Sammamish Boys Rally Past Mercer Island

Riding high in a , the took the home court on Tuesday night and looking to with the Sammamish Totems. But thanks to a never-say-die attitude, the Totems (10-4, 5-3 KingCo 3A/2A) prevented that sweep by scoring the final 11 points in a 52-47 come-from-behind victory.

Before tipoff, Sammamish head coach Wes Newton said, “they have one style, we have another. Hopefully ours will prevail.” Junior forward George Valle did his part to make sure the Totems' style prevailed, leading all scorers with 16 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds.

The Totems led by seven points after the first quarter, and Valle pushed the lead to nine when he intercepted a pass and took it for a layup halfway through the second quarter. The bucket made the score 21-12 but Mercer Island (11-3, 6-2) started a rally immediately after which was sparked by senior guard Derek Newhof’s first basket of the game. The Islanders cut the lead to just two points when junior forward Parker Scott hit a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down. The Islanders junior Sean Hughes drew a charge against Valle. Jeff Lindquist made a layup on the next possession and the teams broke for halftime in a 25-25 tie.

Mercer Island junior guard Sam Cohn hit a 3-pointer to begin the third quarter, during which the Islanders extended their lead to seven on a Newhof 3-pointer.

Mercer Island led by nine points when, with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Hughes drew a third charging call against Valle.

“That team is never out of it with the way they shoot the ball and their determination,” Islander head coach Gavin Cree said after the game. “George Valle fouled out and we thought the game was over.”

It wasn’t. In fact, the Islanders would not score again.

Sammamish began to rally, and when junior forward Jacob West hit a 3-pointer and captain Steve Perkins sank two free throws, Sammamish drew within one. Newton immediately called timeout.

“Believe in yourselves,” Newton said he told his team.

The players did. After the timeout, junior guard Sami Jarjour made a layup to give the Totems the lead. Following a Mercer Island turnover, John Steinberg hit a 3-pointer. The Totems finished on an 11-0 run.

Newhof led the Islanders with 15 points while Miller scored 13 and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Sammamish will face Interlake and the Islanders will host Bellevue on Friday night. Both games are scheduled to tipoff at 8 p.m.