What a difference a “year” makes.

On the last day of 2006, the Mercer Island boys basketball team was gearing up for the meaty part of the season after losing to Atascadero High School during the championship game of a California tournament.

The 3A KingCo league looked to be setting up with unbeaten Bellevue Wolverines, ranked as high as third in the state in some polls, on top and everyone else fighting for second place. And the Islanders had already lost to Issaquah.

But Bellevue lost twice last week, first to Newport on a last-second shot and then to Issaquah in overtime. Those two games, along with two big wins, allowed the Islanders to jump into second place in 3A KingCo.

“We just play hard and never give up,” said Islander Matt Schut. “This team never stops fighting.”

Mercer Island earned a big victory Friday as they beat Newport 61-52, which was coming off a huge victory over the Wolverines, handing their rivals from across the water their first in-league loss of the season.

The Islanders continue to spread the ball around, with four players scoring nine points or more. Mercer Island began the game with a modest 15-10 lead after one quarter of play but did nearly the same job during the second quarter to extend their lead to 30-21. The lead grew to 12 points after three quarters as the home team held on for the victory. Mercer Island held the Knights big shooter Brandon Mezistrano to just eight points and Richard Woodworth to 13 during the game. Matt Winter, who put up 27 against Sammamish earlier this season had just one point.

“We can still play better on defense,” said Islander Sam Rasmussen. “Our team is just incredible with chemistry.”

Islander Leroy Lutu led all scorers with 17 points, while senior Trevor Fulp scored 14. Both Rasmussen and Kramer Aspiri put up nine points.

The Islanders started the week with the league’s enigma — Skyline. The Spartans played the last two seasons at the 4A level with some success. But Mercer Island welcomed the team back to 3A KingCo with a 58-43 rout.

Mercer Island went on the attack from the opening tip with an 11-0 run to start the game. Matt Schut led the charge, scorching Skyline for seven first-quarter points.

“We really prepared for their defense and took away their offensive threats,” said Schut.

The Islanders stumbled during the second quarter, at one point turning the ball over four consecutive times, but it took until the final 1:30 of the half for the Spartans to make any head way on the scoreboard. Mercer Island maintained a 26-20 lead to start the third period.

Mercer Island got back to ball distribution and took control of the game during the third period.

“We need to get a good push after half time more often,” said Fulp. “We don’t always get that.”

Lutu stepped to the free-throw line with the Islanders up by eight points half way through the quarter. He missed both shots but on the ensuing scramble for the rebound, Lutu jumped past all the defenders, grabbed the ball and put it back for the bucket. After a turnover, Fulp scored two points of his own, giving the Islanders a 32-20 lead. Mercer Island never looked back and expanded their lead during the final 11 minutes of the game.

The Islanders’ standing as second in KingCo will be tested through January as the team will have two makeup games this month thanks to the storms in December that canceled school.

“We need to practice hard this month but take care of ourselves,” said Schut. “We can’t get too banged up.”

Mercer Island faced Bellevue Tuesday (after Reporter deadline) and will travel to Sammamish on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. tip off.

“We need to come out with a lot of intensity (this) week,” said Rasmussen.