A crowd-pleasing dunk, a smoothe 3-pointer and a flashy break-away layin.
That’s what it took to kickstart Inglemoor High’s second-half comeback and lead the Vikings into the victory column, 63-54, Friday afternoon against crosstown rival Bothell High.
In the 4A Kingco boys basketball matchup at Inglemoor, the Viks’ Andy Nwaelele stole the ball at halfcourt and then rattled the rim with a dunk to tie the game at 43-43 late in the third period. Then Jerry Molina knocked down a trey and the two-point drive to put Inglemoor up 50-48 with 5:12 remaining in the game. The Viks held on from there to register the victory and avenge an earlier-season loss at Bothell.
“It was a good way to come back and get the bad taste out of our mouth from losing at their home gym,” said Inglemoor junior guard Eric Bryant, who had 14 points. “We changed defenses a bit because they were getting some shots. We tried to slow down (Bothell’s Dominic) Ballard a little bit … We got him slowed down, which led to some key buckets for us.”
Bryant noted that Molina’s scoring spree was crucial, and “We just try to build off that and try to get everyone else going.”
Junior Molina and senior Paul Jorg also chipped in with 14 points each, followed by juniors Nwaelele and Brady Gregor with 10 and 11 points, respectively.
Bothell’s Ballard, a senior, led all scorers with 24 points.
Inglemoor improved to 8-4 in league and 11-5 overall while Bothell dropped to 5-7, 7-9. The Viks defeated No. 8 Skyline, 49-45, earlier in the week.
A handful of friends surrounded Molina following the game and gave the guard hugs and pats on the back.
With a smile on his face, he reflected on the game: “Our role on our team is just to play hard, get things done, lift the team up. This is what we needed; not only was this a big game, it’s a rival game, too. So we gotta come out ready to play.
“We’re on a streak right now, we gotta keep going.”
Added Bryant: “There’s nobody in the league we don’t think we can beat. We’re pretty confident heading into the playoffs.”
Bothell led 33-27 at halftime, and Bryant said that coach Greg Lowell was pleased with the Vikings’ effort the rest of the way. And the loud crowd played a key role in the victory, as well, he said.
“We had a little thing (rally) at our school, trying to pack the gym. Everybody was here ready to go and cheering,” said Bryant. “There’s no better feeling than having everybody chant your name. It’s fun.”
