3A Boys Basketball | Mercer Island falls, but Rainier Beach, Lakes avoid upsets

On a day when favorites Rainier Beach and Lakes advanced, Mercer Island belly-flopped after forgetting the first commandment of state-tournament basketball: Respect thy opponent.

Fourth-ranked Mercer Island was banished to the losers' bracket 60-42 by unranked Columbia River of Vancouver, with 6-foot-9 junior post Steven Bjornstad doing more than his share of the damage on the first day of the Class 3A boys tournament at KeyArena.

Bjornstad scored 18 points on 5-for-8 shooting, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked five shots in demonstrating why Washington and Washington State are among the schools interested in him.

Mercer Island coach Ed Pepple, at 75 the winningest coach in state history and making his 23rd trip to state, said his players confessed that they hadn't respected River.

"They came out cocky," said Pepple, who called the game "a bad dream."

Pepple said his players had "worked their tails off all year" with the goal of doing well at state "only to come out and not respect the team they were playing and be cocky. That's why I have no hair."

Two hours after MI fell in the tournament-rattling upset, the Islanders' mistake of taking a team lightly was cited in the halftime grilling Rainier Beach coach Mike Bethea delivered to his team.

Top-ranked Rainier Beach led outmanned Peninsula of Purdy 43-27 at the time, but the Vikings hardly looked invincible.

"It's almost like they need me to get on them," said Bethea, who accused his players of "lazy defense." He reminded them of the spanking the Islanders had absorbed.

Beach then went out and limited Peninsula to six points in each of the third and fourth quarters and won going away, 78-39.

Rainier Beach (26-1) and third-ranked Lakes (23-1) of Lakewood are in separate brackets and Lakes advanced by beating a solid Meadowdale of Lynnwood team 67-60.

The MI defeat was also cited by Lakes coach JoJo Rodriguez in his postgame remarks. Rainier Beach is considered the most talented team in the state.

"At this point, it's the best team for four days," Rodriguez said. "Mercer Island found that out."

Washington football recruit Kavario Middleton, a 6-6 forward, scored 20 points for Lakes and another future Husky, Jermaine Kearse, scored 12.

Middleton will try to keep Bjornstad from having another big game in today's 5:30 p.m. quarterfinal when Lakes and Columbia River collide at KeyArena. Another concern will be Columbia River junior Kyle Thurston, who scored a game-high 23 against MI and hit 5 of 6 three-point attempts.

Unranked Meadowdale cut Lakes' lead to 63-60 with 1:03 to play, but Rodriguez said he remembered the advice given to him long ago by his mentor, Al Hairston, who won five Class 4A titles at Garfield.

"Al always said, 'If you don't lose the lead, don't panic," Rodriguez said.

Lakes didn't.

The Meadowdale team that Lakes defeated had credentials that included beating Edmonds-Woodway twice during the regular season. Edmonds-Woodway finished seventh in last week's 4A tournament. Meadowdale's Evan Matteson hit 4 of 5 three-point attempts and led all scorers with 21.

Mercer Island's demotion to the consolation bracket was the talk of the day, but it wasn't the only upset. Auburn, which had been 22-0 and earned a No. 2 ranking, suffered its third loss in six days as 10th-ranked West Valley of Yakima beat the Trojans 58-48. Matt Borton scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Rams (20-6).

Columbia River entered the tournament with a 20-5 record but had finished fourth in its West Central/Southwest bidistrict tournament. The Islanders were 22-3 and their only in-state loss had been to Rainier Beach last Saturday at district after leading at halftime.

The Islanders went out and laid an egg in a game with a lot of strange stats.

Mercer Island had a dreadful shooting day, hitting 25 percent of its shots (16 for 63), including 4-for-24 accuracy on three-pointers.

Columbia River took only 23 shots but made 17 of them, an eyebrow-raising 73.9 percent. The Chieftains were 21 of 30 (70 percent) from the free-throw line, while MI was 6 of 9.

Pepple clearly stated the bottom line: "If you don't respect your opponent, what happened today is what happens to you.".

Columbia River students rubbed in the defeat that sent MI into the loser-out bracket, chanting, "Con-so-la-tion! Con-so-la-tion."

Day 1 produced a surprise performer as Seattle Prep junior Alex Cameron, who had 11 points all season, hit all three three-pointers he took and finished with 12 points in a 64-44 win over Renton.

"It's kind of a blur," Cameron said.

That's better than disappointment. Just ask the Islanders.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com