Mercer
IsladREPORTER
A13 Wednesday, December 15, 2004
LOCAL
KNOWLEDGE!
Mercer Island
Real Estate
Tim Conway
206-954-2437
timc@johnlscott.com
3oh. L $co."
REAL ESTATE
Julie Pefia/Mercer Island Reporter
Islander Aaron Agnew struggles with a Liberty wrestler in the 130-pound weight division during the high school match at Mercer Island.
Wrestling upset by Liberty in first league meet of the year, 42-31
By Matt Phelps anyone behind," said Islander Kostya Kurland took an early 6-2 lead. His your first home meet. Liberty is rested at 27-4 and the Islanders
Mercer Island Reporter Pospelov. "We have to stay ag- opponent cut that lead to 10-7 by the usually good but we were expect- would need a miracle just to get
The Mercer Island wrestling gressive?' end of the second round. At the ing to win thi~ meet." back into the meet.
team's hopes of retaining its 2003- ' The 140-pound weight class be- 4:28 mark, Kurland's opponent The Islanmrs took a forfeit in The Islanders turned to their
2004 3A KingCo championship gan the night as the Islanders' Dan used a spin move to thrust the the 152-pound weight class, best state competitor from last sea-
took a blow Friday, as the team Rock smothered his Patriot oppo- Islander onto his shoulder blades Three Islanders fell in the 160- son, Jesse Johnson, to stop the hem-
w~ upset by Liberty 42-31. Despite nent, earning a major decision 13- for the pin. pound class. Junior Chris Baker orrhaging. Johnson grabbed six
almost erasing a 27-4 deficit, the 2. Rock came close to the pin dur- From there, the Islander pas- was pinned at the 4:50 marl Collin points for the Islanders by wrap-
Islanders could never get back with- ing the closing moments of the sions could not exceed Liberty's Sedlacek fell behind early, battled ping his opponent up tighter than a
in less than eight points of the match, but the fighting spirit that momentum, to a stalemate during the third pc- Christmas present at the 1:23 mark.
Patriots. Rock's opponent showed rever- "It wasn't about energy," said riod and eventually lost 8-2. But the win only got the Islanders
"This just shows that we have to berated throughout the Liberty Rock. "It was more about the little Freshman Chris Pothoven was over- within three pins of the lead.
work harder as a team and not leave team. mistakes and not keeping the pres- matched by his Patriot combatant,
At 145 pounds, Islander Akiva sure on. It is discouraging to lose getting pinned after 1:35. The score Please see Pinned on A14
By Matt Phelps
Mercer Island Reporter
The improvements of the girls
basketball team this year have only
been evident on the score board
once.
The team's Dec. 3 victory over
Juanita 45-39 is the only positive the
Islanders have had in the win col-
umn, but the improvements are
there: Crisp passes, more accurate
shooting and a higher intensity on
the court have given the Islanders
a new direction.
Despite giving up 36 flee throws
to Liberty at home Dec. 7, the
Islanders had three chances to tie the
game before losing 54-51.
"We are not used to the adren-
aline of the last-second shot," said
Mercer Island girls basketball head
coach Jamie Prescott. "If we give up
a half or a third of the free throws
we win the game"
Liberty made 25 free throws as
the Islanders had 13 fouls during the
first haft alone. Prescott screamed
"Quit fouling !" at her team dur-
ing the closing moments of the
half.
Rebekah Bartholomew of the
Patriots was fouled the most, as 17
of her game-high 22 points came
from the free-throw line.
"We need to work on moving
our feet more" said Prescott. "We
Julie Pefia/Mercer Island Reporter
Islander Georgia Gier (33) grabs a rebound from Liberty Jessie
Simons during the girls basketball game at Mercer Island on
Dec. 7.
play hard for 15 to 20 seconds and held a 31-26 lead at the half. Georgia
then stop moving our feet." Gier led the team with seven re-
But the damage had been done. bounds and Ellie Chapman could not
The Patriots scored 16 of their 26 miss from beyond the arc, as she
first-half points at the charity stripe, hit three three-point shots.
"We were really fired up dur- But the 14 minutes that Gier
ing the first half, maybe a little too spent on the floor would come back
fired up:' said Islander Jesse Paull. to haunt the Islanders during the
Despite the fouls, Mercer Island Please see Girls on A15
Shoe! up to the
mountains with you
This past Saturday morning I
was driving past TuUy's on the Island
when, "what to my wondering eyes
should appear?" I saw two young
women walking to their car, in one
hand was their "skinny double talls"
and in the other hand, snowshoes.
I know for a fact that is the first
time I've ever seen snowshoes out-
side of Tully's, or Starbucks for that
matter.
As they sped away, ostensibly
toward the mountains, I realized
they had a better plan for that day's
activities than did L You see, I had de-
cided not to go skiing because of
low snow coverage, but with snow-
shoeing they were going to find con-
ditions good enough to enjoy the
alpine environment. I wished right
then I had been invited!
Did you know that snowshoe-
ing has been the fastest growing
winter sport over the past five years?
As a low-impact and safe form of
exercise, it is ideal for anyone in-
terested in an aerobic workout com-
bining strength lraining with muscle
endurance. Research has shown that
during snowshoeing, you will burn
45 percent more calories than running
or walking at the same speed.
Moreover, the use of poles wilt get
the upper body moving as well as
your legs, so the overall condition-
ing benefit is very su'ong.
Simplicity is perhaps one of the
biggest draws to this sport. Because
snowshoes can be used in virtually
all snow conditions, everyone can
enjoy being outdoors. Even if the
weather isn't perfect. If you can walk
down the hall to your bedroom, then
you should
be able to
snowshoe; it
doesn't get
much more
simple than
that.
Nation-
wide, partic-
ipants walk,
hike, mn and j 0 H N
stroll in city
p onq -NAYE
et country
lanes, on
four-wheel
drive roads,
at Nordic
centers, and
increasingly at alpine ski areas.
Many Nordic ski centers will rent
you snowshoes and let you try it
out on designated trails. One such
place locally is the Steven's Pass
Nordic Center, located five miles
east of the mountain summit on
Highway 2.
The scenic trail system takes you
along the base of Jim Hill moun-
tain and into the heart of Mill Valley.
qqae center offers 28 ~ of l:er-
fectly groomed trails, which are
shared with cross country skiers.
The Cascade Depot, the on-site
Nordic lodge, offers rental equip-
ment, instruction, trail pass sales,
food and an accessory shop. This
facility is qzen Friday d-rough Sunday
9 a.m. to 4 p.m with expanded op-
erations during holidays. Call 206-
812-4510 for more information.
At Snoqualmie, they have snow-
Please see Naye on A14
By Matt Phelps
Mercer Island Reporter
~e ill effects of the Islander
,boys basketball team's
.1. last-second loss to start
the season have been nonexistent.
The team has bounced back with
three consecutive victories, led by
Alex Stuck who had a combined
33 points during the final two
games last week.
"I am happy with how the
kids have hung in there overall:'
said Mercer Island boys basket-
ball head coach Ed Pepple. "I
think they learned from that first
game and moved on."
The Islanders' highest-pro-
file game of the week came
against 4A power Bothell on
Saturday at Seattle Pacific
University. Mercer Island dis-
mantled its opponent with a 21-
6 fourth quarter to win 63-53.
"We started out like a house
fire during the first quarter," said
Pepple.
Stuck led the team through
the first eight minutes of play
with three three-pointers as the
Islanders took a 16-7 lead into
the second period of play. Bothell
matched Mercer Island's inten-
sity and put up 16 points during
the second quarter. Despite the of-
fensive onslaught by its oppo-
nents, a three-pointer by Islander
Tom O'Bara, just before the half
gave the team its nine-point lead
back.
But Bothell refused to give
in to the Islander mystique, scor-
ing 24 points during the third
period to take its first lead of the
game.
"They made a good run at
us, but the kids hung in there,"
said Pepple.
The Bothell lead was not for
lack of effort on the Islanders'
part. A loose ball rolled to mid-
court just after the third period be-
gan. Stuck, a 5-foot-11 guard,
dove for the ball and flicked it
ahead to teammate Carter Newhof
for an easy break-away lay-in.
"I am basically just more con-
fident and aggressive" said Stuck.
"I think everything is starting to
click."
Stuck scored a game-high 17
points for the Islanders during
the game.
"I think he was disappoint-
ed with how he played durin.g
the first two games" said Pepple.
"He has really stepped up of-
fensively."
Islander senior Noah Blakney
continued his torrid scoring with
15. Ryan Iani and Kael Kristof
had eight points each.
The Bothell lead extended
Please see Wins on A14
Thursday, December 16
7 p.m. Gymnastics at
Bellevue
7:30 p.m.
Boys swimming
at Sammamish
(Juanita pool)
7:30 p.m. Wrestling vs.
Bellevue
Friday, December 17
7:30 p.m. Boys basketball
vs. Sammamish
7:30 p.m. Girls basketbali
at Sammamish
Saturday, December 18
10 a.m.
Wrestling at
Lynnwood High
School
tournament
