In a battle between teams which have gone back and forth all season, Lake Washington had the last hurrah. The Kangs beat Mercer Island 42-33 on Wednesday, Feb. 1.

Up 12-8 at the end of the first quarter, Lake Washington was held to 10 points in the second by the Islanders which ended the first half with a 21-18 score.

After the break, Lake Washington continued to hold strong, hitting nine points in the third, while holding Mercer Island to seven, before an 11-8 final quarter sealed the game.

Matt Staudacher had the game high with 14 points in the low scoring game, while Jordan LaFay and Darien Nelson-Henry each had 11. Cody Bernstein added six points.

Mercer Island’s Kyle Huber and Joe Rasmussen each had nine points, with Brian Miller adding five and both Sam Cohn and Jeff Lindquist posting four. Kaleb Warner had two points overall.

Lake Washington will take on Mount Si on Friday in the final game of the regular season at 7:30 p.m. at home, while Mercer Island will play Bellevue, also on Friday, at home starting at 8 p.m.

The KingCo basketball tournament will begin on Monday, Feb. 6. As of Thursday, Feb. 2 Lake Washington sits in second place with an 11-2 league record, and 15-4 overall, with Bellevue at No. 1 with an 11-2 league and 16-3 overall record.

Mercer Island is in the third place spot with a 10-3 league and 15-5 overall record.

The top six teams make the KingCo tournament, which a chance to advance to the district bracket the following week.