(WSHS mascot and band, drumming up school spirit)
Story and video by Randall G. Hauk
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Troy Lingle’s 21 points were enough to make him the high scorer for the West Seattle High School boys basketball team Friday night, but even with 15 of those points coming in the second half, the effort was not enough to avoid a third-straight loss for the Wildcats, who fell at home to the Nathan Hale HS Raiders.

Hale also won the girls’ varsity match preceding the boys’ varsity game.

After a travelling violation gave West Seattle the ball with 35 seconds remaining in regulation trailing 65-62, DeAndre Coulter and Lingle each missed 3-point attempts to tie the game.

With only four seconds remaining, LaTrey Newsome managed to deflect the Hale inbounds pass into the air and landing in the hot hands of Lingle, but the buzzer beater sailed wide, allowing the Raiders to escape with the victory.

“I had to chuck something up,” said Lingle of the last-second shot. “I looked at the clock ans know I just had to throw it up there.”

The white-hot shooting of Nathan Hale’s Gadisa Margarsa, who led all scorers with 34 points, continually threatened to tip the scales in the Raiders’ favor in a game that was close throughout, with several lead changes through the first three quarters of play.

The Raiders finally began to pull away in the fourth, scrapping to their largest lead of the night, 60-52, before Lingle delivered consecutive baskets to quickly cut the lead in half, setting the stage for the late-game drama.

Despite the late miss, Lingle remained upbeat about his team going forward.

“This was a big game that we lost today,” said Lingle upon reflection, “but I’m confident in myself, teammates, coaches, and the rest of our basketball staff to move forward and look to improve day in and day out and start winning ball games we need to win.”

Newsome continued his personal streak of double-digits scoring performances to 13 on the year, contributing 16 to the Wildcat cause. Vidal Griffin II tallied 11. DCoulter (6), Isaac Johnson (4), Jomar Rumbawa (2), and Spencer Elder (2) rounded out the scoring for West Seattle.

The Wildcats (2-6 in Metro, 6-7 overall) will hope to end their current slump when they head north to do battle with Lakeside (4-6, 8-6) Tuesday night. The Lions are currently on a four-game winning streak. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 in the Lakeside High School gymnasium.

Preceding the boys game, the West Seattle girls also matched up with Nathan Hale with similar results, falling 49-40 to the Lady Raiders.

The loss was a fourth consecutive for the Wildcat girls, dropping them to 1-7 in Metro play and 3-9 overall.

Gabby Flores led West Seattle with 11 points, while Roz Weeks was close behind with 10.

Annie Patnode (6), Haily Hage (5), Lindsey Hage (4), and Charli Elliott (4) also contributed to the points column. The Wildcats didn’t get many easy baskets, but in our clip, Hage managed to break away from all defenders to score two of her four points:

The Lady Wildcats’ next game is also at Lakeside, but they will wait until Wednesday to attempt to end their streak and get back in the winning column. The Lions hold a 7-3 Metro mark. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30.