SNOQUALMIE – The Mount Si Wildcat boys’ basketball team started off their three-game homestand last Monday on the right foot, surviving a strong performance from a Sammamish star to defeat the Totems.

Senior Thomas Bright scored 25 points, but it was not enough as the Wildcats rallied from behind to post a key 61-55 win. The win avenged last season’s loss to Sammamish at Mount Si that was likely the catalyst for the Totems’ dream run all the way to the Kingco 3A tournament championship game in February.

“It’s a really good win anytime in league, especially at home, you’ve got to take care of business. It was uglier than it should have been, I think. It was a kind of an up and down game, but we really made plays defensively when we needed to and I think that was the difference in the game,” said Mount Si coach Garrick Phillips.

Senior Erik Tierney scored 17 points to lead the Wildcats and junior Kevin Englund added 14 to pace Mount Si.

The key quarter was the final one as the Wildcats outscored Sammamish 17-9 to break open what had been a very tight, physical game throughout. Overall, referees issued a total of 40 fouls in the contest. All of Mount Si’s wins thus far have been close and Phillips said that this team is maturing as a result.

“We’re growing up in a hurry. In this young season, we’ve had a lot of close games and it’s forcing us to play situational down the stretch, and we did a great job again tonight,” Phillips said.

The Wildcats picked right up where they left off after the Sammamish game last Tuesday. They gave the Kingco 4A Eastlake Wolves all they could handle, forcing overtime before the fatigue of four games in six days set in and Mount Si fell to the boys from the Sammamish Plateau.

Eastlake outscored Mount Si 12-2 in the overtime frame and defeated the Wildcats with a score of 63-53, getting a 22-point effort from Jon Weber. The overtime thriller was the second straight non-league boys overtime affair at Mount Si; the first being the season-opening win over West Valley of Yakima earlier this month.

Wolves coach Rich Belcher was impressed with the preparation of the Wildcats.

“The Wildcats have played Thursday, Saturday morning, Monday and tonight. That’s a lot of games in a short period of time and we came in rested, and credit to them, they came out really strong,” he said. “This was a good test for us tonight. Garrick Phillips does an outstanding job with this team [Mount Si]. He’s one of the really good coaches in this area.”

Tierney forced the overtime with 20 seconds left when he was fouled on a shot attempt that went in the basket. He made the free throw for a three-point play, and the game went to overtime tied at 51-51 before the Wolves pulled away.

Keaton Hayenga added 13 points for Eastlake, while Englund scored 15 to lead Mount Si. Englund did not play in the overtime because he fouled out in the fourth quarter. Tierney and junior Kyle Meuli added a dozen points each to pace the Wildcats.

It was not a good night for the Wildcats last Friday as the shots simply were not falling in. Mount Si shot just under 25 percent from the floor in a 57-40 loss to the revitalized Interlake Saints. Junior Jimmy King scored 20 to lead Interlake.

“I just played really hard and drove to the hole pretty good,” King said.

Senior Bryce Brigham added 15 points to pace the Saints, who won both their league games last week after starting out 0-2 in Kingco 3A play.

Tierney finished with 16 points to lead Mount Si. Clearman scored nine points, but three of those came on what could have been the only positive thing the Wildcats had all night: a halftime buzzer-beating three-point shot from half court.

“Not much else you can do, and there’s only three seconds left, so I just let it fly,” Clearman said.

Going into the holiday break, Mount Si is 2-2 in league, tied for third with Interlake behind undefeated Issaquah and 3-1 Mercer Island.

Mount Si travels to San Diego for the Surf and Slam Holiday Tournament where the Wildcats will face Rhinelander from northern Wisconsin in their opener Dec. 27 at 10:30 a.m. Mount Si will also play Dec. 28 and 30 in the tournament at San Diego’s University City High School. Lake Washington, Mark Morris (Longview) and Kentwood are other Washington state teams in the Wildcats’ bracket.

The Wildcats face Mercer Island at home Jan. 4 to open the 2005 portion of their schedule. Game time is 7:30 p.m.