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December 10, 2014
Sports
SAMMAMISH REVIEW
Eastside Catholic snaps Bellevue’s 67-game win streak to capture Class 3A football title By Josh Liebeskind Seattle Times staff reporter
It started with a promise. Four years ago at an endof-season banquet, first-year Eastside Catholic football coach Jeremy Thielbahr promised a room full of freshmen a state title. Thielbahr fulfilled that promise Dec. 5, as No. 2 Eastside Catholic stunned No. 1 Bellevue, 35-13, to capture the Class 3A state title. The school’s first championship ended the
Wolverines’ run of six straight titles and stopped their staterecord 67-game winning streak. “I don’t make a lot of promises,” Thielbahr said. “I said, ‘Hey, I promise you’re going to win the state championship.’ Yesterday, I said, ‘Hey guys, juniors, sophomores, freshmen, you got to help me keep my promise.’ And I’ll tell you what, we did.” After losing in the last two championship games to Bellevue, everything Eastside Catholic did this year was to get
it ready for the state title game, one they anticipated would be against Bellevue. From scheduling a tough nonconference slate to implementing different offensive looks each week during the season, Eastside Catholic geared up. The final look was a Crusader team that depended heavily on running back/linebacker Brandon Wellington on both sides of the ball, but also one that gained contributions from nearly every player. “We believed in ourselves the
whole way,” Wellington said. “Nobody would believe in us, so we had to stay true to us. It makes it so much more sweeter.” Despite the heavy emphasis on a new-look offense that incorporated a nontraditional read-option and a wildcat formation, it was something out of the old pro-style playbook midway through the third quarter that changed the game. Harley Kirsch hit Devon Arbis-Jackson in stride on Bellevue’s 17-yard line. The
junior stopped on a dime, spun around and sprinted toward the end zone. Arbis-Jackson stiff-armed Bellevue linebacker Mustafa Branch at the 10 and dragged Bellevue players Ross Connors and Jack Michael the remaining 5 yards into the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown to give the Crusaders a 21-13 lead with 6:57 left in the quarter. “He makes my life so easy and I’m so thankful for him because … he can take it from See FOOTBALL, Page 11
Kangaroos leap past Eastlake boys, 57-49 By Neil Pierson npierson@ sammamishreview.com
By Greg Farrar
Eastlake High School senior point guard Jordan Lester finds a lot of interference in the key from Sahil Basra (left) and Abi Kameric, of Lake Washington, during the second quarter of a Dec. 2 basketball game. Lester led all scorers with 29 points in Eastlake’s 57-49 loss.
After replacing most of last season’s lineup and instituting a new system of basketball, coach Steve Kramer said he anticipated some bumps in the road for the Eastlake High School boys basketball team. The Wolves found that first pothole in their Dec. 2 season opener, dropping a 57-49 decision to visiting
Lake Washington in a nonleague outing. There was a lot to like about Eastlake’s first game under Kramer, who coached at Eastside Catholic from 2006-11. Senior point guard Jordan Lester led all scorers with 29 points, and the Wolves kept the game close with some tenacious defense. It wasn’t enough to win, however, as the Kangaroos — fifth-place finishers at last season’s Class 2A state tournament — made some
clutch shots in the final minutes to stay in front. “We have one returning starter, so a lot of these guys are getting their first taste of varsity basketball,” Kramer said. “So there’s a little bit of the deer in the headlights (look), kind of just getting used to it.” Lake Washington led by four points after three quarters, and appeared ready to pull away after Sam Linsky’s 3-point play See WOLVES, Page 11
Powerful Inglemoor steamrolls Skyline girls hoops team By Neil Pierson npierson@ sammamishreview.com
The deck was stacked against the Skyline High School girls basketball team in its first game of the 2014-15 season. Not only were the Spartans making their debut under new head coach Joe Fithian, but they also were facing a solid Inglemoor Vikings squad that placed fourth in the state last season. Throw in the experience factor — the Vikings are a seniorladen team, while the Spartans feature six freshmen and sophomores — and the chances for an upset were slim. But not even Fithian could predict the blowout that ensued
as Inglemoor rolled to a 70-17 victory in KingCo Conference action Dec. 5 in Kenmore. “I expected us to struggle,” Fithian admitted. “I didn’t expect us to struggle like this.” For all intents and purposes, the game was over after the first quarter when Inglemoor led 23-0. The Vikings finished the night with three double-digit scorers, shot 60 percent (27 of 45) from the field, and held the Spartans to five made field goals. Inglemoor played very well, but Fithian said the 53-point margin of victory was also due to Skyline’s poor play. “How many wide-open shots did we miss? How many layups did we miss?” he asked. “We had opportunities, and we’ve just got
to convert.” Inglemoor’s Jordana Price led all scorers with 19 points. Alex Hagen had 13 points, six rebounds and four assists, and 6-foot-4 post Deja Strother, a University of Washington commit, added 11 points, eight boards and three blocked shots. Strother proved to be an immediate game-changer, blocking two early shots and forcing the Spartans to turn almost exclusively to perimeter shots. Defensively, Skyline didn’t have anyone who could match up either. “We decided to front Deja, so what do they do? They throw it to the rim,” Fithian said. “I don’t have anybody on my team who can jump to the rim.”
The Spartans didn’t get on the scoreboard until Maddie Adamson sank a 3-pointer early in the second quarter. But Skyline missed its chance to trim the deficit by hitting only three of 12 free throws in the first half, and trailed 40-8 at halftime. Inglemoor opened the third quarter on a 14-0 run, and Skyline didn’t make a field goal, with Nicole Cox’s two free throws providing her team’s only points of the period. No Skyline player made more than one field goal, and Alicia Shim was the team’s high scorer with four points. Fithian’s high-energy system requires a deep bench, and most of the 13 players on the roster saw significant minutes against
Inglemoor. Freshmen Jade Loville and Julia Mitchell made their varsity debuts and had some bright moments. “I take full responsibility for this one,” Fithian said, “because it’s one of those things where they’re a brand-new team, and they may have played together before, but they haven’t played under my system. “On defense, we played it halfwell,” he added. “It was always one thing or another, where we were either playing really good ball pressure and not coming over from the weak side, or we came over from the weak side and didn’t get ball pressure. We just didn’t come together. Again, See SPARTANS, Page 11