage and led 32-8 at the half, en route to a 60-30 victory. Anna Luce registered a double-double in the win with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Mercer Island was off to another fast start in the semifinal round against Canada’s Riverside High School. The Islanders won 70-47, but also lost senior captain and second leading scorer Jess Blakeslee to a sprained ankle.

“It’s really unfortunate and upsetting,” d’Hondt said. “But we’re a team, that’s the beauty of a team sport. She can still lead from sidelines until she’s back.”

Blakeslee, Luce and Taylor Krause all reached double figures in scoring against Riverside, with 13, 12 and 14 points, respectively.

In the championship contest against Lakeside, the Islanders built an early 21-11 first-quarter lead, and though without Blakeslee, managed to stay in front to take the tournament title.

d’Hondt called the final game challenging for her team, but also a great experience to be in a close game against a tough opponent without one of their leaders.

“We can come on the road and play teams we don’t know a lot about and do what we do. If we go out there and take care of business, it doesn’t really matter who we’re playing. As along as they believe in the game plan and believe in each other, we can be champions.”

Mercer Island will return to KingCo competition against Sammamish (2-4, 0-2) at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6 at MIHS.