(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
9:24 PM SATURDAY: We’re at Eastside Catholic, where the West Seattle High School boys’ basketball season just ended with a 79-56 loss in a loser-out district playoff game. Photos and summary later.

ADDED SUNDAY MORNING: For one, sophomore star Nate Pryor (#1, above) took a while to get up to speed:

He finished as the Wildcats’ leading scorer, as usual, with 21, but none of those points came in the first quarter.

The Crusaders scored first, a minute and a half in, and aside from the tie that ensued when Carter Golgart (#24, above) followed with a bucket, they never lost the lead.

Eastside Catholic got showy with dunks and three-pointers, steadily widening its lead. While they were only ahead by four at the end of the first quarter, 15-11, that was up to 10 at halftime, 35-25.

West Seattle’s lone senior starter Andre Moore was responsible for 10 of those points, finishing the game as WSHS’s second-leading scorer, with 15. He and his teammates had to just power through the taller Crusaders’ defense, seldom an easy task (that’s #3, Tyler Lenzie, below).

Sophomore Akili Kasim (#32, below) got four of his six points in the first quarter.

The Wildcats’ rebounding wasn’t a strong spot on the night, and that was dangerous given the Crusaders’ strength with outside shooting.

In the second half, West Seattle came out fighting.

Chaaka Trahan (#4, above) was fouled early on and nailed both shots to bring the Eastside Catholic lead down to 8. It was down to 7 after a Moore three-pointer a short time later, but that’s as close as the Wildcats got, though the Crusaders didn’t start pulling away until late in the third quarter, which ended 56-42.

West Seattle stepped up their defense in the fourth but Eastside dominated in rebounds and just kept converting. Midway through the fourth, their lead was up to 21, and it expanded a bit more before the final buzzer sounded at 79-56, ending a West Seattle season that will nonetheless be remembered for highlights including beating O’Dea for the first time since 2008.

Head coach Keffrey Fazio (above) is losing only one starter (Moore), so there’s a lot to build on for next year.