Redmond High School junior Akari Matsumoto put together a solid performance at the 4A Kingco Gymnastics Championships last weekend at Mount Si High School.

Fueled by three podium finishes, Matsumoto finished third all-around with 36.125 points behind state favorite Hailey Wells of Woodinville (36.825) and Ballard’s Taylor Stern (36.6).

Matsumoto placed third on the vault with a score of 8.95, and finished runner-up in both the bars (9.0) and floor (9.4).

“The girls did a great job and Akari really stepped forward at this meet,” said Redmond head coach Jason Farr, who coaches at Evergreen Athletics in Woodinville. “Third all-around is a great place to be and a new step forward for Redmond as a whole.”

In total, five Mustang gymnasts will advance to the District Championships this Saturday at Sammamish High School: Matsumoto (floor, beam, bars, vault and all-around), Cristal Spinrad (floor, beam, bars and vault), Marjorie Drieu (floor and vault), Ally Garcia (floor and vault), and Clare McMahon (floor).

“I was very pleased with the group all around,” said Farr, adding that he hopes to see a few of his girls earn state berths this weekend. “It’s been a good season and I hope the girls are having a good time and appreciate what their hard work and dedication has meant to Rachelle and myself as the coaches.”

As a team, the Mustangs finished in seventh place out of the 12 Kingco teams with a score of 155.80 points.

Five Mustang wrestlers advance to regionals

The Redmond High wrestling team put together some strong performances at last weekend’s 4A Kingco Tournament, held at Mount Si High School.

Junior Abraham Herrera, younger brother of former state participant Esteban Herrera, placed fifth at 119 pounds in his first year wrestling. Teammate Joe Glass (189) placed second to Lake Washington’s Inrahim Khalifeh and senior team captain Tyler Black fell to Anthony DeMatteo of Skyline in the finals by a 7-1 decision.

On the girls’ side, Catherine Kelly advanced to the title match and placed second to Stanwood’s Casey Mather, 8-2.

All four wrestlers will advance to the Regional Tournament, which takes place at Todd Beamer High School, with the finals running all day on Saturday, Feb. 13.

Wrestling at 140, Redmond sophomore Brandon Long placed sixth and will be an alternate to the Regional Tournament.

As a team, Redmond finished ninth out of the 12 Kingco teams with 81 points. The meet was won by Woodinville (193 points).

Owls outmatched by Cedar Park

All eleven Overlake boys basketball players scored during Tuesday night’s Emerald City League rivalry between the Owls and the Eagles at Cedar Park Christian School, but it wasn’t enough as the Owls fell, 74-43.

Led by senior guard Tommy McCullough and his game-high 21 points, the Eagles scored 24 points in each of the first two quarters to take an insurmountable 48-22 lead at the half.

For Overlake, Matthew Schultz led the Owls with 10 points, followed by John Stolarczuk with eight.

The loss dropped the Owls to 3-8 in league play and 7-12 overall.

Overlake notches eighth league win

The Overlake girls’ basketball team got off to a hot start and never let up during their 46-33 Emerald City League win over Cedar Park Christian at Cedar Park on Tuesday night.

Holding the Eagles to just four second-quarter points, the Owls led 27-14 at the half and Cedar Park was unable to mount a comeback down the stretch.

For Overlake, senior point guard Maya Marder scored a game-high 14, followed by fellow senior Alison Havran who tied a season-high with 13.

The win improved the Owls to 8-5 in 1A Emerald City League play and 10-6 overall. The team finished up their regular season with a Thursday night matchup against Seattle Academy after the Reporter’s deadline, with the Emerald City League Tournament to begin on Tuesday, Feb. 16.

No. 8 Skyline stifles Redmond

On the Mustangs’ senior night last Tuesday at Redmond High School, the top-ranked team in 4A Kingco defeated the Redmond Mustangs handily, 62-33.

Senior guard Josh Bircher led the team with 10 points, followed by Conner Floan and Brandon Smart with seven apiece, while the Spartans got 11 from 6-foot-9 center Cory Hutsen and had five additional players that scored six points or more.

The Mustangs fell to 4-11 in conference play and 5-14 overall.

Grizzlies finish undefeated, both Bear Creek teams to play for championship

The red-hot Bear Creek boys polished off a perfect league season with a convincing 71-36 win over Evergreen Lutheran last Thursday night to improve to 11-0 in Sea-Tac 2B league play and 19-1 overall.

Fueled by their trademark high-octane offense, the Grizzlies led 48-20 at the half.

Lucas Peterson led the team with 18, followed by Jamie Meyer and Ryan Strandin with 17 apiece.

The Grizzlies will play in the league championship game at Chief Leschi (9-2, 13-5) this Saturday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

The Lady Grizzlies also finished off a fine 8-3 league season last Thursday with a loss against Evergreen Lutheran, but will play for the Sea-Tac 2B League Championship on Saturday, Feb. 13 against undefeated Tacoma Baptist (12-0, 18-2) at Chief Leschi School. Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m.