Skyline Spartans prevail in nail-biter against Mt. Si
The 3-0 Skyline Spartans secured their fourth win of the season with a narrow 62-58 victory against the 3-0 Mt. Si Wildcats Friday evening, allowing the Spartans to maintain their undefeated early-season record.
Although the opening tip-off seemed to give Skyline a straight path to the basket, a traveling turnover against the home team gave Wildcat Trevor Hennig the opportunity to put up the first point of the night. Feeling the early pressure, the Spartans quickly collected themselves to surpass the Wildcats with a series of two-pointers including multiple-bucket runs by Dylan Reilly and TJ Crandall. As a result, the quarter ended with a 26-11 Spartan advantage.
The Wildcats regrouped in the short break between quarters. The new strategy allowed Miles Heide and Bennett Olujic to sink several three-pointers keeping Mt. Si in the game. Despite back-and-forth full-court dashes, the Spartans responded and maintained their lead. By the end of the half, the Wildcats recovered significantly, but still fell short with a score of 38-30.
Several rebounds from both teams pointed to a tedious start to the third quarter, but the monotony broke when Hennig found his rhythm and sunk multiple three-pointers for the Wildcats. In dramatic fashion, a series of swift short passes between Olujic and Jake Bonnofsky and then to Heide led to an impressive slam dunk by Heide, rousing the crowd and giving Mt. Si a much-needed confidence boost. Despite the aggressive pursuit by the Wildcats slightly narrowing the divide, the Spartans were undaunted and maintained their stride with a 51-44 lead to end the third quarter.
As the Wildcats raced the clock in the final quarter, they managed to nearly even the score with just two minutes remaining due to a commanding performance from Hennig, which totaled 19 individual points for the night. With a tight score of 60-58 and tensions mounting, Mt. Si mistakenly fouled Reilly who proceeded to finish off the Wildcats with two free throws for a 62-58 Spartan victory.
Skyline maintained their win streak for a 4-0 undefeated record and handed Mt. Si its first loss of the season for a 3-1 record.
Skyline will play North Creek at North Creek on Jan. 3 at 7:15 p.m.
