In the first league game of 2012, the Lake Washington Kangs easily took down Liberty Tuesday, Jan. 3.

The Kangs beat the Patriots 61-48 at home.

Lake Washington held a 21-14 lead at the end of the first quarter, but slowed down in the second with Liberty gaining 16 points to Lake Washington’s 13. The Kangs continued to hold the lead after the break.

During the game Darien Nelson-Henry had the team’s high of 24 points, while  Kelly Guy added 15 and Guy Lynott had 12 points. Matt Staudacher had six points and Cody Bernstein and Drew Heimdahl each had two.

Lake Washington beat Bellevue on Friday night 49-45. The Kangs had the early first quarter lead of 9-5, but Bellevue kept it close in the second quarter, ending the half with a 22-19 score for Lake Washington. After the break, the Kangs surged in the third quarter, scoring 16-11, but were held to 11 in the fourth quarter while Bellevue scored 15.

Nelson-Henry had 17 for the Kangs, while Staudacher posted 14 overall. Heimdahl added six points, Lynott scored five, Bernstein posted four and Guy had three total.

In another KingCo league game, the Juanita Rebels lost to Sammamish 61-52 on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

The Totems held the early lead, up 17-13 at the end of the first quarter, followed by a 19-15 second quarter for a halftime score in favor of Sammamish 36-30.

After halftime, Juanita closed the gap a little, holding the Totems to 15 points in the third and 10 in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to take the lead over the league leaders.

Three Rebels had 12 points, the team high. Ryan Reid, Devan Jackson and Avery Britton each contributed 12 to the team’s total, followed by 10 from Ty Eng, three from Brett Hamre and two from Landyn Milburn and one from Sean Brennan.

Against Mercer Island on Friday, Juanita lost 58-52.

Mercer Island started the game off with a 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Juanita outscored the Islanders in the second 21-18. The tight game continued in the third, with both teams scoring 12, for Juanita to have a 42-40 lead. The fourth quarter decided the game as the Islanders earned 18 points, holding Juanita to 10 to take the game.

Hamre had the Rebel’s team high with 19 points, while Eng had 17 points during the loss. Andrews had five points, Jackson and Reid each had four points and Britton posted three.

Saturday, Jan. 7 the team played against a traveling team from Australia. The Rebels won 56-39.

The game remained close until the final quarters when Juanita made 21 points, while holding their opponent to none.

During the game, Eng had the team’s high with 17 points, while Reid had 10 points. Andrews had eight overall and Jackson posted five, while Brennan, Britton and Hamre and Stokes each had four.