The Mercer Island boys basketball team played the Wolves Eastlake High School Saturday, but it was the Islanders clawing their way to a heart-stopping 59-58 season-opening victory.

Mercer Island junior Matt Schut hit two clutch free throws with 11 seconds left in a roller coaster of a game.

“I just told him to make them,” joked Pepple of the tense final moments. “That was all I said. Words of wisdom, right?”

The win is No. 899 of Pepple’s career.

“I just wanted to concentrate and make both of them for my team since they fought so hard to win,” said Schut. “I also wanted to win it for my coach. We all have so much respect for him.”

The Islanders opened the game with a 7-2 run but turnovers and missed free throws hurt the team’s ability to put the Wolves away early.

Four turnovers in five possessions let Eastlake back into the game as it tied the contest at 15-15 at the end of the first quarter.

Turnovers, along with shooting 3-for-8 from the line by the Islanders, fed a 9-2 run for Eastlake as the second quarter began.

Mercer Island seemed unable to gain traction as the Wolves took a 24-17 lead. Mercer Island senior Trevor Fulp scored six of the Islanders final eight points of the half, bringing the his team back within a two-point margin heading into the half.

“Fulp kept us in the game during the first half,” said Pepple. “But I am proud of them. We played a good team tonight and they battled.”

Pepple was not happy with his team’s effort during the first half.

“He said we acted like we had never played before,” said Schut of Pepple’s halftime speech. “We needed to play less one-on-one and more of a team game.”

The Islanders spread the ball around during the opening minutes of the second half for an 8-2 run. But Eastlake would not go quietly, posting an 8-2 run of its own during the third period.

“We got into some foul trouble early, which caused some problems for us,” said Pepple. “We just had to tighten our defense.”

The Islander defense seemed to have no answer for the Wolves’ big man, Keaton Hayenga, who led all scorers with 26 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.

“We had problems with him all night,” said Pepple. “Luckily it didn’t hurt us in the end.”

A two-point edge was all the Islanders had heading into the final period before they again caught a spark. Islander junior Leroy Lutu picked his opponent’s pocket and ran the length of the court for a layup to bring the bench to its feet. But then Mercer Island let a 56-54 lead slip away during the final three minutes. After taking a one-point lead, the Wolves tried to hold the ball during the final 1:22 of the game and almost made it before a misjudged shot clanked off the rim and into Islander senior Kramer Aspiri’s hands. Schut was fouled on Mercer Island’s ensuing possession, ignored the screaming Eastlake fans, and made the two free throws to win the game.

Following the shots, Eastlake got possession but an errant shot clanked off the rim and Lutu grabbed the ball to seal the win.

Lutu (20) and Fulp (19) led the Islanders in scoring as Schut finished the contest with 12 points.

“Eastlake is a good 4A team, they play in a tougher conference than us and they are ranked,” said Schut. “It was a good way to start the season.”

The win is a far cry from the Islanders’ season-opening loss at home to 4A Lake Washington last year.

“It is important to get off to a good start,” said Pepple. “They proved they can play against a good team.”

Mercer Island opened its regular season 3A KingCo schedule by traveling to Mount Si Tuesday (after Reporter deadline) and will face Issaquah at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Mercer Island High School.