Sea-King 3A Boys Basketball Roundup | Freshman keys Issaquah's late burst

Only a freshman, Issaquah's Aaron Bright played like a seasoned veteran Tuesday night.

Bright ignited Issaquah's 19-3 run to start the fourth quarter, helping the Eagles eliminate Newport 61-47 in a Sea-King 3A District boys basketball game at Ingraham High School.

Bright scored seven of his 16 points and added a pair of assists during the fourth-quarter run. Afterward, the only freshman on the Issaquah roster was all smiles.

"I just wanted to come in and give the team a spark," said Bright, who comes off the bench for the Eagles.

"I wanted to be aggressive and go to the hoop, and that's what I did."

Bright wasn't alone as junior guard Matt Lapasin led the Eagles with 18 points.

Issaquah (19-4) advanced to play Rainier Beach in a loser-out game at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Bellevue Community College. Newport (14-10) was eliminated.

Bright put the game on his shoulders with the score tied 42-42, giving Issaquah a lead with a reverse layup. Moments later, he hit a three-pointer, followed by a 10-foot runner as the Eagles' lead ballooned to 51-45.

Bright's performance was no shock, Issaquah coach Jeff Patrick said.

"It surprised me the first five times he did it, but it doesn't now," Patrick said.

Issaquah got off to a blazing start, connecting on 7 of 12 shots in the first quarter to take a 17-10 lead. Issaquah led by as many as 11 before Newport whittled away at the deficit.

Newport used a 10-0 run in the third quarter to take a 38-34 lead, its first since the opening minutes, but wasn't able to sustain the momentum.

Brandon Mezistrano led Newport with 19 points.

Other games

O'Dea 57, Seattle Prep 46 (semifinal)

Three good quarters and one sloppy one was enough for the second-ranked Irish to advance.

In a rematch of last year's state-title game, which Prep won 47-37, O'Dea built a 21-point lead after three quarters but scored only five points while making nine turnovers in the fourth quarter.

"We need to finish up the game. Those were probably the three best quarters we played all season, and then we didn't finish that fourth quarter. We'll fix that in practice [today] and get ready for Saturday," said senior guard Chris Banchero, who led the Irish (21-4) with 21 points.

O'Dea plays No. 1 Bainbridge for the district championship at 6 p.m. Saturday at BCC. Seattle Prep plays Bellevue at 2:30 p.m. Saturday for third and fourth places.

Seattle Prep had won eight in a row since back-to-back losses to O'Dea in January. Jack Hanley scored 16 for the Panthers (16-9).

Bainbridge 52, Bellevue 51, OT (semifinal)

At BCC, Caleb Davis scored a season-high 16 points and hit 3 of 4 free throws in the final 30 seconds of overtime as the top-ranked Spartans (21-3) survived a scare from No. 3 Bellevue (19-6).

Bainbridge led by four with 9.3 seconds remaining. Bellevue's Phillip Bach hit a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to make it 52-51.

Bellevue fouled before Bainbridge could inbound the ball, and after a missed free throw, Luke Sikma grabbed the rebound and nearly banked in a three-quarter-court shot for the Wolverines at the buzzer. Sikma had 18 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

Coby Gibler had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Steven Gray scored 11 for Bainbridge.

Cleveland 71, West Seattle 68 (loser out)

At Ingraham, Robert Niles scored 11 of his 33 in the decisive fourth quarter for Cleveland (15-10). West Seattle (9-16) took a 68-67 lead when Keenen Allen cut through three defenders for a layup. Malcholm Love led the Wildcats with 23. Cleveland plays Chief Sealth in a loser-out game at 3 p.m. Thursday at BCC.

Freelancer John Boyle contributed to this report.