3A Boys Basketball | Sexton's late work pays off for Mercer Island

BELLEVUE — Late Monday night, hours after Mercer Island's practice ended and the team finished scouting Bellevue, Drew Sexton's phone rang. It was assistant coach Gavin Cree.

"Let's get some shots up," Cree said.

Homework could wait. Sexton, Cree and teammate Matt Schut opened the gym at 9:30 p.m. Sexton started with 50 shots — 25 inside, 25 outside. Then plenty of free throws. They turned the lights off at 10:30 p.m. but only after he sank 10 three-pointers.

Less than 24 hours later, in front of a packed crowd at Bellevue High School, the work paid off.

From his drive for Mercer Island's first basket, to his series of clutch three-pointers, to a pair of put-'em-away free throws in the final minute, Sexton lifted Mercer Island to a wire-to-wire, 63-51 boys basketball victory Tuesday night.

The senior's 24 points helped the fifth-ranked Islanders (10-2 overall, 8-0 KingCo 3A) take a two-game conference lead and sweep the sixth-ranked Wolverines for the first time since 2004.

"We wanted this one so badly," Sexton said.

How big was this game at Mercer Island? Sexton walked into school to most of the students wearing maroon and white, a uniform usually saved for Fridays. About 100 elbows — teachers' included — jabbed him between classes, each accompanied with a "Big game today." After second period, the Mercer Island drum line boomed through the hallways.

"The energy," Sexton said, "was awesome. We all had a good feeling about today."

Sexton felt it immediately on the Islanders' first possession, when he drove against Bellevue's star sophomore, Aaron Bright, for a layin. Sexton finished the first half with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

He survived a stray elbow to the face in the final minute of the third quarter, which ended with Mercer Island leading 38-36. He returned with a three-pointer to start the fourth, pushing the lead back to five.

Bellevue (10-2, 6-2), led by Bright's 16 points, stayed close until the final four minutes, when the Wolverines made only 1 of 5 free throws. Meanwhile, Mercer Island sank its final eight.

For the self-entitled worst player on the team in eighth grade — "the runt of the litter," as Ed Pepple, Mercer Island's colorful longtime coach, puts it — Sexton's 24 points were a lifetime high. He grew from 5 feet 6 as a freshman to 6-3 as a senior, but his game has grown even more.

"He probably worked harder than anyone this offseason," Pepple said. "He's really been a joy."