Bothell falls to hot-shooting Issaquah in Kingco semis

The weather outside Juanita High School was relatively calm on Friday night as the Bothell High boys' basketball team matched up against Issaquah, but inside the gym it was raining three-pointers as the Eagles drained 12 of them on the night, defeating the Cougars 67-54.

By Tim Watanabe • February 11, 2012 3:32 pm
Bothell guard Perrion Callandret slams down a two-handed dunk against Issaquah on Friday night. Callandret led the Cougars with 23 points in a 67-54 Kingco Semifinals loss to the Eagles
Bothell guard Perrion Callandret slams down a two-handed dunk against Issaquah on Friday night. Callandret led the Cougars with 23 points in a 67-54 Kingco Semifinals loss to the Eagles

The weather outside Juanita High School was relatively calm on Friday night as the Bothell High boys’ basketball team matched up against Issaquah, but inside the gym it was raining three-pointers as the Eagles drained 12 of them on the night, defeating the Cougars 67-54.

Both teams, known for their explosive offenses, started out ice-cold as Bothell, despite turning the ball over six times in the first quarter, held a 10-9 lead.

But in the second quarter, the Eagles got hot.

Shooting 9-for-14 as a team in the period, including 6-of-9 from beyond the arc, the game was broken wide open and the Cougars never were able to make up their 15-point halftime deficit.

The closest they got was 43-29 late in the third quarter after an 8-0 run, but the Eagles responded with back-to-back threes to put the game out of reach.

“They went 12 of 23 from the 3-point line,” lamented head coach Ron Bollinger, whose team upset No. 3 Skyline on Tuesday night. “You gotta give them credit, they hit those shots, and they were big shots.”

For the Cougars, Perrion Callandret led with 23 points, with Zach LaVine, Kingco’s leading scorer (23.6 points per game), struggling to 18. The sharpshooting duo of freshman Ty Gibson and senior Nick Price for Issaquah scored 24 and 23 points, respectively.

As a team, the Cougars shot just 4-for-18 from downtown, including a pair of in-and-out attempts by LaVine in the third quarter, which elicited a wry grin from the talented junior.

Bothell goes on to play in a loser-out game against Newport on Tuesday night at 8:15 p.m., also at Juanita.

“Just get the kids’ confidence back,” Bollinger said on his keys to the Newport game. “They way (Issaquah) came out and hit those shots, and we didn’t execute offensively… it’s just getting them back confident again. We’ll do that in practice and watch the Newport film again, and we’ll have them ready.”

Bothell’s Zach LaVine faces off with Issaquah freshman Ty Gibson during last night’s 4A Kingco semifinals game. Gibson led all scorers, torching the net from 3-point range with 24, with LaVine adding 19 for the Cougars. Photo by Tim Watanabe