Bellevue Falls Short in 3A State Title Game; Loses to Lakes

Nate Sikma scored 28 points, but the Bellevue High School boys basketball team could not overcome a huge rebounding disparity against Lakes High Schoool.

The Wolverines fell to Lakes 71-56 in the 3A boys state championship game of the Hardwood Classic on Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome.

Bellevue was out-rebounded 47-26 and gave up 23 second-chance points to the Lancers, who used a strong third quarter to pull away. Bellevue got within six points with under two minutes left, but Lakes iced the game at the free-throw line down the stretch.

"We fought hard, all season that's what we've been doing," Sikma said. "When it came down to it, they're a big team and they pounded us on the glass. I'm proud of our effort, they just played a little bit better than us today."

Sikma almost single-handedly kept Bellevue in the game. The senior, who also pulled down 10 rebounds, scored six points during a 57 second stretch in the fourth quarter, but had two shots rattle out late as Lakes closed the game on a 12-2 run.

"Besides not winning, that's the way to go out," Bellevue head coach Chris O'Connor said of Sikma. "He went out all out, gave a complete effort, scoring, rebounding, hustling, being a leader...he went out the right way."

The two teams battled closely over the first two-and-a-half quarters, before Lakes put together a 13-4 run to open up a 53-42 lead on Cedric Dozier's over-the-backboard shot to end the third quarter.

The Wolverines took control of the game early, building an 8-point lead in the second quarter after a slew of transition lay-ups. Bellevue seemed to take Lakes out of its offensive rhythm by using its zone to double-team Lancers big man Zach Banner. Banner finished with 15 points, but attempted only six shots in the game. 

But Lakes began to hit from outside midway through the second quarter and took a one-point halftime lead. Nate Guy led the Lancers with 22 points, including two big three-pointers during Lakes third quarter run. Lakes shot 43 percent from the field for the game, while Bellevue shot just 36 percent, including 27 percent in the second half.

"When we tried to pack it in a little bit in our zone to help our rebounding, they started hitting threes," O'Connor said. "[Lakes} is a heck of a team."

Bellevue's title run came as a pleasant surprise for a group that almost no one thought would be here at the start of the season. The Wolverines evolved during the year into a cohesive unit that relied heavily on its impressive transition game, despite playing a rotation of players that almost never ran more than six-deep.

"We came real far," O'Connor said. "What you saw at the end was a totally different team [than we started with]. It's a really close group, a bunch of kids of competed hard every night."

The state championship game appearance was the first in Bellevue High School basketball history and caps off a five-year run that has seen the Wolverines finish seventh or higher four different times, a feat that O'Connor said could not be understated.

"It speaks volumes about this program," O'Connor said of his teams run to the title game. "In my opinion, we're one of the best programs in the state the last five years."

Bellevue scoring: Locke 10...Ahrens 7...Van Ackeren 5...Richard 5...Walton 1...Sikma 28

Lakes scoring: Flamer 5...Holloway 2...McAllister 6...Guy 22...Dozier 2...Winston 19...Banner 15