The winning streak still is completely intact for the Mercer Island Islanders boys basketball team.

The Islanders won their fifth consecutive game courtesy of a 63-46 triumph on the road against the Interlake Saints on Jan. 22 in Bellevue. Mercer Island improved its overall record to 13-4 with the win while Interlake dropped to 8-10 with the loss. Mercer Island led Interlake 23-4 at the end of the first quarter. Interlake didn’t record its first bucket of the game until sophomore Derek Kramer hit a lay-up with 2:12 remaining in the first period of play.

Mercer Island guard Nigel Seda, who scored a team-high 15 points, believes his team is clicking on all cylinders as the playoffs approach.

“We just trust each other, trust the plays, trust our coaches and trust the system. We were clearly the aggressors tonight,” Seda said. “It is good momentum for us but we just take everything one game at a time. This is a good win but it’s in the past now. We just got to stay focused.”

Mercer Island forward Adam Parker added 13 points as well in the win. Despite trailing by a staggering 19 points after the first eight minutes of the game, Interlake never folded. The Saints outscored the Islanders 42-40 in the final three quarters of the contest.

Mercer Island head coach Gavin Cree wasn’t surprised the Saints rallied.

“This was an up and coming Interlake team. They have that big sophomore inside (Derek Kramer scored eight points). He is scary and they have some good shooters on their team. We were not taking this lightly at all. I think that showed in the first quarter. The guys came out how we wanted to and they responded,” Cree said of his team. “It is a big road win. We got three games left in (3A KingCo) league play and we’re taking it one game at a time.”