Bellevue Spoils Kangs’ Senior Night, Remains Undefeated in KingCo

Bellevue Spoils Kangs’ Senior Night, Remains Undefeated in KingCo
By Steven Dion

Winning league games on the road this time of the high school hoops season is a tall task. The Bellevue Wolverines (11-0 league, 14-2 overall) were set to face off against the Lake Washington Kangaroos (9-2, 12-4) on senior night. In order for BHS to pick up their fifth win away from Wolverine Way and stay unbeaten in KingCo play, they would need to weather the storm brought by the Kangs on Tuesday night.

The first quarter of this ball game was dominated by the visitors as Bellevue picked up a double digit lead after eight minutes of play. Their choice to play the Kangs man-to-man on the defensive side of the ball showcased their size advantage and led to numerous turnovers. Chris O’Connor’s Wolverines were lethal in transition early as precision passing primarily through junior guard Kyle Foreman led to scoring in bunches. LWHS coach Ryan Staudacher called a timeout after trailing 26-9 and was able to motivate his guys to go into halftime with a pulse. A much-needed 11-6 run to close the second quarter left the visitors leading by a dozen with much work needed by the Kangaroos to climb back into the contest.

Refusing to let this game spiral out of control, Lake Washington was motivated to close the gap in the final sixteen minutes of play. The Kangaroos were able to limit Bellevue to only 7 points in the third quarter, but failure to capitalize by scoring only 8 with such a sizable deficit hindered the comeback. A critical moment in the game was a blocking foul called on Jamal Muhammad with LWHS trailing by single digits. After two made free throws, the Bellevue lead was back to 11. In the final quarter, the Kangs would catch some fire from three point range as senior Jeffrey Staudacher brought his team within 7. However, a gutsy response by BHS junior K. Foreman in the form of a floater took the wind out of the home team’s sail. A putback and one by Dylan Foreman was the cherry on top for the Wolverines as the guests picked up a quality win by the final score of 53-41. Timely responses to LWHS runs shows that Bellevue will be a tough contender come postseason.

Top Performer:
Bellevue
Kyle Foreman-Bellevue-18 points (7/11 FG’s), 5 assists