Mount Si swings back-and-forth 4A KingCo Boys Basketball thriller in its favor

SNOQUALMIE, Wash. — More of these type of games over the next five weeks?

Yes, please.

Guard Hudson Moscrip’s short off-balance shot gave Mount Si the lead for good with 45.7 seconds remaining as the host third-ranked Wildcats grabbed a back-and-forth 67-63 victory over No. 5 Lake Washington on Saturday night.

There were three lead changes in the final two minutes as the Kangaroos erased a seven-point deficit. Lake Washington took its final lead, 63-62, on Hunter Phipps’ bucket with 1:04 remaining.

But Moscrip answered on the other end with a fall-back 6-footer. Cooper Hansen added to the Wildcats’ lead with a pair of free throws with 8.4 seconds to go.

Protecting a 66-63 lead, Mount Si chose to foul in the closing seconds. Matthew Adeeb missed the first free throw — and intentionally missed the second attempt to try to get the ball back. But Lattimore Ford rebounded it and was fouled with less than a second remaining.

“We knew it was going to be a great atmosphere for everybody,” Mount Si coach Jason Griffith said. “We know we will see them down the road.”

Ford led Mount Si with 15 points. Phipps led all scorers with 23 points for the Kangaroos.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

LONG ROTATION GIVES MOUNT SI OPTIONS

With Ford now back after nearly a year off from a serious knee injury, Mount Si is rotating as many as 10 players in a game.

“I’ve never played 10 in my coaching career,” Griffith said. “And that is where we are at right now.”

Who gets the bulk of the playing time? That might opponent-specific, as was the case Saturday.

In a perfect world, Mount Si would prefer to maul teams with its size and strength, notably with Liam Heide (6-foot-10), Marcus Heide (6-6) and Drenden Knaveelsrud in the frontcourt.

Against Lake Washington’s smooth and flashy guards, Griffith opted for a smaller lineup, especially in the closing minutes, playing point guards Chase Mentink and Moscrip alongside each other.

The smaller lineup created just enough havoc to disrupt key Lake Washington possessions in the final 60 seconds.

“We tell the kids every day, if we can expose teams with our size, we will. If it gets flipped the other way and we are playing a smaller team where we have a hard time matching up, we will go smaller,” Griffith said. “We went smaller and started switching, and did a good job.”

MOSCRIP CLUTCH IN FINAL MINUTE

More often that not, with the game on the line, Mount Si will feature senior Brady Hennig, who will be off to Boise State in a few months.

But with the 6-7 guard sick in bed all week, and playing limited minutes Saturday, Griffith called upon another senior — Moscrip.

And he delivered in a big way as both of his baskets gave his team the lead.

The first one with 1:38 to go, he came off a high ball screen and jetted down the right side of the lane. Ford found him, and Moscrip banked in a contested layup for a 62-61 Wildcats’ lead.

“I thought I executed it perfectly,” Moscrip said. “I went off two feet. They were taking charges all day, so I had to finish with contact.”

The second one, which gave the Wildcats the lead for good, Moscrip was fed along the left baseline. He leaned back and sank a difficult fadeaway from underneath the hoop with 45.7 seconds to go.

“We have that confidence in Hunter,” Griffith said.

KEY LATE LAKE WASHINGTON POSSESSION OUT OF SORTS

With 30 seconds remaining, and his Kangaroos trailing 64-63, coach Ryan Staudacher knew this was likely the possession that would determine the outcome.

He called two timeouts to study Mount Si’s defensive approach and come up with a counter move.

But Lake Washington just couldn’t find the right play.

In the end, against good Mount Si defensive pressure, point guard Jayden Hunt threw a hurried across-the-baseline pass to Mateo Cummings in the final seconds of the shot clock. Cummings’ long 3-point attempt nearly banked in, but the Wildcats collected the rebound.

“You are in a tough spot down there on the baseline, and we tried to run something, and we didn’t execute it great,” Staudacher said. “They are big and physical, so it is hard to get anything inside.”

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