State 4A favorite Mount Si boys beat Woodinville for third time this season, secures 4A District 1/2 championship

EVERETT, Wash. — The No. 1-ranked Mount Si Wildcats have previously faced the Woodinville Falcons twice this season, winning by 27 and 30 points respectively. They met again on Friday for the 4A District 1/2 championship at Everett Community College.

This time, the Wildcats once again came out on top, but the route they took to get there was much different than the first two games.

Mount Si looked as though it was poised to blow out the Falcons again, building a 21-point lead in the second quarter. But the Falcons closed the first half on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 14 at the intermission.

The second half was a series of Woodinville runs that the Wildcats had to fend off, ultimately ending in a 70-55 win for undefeated Mount Si (22-0). The Falcons were able to cut the deficit to as little as seven in the fourth quarter, but ultimately ran out of time to pull off a comeback.

“I just felt like we lost focus,” Mount Si head coach Jason Griffith said. “A lot of defensive possessions we were not dialed in. We had a lot of missed assignments. Guys weren’t sliding their feet. We weren’t playing arms out and chest out. To Woodinville’s credit, every time we got up 20 it would go on a 7-0 or 8-0 run and it made it interesting in the fourth quarter.”

Going into the regional round of the state tournament and the Hardwood Classic, where the Wildcats are a favorite to win their second title in three years, getting a challenge from the Falcons might have been just what the Wildcats needed. Of their 22 victories this year, only one was by less than 12 points, a 54-51 win over Union in the third game of the season.

“We have three 16-year-olds who are going through this for the first time,” Griffith said. “Getting them to stay engaged and focused for 32 minutes, sometimes they have lapses. Sometimes our seniors have lapses. At the end of the day, we’re pleased with the win, but we know we’ve got to get better this week.”

Senior Bennett O’Connor and sophomore Trevor Hennig each scored 20 to lead the Wildcats. Senior Will Ruff had 21 for the Falcons to lead all scorers.

O’Connor said taking an undefeated record into state has both an upside and a downside.

“It’s a great feeling, but it’s definitely a little more pressure just knowing that we’re undefeated and we’re supposed to win,” O’Connor said. “We’ve got to hold ourselves accountable and try to get these wins.

---Aaron Lommers; @aaronlommers.