Wildcats fall to Newport
The Mount Si JV boys’ basketball team had a tough time with Newport last week, losing 59-45. Sam Hunston led the effort with 12 points followed by Jake Handy with 10. Baker Borgen had eight points; David Wink had seven points; Blake Hepner had four points; Frank McLaughlin had two points; and Jacob Tweten had two points. Hunston also led in rebounds with nine.
Wildcats boys rebound
The Mount Si Wildcats boys basketball team rebounded from their stunning loss to Newport last Tuesday, and posted a key win over the Issaquah Eagles, which, along with a Knights win over Bellevue, put Mount Si up in first place in Kingco 3A by two games over the Eagles, Wolverines and Newport.
Kyle Meuli scored 15 and added nine rebounds as Mount Si outscored Issaquah 32-12 in the second and third quarters en- route to a 60-50 victory. The Wildcats’ defense forced 23 Eagles turnovers, and held Issaquah to just one three-pointer on 22 attempts; that lone three-pointer came with about a minute left in the contest.
Issaquah was also miserable from the free-throw line; they only went 5-for-20 from the stripe. Ralph Lewis scored 11 for the Eagles despite a poor 3-for-13 from the line; and Bryce Buslach came off the bench and also added 11 points, most of those in mop-up duty in the fourth quarter. Kevin Englund added 10 rebounds to help Mount Si.
Reserve Greg Beckmann, a senior who was a top player for the Wildcat boys’ tennis team last fall, was pleased with the outcome. “I think the main thing that we did tonight was play with a lot of heart and intensity. We didn’t necessarily play our best game, but we really worked hard and got it done in the end,” Beckmann said. Fellow reserve Nick Dietsch hadn’t seen much playing time, but got several quality minutes, and hit a critical three-pointer late, which launched the Wildcats down the stretch to the eventual victory. Dietsch understands his limited role and wants to be a team player. “I tried to pick up whoever I came in for, and I picked up for them and just tried to take care of business, and just help out defensively, and I’d do anything I can to help the team,” the senior said.
There is a plus to having depth. “When we bring guys off the bench, we’re getting better, because they’re coming in to replace guys that are tired, so that’s a big help,” said Mount Si coach Garrick Phillips. Mount Si hosts Sammamish Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Wildcat girls fall
Despite 14 points from Madison Yakaboski, the Issaquah Eagles made easy work of the Issaquah outscored Mount Si 38-23 in the second half and rolled to a 71-54 win over the Wildcats. Caitie Richards scored 16 points to lead the Wildcats. The Eagles’ solid defense forced 33 Mount Si turnovers.
The Wildcats host Liberty Wednesday, then travel to Sammamish Friday. The Patriots are coming off a mild upset loss to Mercer Island. Mount Si beat Liberty at Liberty earlier this season, 55-43. On Friday, the Totems will be looking for a much closer game than the last one they played against the Wildcats; at Mount Si earlier this season the Wildcats won 71-18.
Wildcats down Bellevue
The Mount Si varsity wrestling team continued its roll through the season with an absolute drubbing of Bellevue 74-6. They were only 10 points from a perfect match of 14 pins. As it was, the Wildcats recorded 10 pins, two decisions and one win by forfeit. Bellevue’s only points came on a forfeit by Mount Si at 119 pounds.
Starting the match was Jacob Lund at 130 pounds who pinned his Bellevue opponent 1:40 into the first round. Teammate Dallas Liebie followed suit at 135 pounds, pinning the Wolverines’ Matt Vestergen 1:16 into the first round.
Not to be outdone, the Wildcats’ Jordan Sypher pinned Bellevue’s Scott Monk only 42 seconds into his match at 140 pounds. Jay Dochnahl continued the onslaught at 145 pounds, pinning Alex Heijer 1:22 into the match.
At 152 pounds, the Wildcats Kenny Morrison pinned Danny Arnold at the 1:29 mark. Mount Si had started the match with five straight pins.
Mac Donnell faced one of the tougher Bellevue wrestlers in Kurtis Santillanes at 160 pounds. Donnell had four points coming out of the first round to Santillanes’ two. In the second round, Donnell scored five more and in the third round added another eight to win a major decision. Derek Hannaman also went the distance, defeating his opponent 12-0 for a major decision win at 171 pounds.
At 189 pounds, Seth Merritt found out quickly how strong Bellevue’s Connor Powell was. But late in the second round, Merritt maneuvered Powell for the pin at the 3:43 mark.
Dex Moutului won by forfeit for Mount Si at 21 pounds. Jeff Chapman dominated the Wolverines’ Matt Britten at 275 pounds but had trouble finishing for the pin. Finally, in the third round he pinned the Bellevue wrestler to give Mount Si a 56-0 lead.
From there the match moved to the lighter weight wrestlers. At 103 pounds, Ryan Makala made quick work of his Bellevue opponent, notching the pin at the 1:18 mark. At 112 pounds, Kyle Heath dominated the Wolverines’ Kosuke Sekiguchi, eventually pinning him at the 3:40 mark.
The Wildcats had a rare forfeit at 119 pounds and finally at 119 pounds, Joe Taklo pinned the Wolverines’ Alex Murphy at the 3:23 mark.
‘Cats fall to Issaquah
After winning three straight meets, the Mount Si gymnastics team fell to Issaquah 168.05 to 140.2. Despite the loss, the Wildcats showed tremendous strength against the former state championship team. Although the Wildcats did not place in the top three in any event, they did have some placers.
On the bars, Jill Buck placed eighth with a 6.90, Alisha Fischer placed ninth witha 6.75 and Erika Jensen placed 10th with a 6.50.
Brittany Cragin placed sixth in the vault with a score of 8.40, Buck placed eighth with a score of 8.050 and Sarah lewis placed ninth with a score of 7.950.
On the beam, Buck was the only one to place in the top 10, with a ninth place finish scoring a 7.10. On the floor, Cragin placed seventh with a score of 8.05 and Fischer placed eighth with a score of 7.35. For all-around, Cragin took seventh, Buck took eighth and Lewis took 10th.
