Like its namesake, the Mount Si boys basketball team apparently

does not like being backed into a corner. The Wildcats won their fifth

consecutive loser-out contest on Saturday to place fifth in the state 3A

basketball championship tournament.

Senior Jason Arriaga ended his high school career with style,

leading his team with 20 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and three assists as

the KingCo school trounced North Thurston 62-50 to earn a trophy in

the consolation bracket of the state tournament. The Wildcats made the

most of their first trip to the state tournament since 1979, finishing the

season with a record of 19 wins versus 11 defeats.

Arriaga averaged 18 points and almost 11 rebounds in the four

game state finals.

Mount Si Coach Gerrick Phillips—who has known

Arriaga since the 6-4 forward was a fifth- grader—honored his graduating

senior for stepping up and leading the Wildcats through adversity. The

`Cats advanced to the state tournament by placing fourth in the KingCo

league tournament and sixth in the Sea-King District finals.

“This is really rewarding,” said a smiling Phillips after the final

victory. “This will do nothing but help the

program down the road.”

The coach said his four seniors—Arriaga, Chris Kaplan, Chris

Emerson and Ben Eaton—were rewarded for their dedication to the program

with some great memories from the state tournament this week at the

Seattle Center. The four have been playing together since the sixth grade.

Saturday’s victory was the team’s third consecutive win after losing

in the first round of the state tournament on Wednesday when the Lynden

Lions held off a ferocious comeback to beat the Wildcats 59-53.

Mount Si followed its second-half surge of the night with a 62-49

punishment of Franklin Pierce behind 30 points and eight rebounds

from Arriaga on Thursday. Friday afternoon Mount Si gave the Ellensburg

Bulldogs something to think about next time they come west of the

mountains, with a 51-42 drubbing in the consolation semifinals. Junior guard

Isaiah Cormier led the Wildcats in that game with 18 points and nine rebounds.

The three victories at state followed a similar pattern to the

Wildcats’ experience at the district-qualifying tournament a week

earlier. Mount Si held off elimination in the Sea-King District tournament

with two consecutive losers-out victories, including a dramatic win

over Kennedy to grab the sixth and final district berth at state.

For the first time in four games played at the Seattle Center,

the Snoqualmie team got off to a strong start on Saturday, pouncing on

the hapless Rams in the first quarter on Saturday morning, 15-6. The

quarter ended with a three-point tally by Sean Fallows that rattled in as the

buzzer sounded.

The two teams played fairly even in the second quarter and the

Wildcats held a 33-25 advantage after the first two quarters. Mount Si maintained

its margin after a defensive-oriented third quarter that saw each team score

only 10 points.

Mount Si never allowed North Thurston to get within nine points

and crushed any hope the Rams had of a late comeback by jumping out

quickly in the final stanza and cruising to a 12-point victory by outscoring the

Rams 19-15 the final eight minutes of the season.

Everybody played for Phillips’ team in the Wildcats’ final

victory. Kaplan finished with 11 points and Cormier had eight to go along with

his strong play-making abilities.

Junior guard Marc Dahm had 11, Fallows tallied eight and Mike

Dahm added three against North Thurston to further to Wildcat cause.

Mount Si’s miraculous effort helped erase a horrendous start

for KingCo teams at state. After the opening round of play on

Wednesday, KingCo teams were 0-5 as three girls’ teams and two boys’ teams

were forced to settle for playing in the the consolation bracket. The

conference was 0-7 midway through the tournament’s second day, but

rebounded to a 5-1 record from that point forward.

The second-ranked girls’ team from Bellevue also reached the

consolation finals on Saturday. The Wolverines placed fifth for the second

year in a row with a 54-41 win over Lakeside.

Last season Bellevue lost to West Valley of Yakima in the first round

of state play. They lost to the same school in the first round of play on

Wednesday.

Bellevue had been ranked No. 1 in the state going into state play.

The Wolverines defeated KingCo foe Liberty on Friday to qualify for the

consolation finals. The Bellevue team had no seniors on its roster.