Through the early minutes of Seattle Prep’s district semifinal match against Mercer Island Thursday, it seemed as if the Panthers would cruise through to the title match. The Panthers dominated the Islanders in the first eight minutes, controlling the score and the game, advancing to a 21-10 lead over Mercer Island in the first quarter. But quickly, the domination of Seattle Prep stalled and the Islanders took over. Mercer Island won 57-45 for a spot at the district championship.

While Seattle Prep still lead 30-23 at the half, the Islanders were close enough to sense the change coming, and it did, in the third quarter. Mercer Island took the lead for the first time in the game halfway through the third quarter and never once slowed.

The Islanders ended the third quarter with a 41-34 lead, over a obviously frustrated Prep squad.

Kris Brackmann and Hailey Gullstad both had 17 points, while Jae Shin had 11 points. Sarah Taylor added eight and Carly Anderson had four. Seattle Prep’s Quinn Glosniak had 17 for the Panthers, followed by Kari Luttinen’s 12 points.

The Islanders will face undefeated Holy Names in the district championship game on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 8:15 p.m. The winner gets the No. 1 seed to state, while the loser will be No. 2.

The state tournament begins at regional sites next weekend.