In a close, regular-season wrestling meet, the slightest mistake, movement of an arm or lifting of the head too high can mean the loss of a match, the meet or even a shot at the league championship. The Islanders capitalized on Skyline’s mistakes during two dramatic match victories Thursday to win their regular season opener in an upset 42-36.
Islander senior Georgia Gier opted out of playing her final season of volleyball to concentrate on basketball. Gier proved that she still knows how to give a thunderous spike, swatting a shot into the back court during the second quarter of the game Wednesday night against Mount Si. But the play was a microcosm within the game, as Gier was promptly called for traveling on the ensuing uncontested lay-up. The Islanders ultimately lost 55-41.
Mercer Island coach Don Papasedero is known for many things. He has been the Mercer Island High School girls golf head coach, assistant girls basketball head coach and a teacher at the high school.
With the increasing competition for college scholarships and athletic fame, the three-sport athlete at the high school level is becoming an endangered species. But one athlete at Mercer Island High School is on pace to earn her 12th varsity letter this spring, one for every season she has been an Islander.
Far from the glamour of LeMans and the pageantry of Indy, a thousand miles of “race track” snakes through dusty towns and endless stretches of nothing. This is the TECATE-Score Baja 1000 - a race disguised as a party in the desert of Baja, Mexico. For Indy 500 veteran and Island resident Dominic Dobson, it’s a very interesting couple of days at the office.
The Mercer Island football team recently had its awards banquet and the following awards were presented to the team members.
Nearly half of Mercer Island was still without power last week when the Islander boys swim team took on the swimmers from O’Dea High School at Mary Wayte Pool. But one sophomore, Beau Riebe, electrified swim and dive fans Thursday as he broke the 31-year-old school record for a six-dive meet.
The 2006 calendar year on Mercer Island was one of the more unusual sports years in recent memory. At the high school, the name Mahony meant greatness, an Islander went pro, two teams shocked the state by making it to the championship finals, and Island golf fans said good-bye to a good friend and coach. Other notable Island happenings included Mercer Island residents playing in the Super Bowl, an MIHS graduate going pro and the Rockers winning another title.
The year 2006 was one to remember for a young ski racer from Mercer Island, who is now taking the skills she acquired in the Cascade Mountains across the globe.
For the first time in five years the Mercer Island High School girls basketball team entered a tournament over winter break. The result was a third-place overall finish in its bracket, Georgia Gier setting a new school record for rebounds in a game, taking her game to the next level and the emergence of freshman guard Hannah Lilly, as she earned all-tournament honors.
There is nothing like a home-court advantage. That idea is taken to the extremes in high school basketball when the opponent has to travel 1,000 miles.
For most gymnastic teams in 3A KingCo the league schedule doesn’t really start until they face perennial powerhouse Issaquah. Both Mercer Island and Sammamish visited the team that has won the state title three of the past five years on Thursday, and both used the meet to measure where they stand.
What a difference a “year” makes.
The gymnasium at Newport High School Friday night felt more like a refrigerator than a basketball court thanks to on-going construction. But the Islanders were the ones who were cold on the hardwood this week as they dropped two in-league games.
Matt Schut’s jump shot following the opening tip between Mercer Island and Bellevue gave the Islanders a 2-0 lead. As a joke, the Mercer Island student body began chanting “It’s all over.” But the chant was prophetic as the Islander boys never trailed during the game, soundly defeating their biggest rival 47-36, and knocking the Wolverines out of the 3A KingCo title picture.
It wasn’t snowing in hell last Wednesday, but it was in Bellevue. The Mercer Island girls basketball game at Bellevue High School took place despite many school activities and game cancellations last week and the result was a rare Mercer Island 63-60 win over the Wolverines.
I dragged myself into work on Sunday afternoon. My heart was heavy from the Seahawks’ loss to the Bears, my mind full of “what ifs?” and my stomach full of pork rinds, spicy meatballs and bean dip. For some reason, close losses sometimes hurt more than a stomachache.
Senior Kristen Shibuya entered the Mercer Island High School gymnasium Thursday night, along with five other Islanders, for her final home meet of her career.
While the loss to Issaquah two weeks ago all but ended the Islanders’ shot at the 3A KingCo regular season title, the postseason tournaments still loom large and the team did a good job of getting back on track with a 45-30 victory over Bellevue Wednesday.
The Mercer Island boys swim team has dominated other Washington state teams for the past 14 months, including a 111-58 win over Bellevue Saturday at Mary Wayte Pool. The Islanders took it to another level Jan. 13 at the Albuquerque Academy Invitational, besting 14 other high school teams from the Western United States. The Islanders finished second to only the host team.
