Congratulations to the West Seattle High School boys’ basketball team for their strong season, which ended tonight at Bellevue College.

(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)

In their first game of this year’s state tournament, the Wildcats fell to North Thurston, 51-34. Half their points came in the final quarter, but they started connecting too late, including this defiant dunk by #23, sophomore Alex Pierce:

The struggle started early – WSHS didn’t get on the scoreboard until a basket by #2, senior Maximus Holliman, more than midway through the first quarter.

He had eight points on the night, as did #5, senior Ryder Mackay:

The Wildcats never did manage to consistently break through North Thurston’s defense, which meant they had to do a lot of outside shooting, without much success, though #3, junior Bo Gionet, got two 3s:

The WSHS boys finished the season 14-12.