They said they would bring it against Bellevue this year. And Friday night, they did.

Behind Jamie Mounger’s steal on Bellevue’s last possession, the Mercer Island girls basketball team stole a road victory from conference rivals Bellevue 50-49 Friday Jan. 10 at Bellevue High School. With the win, Mercer Island improved its record to 4-2 in the KingCo conference and 6-5 overall, tying the Wolverines for third place in the KingCo standings.

Despite trailing the Wolverines through three quarters, Mercer Island hung around and made it a competitive affair throughout. Bellevue led by only a basket at the end of the first quarter and took a 27-21 lead into halftime. Mercer Island turned up the offense in the second half, outscoring the Wolverines 16-15 in the third quarter and then pulling ahead in the fourth. And then, the Islanders turned to their defense for the game’s decisive play. Clinging to a one-point lead with Bellevue to inbound late in the fourth quarter, Mounger struck with a steal to secure the win for Mercer Island.

Jess Blakeslee led the Islanders in scoring with 13 points, while Taylor Krause had 12. Mounger, Rachel Tessem and Renae Tessem each contributed 6 points for Mercer Island.

Next up, Mercer Island will take on Interlake at 5:45 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13 at Mercer Island High School.