Girls beat Newport, qualify for districts

By Matt Phelps
Mercer Island Reporter

Twice during the regular season the Islander girls basketball team played Newport. Both times the team came away with the same result — close but no victory. Mercer Island faced Newport Wednesday at Sammamish High School during a loser-out game to qualify for the district tournament and reminded themselves that it is not how many times you lose but the timing of when you win that counts.

But the Islanders had to fight to extend their season, overcoming a 16 point second quarter deficit to defeat the Knights 49-44.

“This feels so good,” said Islander sophomore Janelle Chow, who scored 17 points. “It just feels good to beat them.”

Mercer Island started the game missing their first nine shots of the game. The team shot 2-for-15 from the floor during the first quarter, as Newport built a 23-7 lead. Nothing seemed to go through the net for the Islanders.

“I just kept thinking ‘why wont they fall, why wont they fall,’” said Mercer Island’s Georgia Gier, who led all scorers with 18 points, pulling down 15 rebounds. “We just had to work harder.”

That hard work cut the deficit to 12 points at the half but Mercer Island shot just 18.5 percent from the field during the first half, including 1-for-6 from beyond the arch.

“We knew we could beat them,” said Islander Amanda Nield. “We just had to keep going.”

Prescott said that she and the team stayed calm during halftime.

“I knew we were fine,” said Prescott. “We just had to make a few defensive adjustments. They were nervous during the first half — this is a young team. The shots had to bounce our way at some point.”

The Sammamish gymnasium was growing increasingly humid but not as hot as the Islanders were to start the third quarter as they scored the first 12 points of the half. The Islanders tied the game for the first time at 31-31, as Gier drove to the basket and scored despite being double-teamed. One player that came up big during the run was Holland Fleming who scored two crucial baskets, an assist and pulled down four defensive rebounds, preventing second chance points for Newport. The Knights finally scored their first basket of the third quarter at the 1:56 mark. The defensive adjustments made at half time made all the difference, allowing the Islanders to build a 42-35 lead to start the fourth quarter.

The Islanders took their biggest lead of the game at 46-38, but Newport came back, scoring six unanswered points. But three key free throws by Chow with less than 10 seconds left in the game gave the Islanders the win.

One of the biggest improvements for the Islanders was the free throw shooting of Gier, who was 8-for-8 from the stripe. The last time the two teams met Gier shot just 4-for-10 and had one game where she was 1-for-9 this season.

“It is the one thing that we have really worked hard on during the season,”said Prescott. “She worked on them six times during each practice this week.”

The win was one of the biggest for the program during the past five years and one of the biggest comebacks in the program’s history.

“I have never been to districts,” said Gier, who told the Reporter it was her goal to get her team to the district tournament at the start of the season. “It just feels so good to get there.”

Gier is the only senior on the Mercer Island team.

The team opened district play Tuesday (after Reporter deadline) at Mercer Island High School. The game schedule was determined before the start of the season but the game was the final home contest the Islanders will play this season. With a victory, Mercer Island will play at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Bellevue Community College. With a loss, the Islanders will play at 8:15 p.m. on Thursday at Ingraham High School.