Lake Washington fell to the No. 2 team out of Metro on Tuesday night, losing 78-71 to O’Dea. Despite the loss, the Kangs still have a shot at the state tournament, providing they win their next two games.

Lake Washington will next place Rainier Beach on Friday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. at Bellevue College. The winner of that game moves on to play for the No. 5 seed out of districts to the state tournament. The loser is out.

Against the Irish on Tuesday, Lake Washington lead early in the match, but quickly fell behind a sharp shooting O’Dea squad and never retook the lead.

Darien Nelson-Henry had 25 points for the Kangs, while Kramer Taylor had 24 and Guy Lynott added 11.

Last weekend the team began districts by hosting Lakeside, after finishing the KingCo tournament in third place. The Kangs beat Lakeside in the first round of the district tournament on Saturday, Feb. 12 with a 67-63 win.

Against the Lions, Darien Nelson-Henry had 22 points, while Matt Staudacher picked up 14 and Guy Lynott had 13.

During the KingCo tournament at the beginning of the month, the Kangs lost to Bellevue in the semi-finals 68-64. After falling behind 14 points at the half, the team slowly chipped away at the lead, ending regulation time with a 54-54 tied match. The two squads battled through the first overtime tied again, before Bellevue pulled away in the second extra period.

With the loss, Lake Washington moved into the consolation bracket to fight for district seeding against Mount Si. The Kangs beat the Wildcats on Thursday, Feb. 10 62-56 for the No. 3 seed at districts.

While Mount Si had a lead through most of the game, but Lake Washington found it’s rhythm late in the match to earn the comeback win. Staudacher had 18 points, while Lynott also had 18 during the win. Nelson-Henry added 10 to the game, with Mike Hanson picking up eight. Robert Reyes had four, while both Cody Bernstein and Kramer Taylor each added two.