(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)

An exciting season for the West Seattle High School boys’ basketball team ended tonight with a district-tournament loss to Bellevue HS at Bellevue College, 54-34. The low point total was the result of cold shooting as much as anything; though they played largely tight defense, Bellevue kept managing to find a hole in it, often with someone then sinking a 3-pointer from a corner unchallenged. The cheering section that had traveled across the lake didn’t have much to cheer after the first quarter.

The Wildcats led the Wolverines 11-9 going into the second quarter. First to score in the game was freshman #24 Chase Clifton, who led all WSHS scoring with 12 points.

Next was senior #13 Vlad Salaridze … and those were the only two Wildcats in double digits. Third in WSHS scoring was sophomore #1 Isaiah Watts, with four points.

One other complication – the refs were not shy about calling fouls, and Bellevue wound up with many foul shots. One West Seattle player, senior #15 Xavier Giomi, eveb fouled out, with three minutes left in the third quarter. Overall, it just wasn’t West Seattle’s night – with a 23-14 deficit at the half, and 39-27 after the third.

(Seniors #3 Sage Nelson and #2 Abdi Jama)

The Wildcats never gave up, but by the fourth quarter, Bellevue could afford to just keep running down the shot clock, and time finally ran out. The team finished with a 13-12 record in head coach Dan Kriiey‘s first season:

That included a 6-game win streak in December.