DUVALL — The bad news for the Cedarcrest boys basketball team is

that the squad won only one Kingco 3A League game over the past two

seasons. The good news is that that one victory over Liberty two weeks

ago earned the Red Wolves an opportunity to play in the post season.

But wait. There’s more bad news. If Cedarcrest beat Liberty on

Tuesday night in a clash of 1-12 teams, the Red Wolves earn an opportunity to play

the Bellevue Wolverines in the opening round of the conference

tournament. That’s the same Bellevue team that scored 94 points on Cedarcrest in

only three-quarters of play last month.

“We beat them (Liberty) last time, so there is no reason why we can’t

do it again,” said Cedarcrest coach Ray LaBate. “I’d love a chance to

play Bellevue again. The more games we play, the better we’ll get.”

The Red Wolves backed into a chance to play for the fourth —

and final — playoff berth from the Kingco’s Valley Division by

dropping their final two league games last week.

Cedarcrest lost by 40 points to the playoff-bound Mount Si Wildcats

in a game played in Snoqualmie. Senior Michael Smith scored an even

dozen points and junior James Conrick scored 11 in the lopsided loss.

The Wildcats (See “Wildcats stumble.”) broke open a close game in the

second quarter by outscoring Cedarcrest by 19 points to take a 26-point lead

at intermission.

The effort Friday night was better, but the results were the same, as

the Red Wolves lost their 12th league game of the year at home

against Interlake, 69-53. Smith led the Wolves again with 16 points and 10

rebounds. This time the on-court help came in the form of 10 points and 10

rebounds from sophomore Kris Kracht, eight points from Morgan Henley and

seven from Conrick.

The Saints jumped out to an early nine-point lead and held on for a

six-point halftime advantage. But the second half eroded into an

offensive slugfest as Interlake built its lead

back into double-digits.

If the Wolves were victorious against Liberty on Tuesday, they

will begin play in the conference tournament Friday night against

Bellevue High at Bellevue Community College.