The Bear Creek School boys basketball team contained Overlake sharp shooter Danny Poplawski during Saturday night’s 61-50 nonleague win as the Grizzlies beat the Owls in their season opener for the second straight time.
Last December, Bear Creek beat Overlake, 58-53, for the first time in school history.
On Saturday, the visiting Owls were looking to avenge their loss to the Grizzlies, but the Owls came up short once again.
The key to the game was to stop Poplawski, who scored 28 of his team’s 43 points in last Wednesday night’s loss to Darrington.
“We held Poplawski to just six points, we did a great job on him,” said Bear Creek head coach Scott Moe, who guided the Grizzlies to a school-best 24-3 record and fifth-place finish at state last season.
The Grizzlies, though they are a young team, handled Overlake’s pressure defense like seasoned veterans. The score was close through the first half, as the Grizzlies held a narrow 32-31 lead at halftime.
After both teams struggled mightily in the third period, with the Owls netting just five points and the Grizzlies nine, the home squad broke the game open with a 20-point fourth quarter to put it away.
“Out of our eight players, five had never played varsity ball before,” Moe said. “We showed a lot of poise and composure in the fourth quarter.”
And perhaps none more so than sophomore guard Josh Firminger, who scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting in his varsity debut. Jamie Meyer, the returning Sea-Tac 2B League MVP, scored the Grizzlies’ first 11 points on the way to a 22-point performance. Meyer shot 7 of 15 from the field and 6 of 9 from the free throw line.
“He’s tough… all in all it was a great team effort,” Moe said.
Overlake junior guard Trent Halvorson scored a team-high 22 points for the Owls, who fell to 0-2.
The Grizzlies played their first conference game against league favorite Seattle Academy on Tuesday night after the Reporter’s deadline.
Overlake played Evergreen Lutheran on Tuesday after the Reporter’s deadline and will play host to University Prep on Friday night in its Emerald City League opener.
OVERLAKE GIRLS RALLY FOR FIRST WIN
The Owls came through with a clutch defensive effort for their first win of the season, beating Bear Creek, 38-34, in a nonleague game Saturday night.
Overlake led 20-18 at halftime, but the Grizzlies rallied and took the lead 30-26 after the third quarter.
The Owls fought back hard and outscored Bear Creek 12-4 in the final frame to seal the win.
Guard Maggie Howell and forward Alex Mackenzie each scored 11 for the Owls (1-0).
Junior post Tajel Mehta had 12 points for the Grizzlies (0-2), who have lost their first two games by a combined seven points.
