by Paul Moseley

The 2014-15 season ended for the West Seattle boys basketball team as they fell to Eastside Catholic 79-56 in the first round of the Sea King District 2 tournament. The young, scrappy Wildcats were overmatched from the outset as the larger and seasoned Crusaders used all of their weapons to control the game. The game had it’s share of excitement. West Seattle brought it’s brand of quick, dynamic passing and lane-driving to keep the game interesting and close and times. West Seattle head coach Keffrey Fazio knew coming in that they would have to negotiate the size difference. "We’re a small group. that’s just who we are, and we have to play a certain style.” The West Seattle style prodded Eastside Catholic playing a fast paced game, showcasing senior forward Matisse Thybulle, who ended the game with 32 points.

The game kicked off as a brick-laying competition, with both teams struggling to find the inside of the rim. West Seattle had surprisingly good success on the defensive boards early, rushing to the ball and creating opportunities for the offense, but after the first 6 minutes of the game, neither team had found rhythm on offense and Eastside Catholic was up 11-5. West Seattle got some outside shooting from Senior Andre Moore and Akili Kasim to close out the first quarter down 15-11.

Eastside Catholic opened it up in the second quarter, and Thybulle put on a clinic. The Crusaders started hitting more from the outside, leaving Thybulle open more in the center and he dropped some beautiful dunks and the east side crowd responded, using up the low oxygen levels on the plateau. West Seattle upped its pace to stay in the game. Nate Pryor found his groove and put in 7 points in the quarter through a series of beautiful drives in the lane. Andre Moore got another five points to make it 10 for him in the half. At the break, West Seattle was down 35-25. Thybulle contributed 19 of that total for Eastside Catholic.

In the second half, Andre Moore opened the side up for the Wildcats with a 3-pointer making the score 37-30…but that was as close as they would get. Nate Pryor took the lead and never stopped as he created a series of eye popping drives through the lane, scoring 14 points in the half. Ultimately, the Crusaders took over both on offense and defense, and the Wildcats could not keep up. The Crusaders sprinted to the finish using all of their weapons, ending with four players in double-digit points. Final score Eastside Catholic 79 West Seattle 56.

Even so, it was a great game to watch. The Wildcats play a brand of basketball that is exciting to watch, and they put on a great show, never seeming to show any hesitation to face down the larger Crusaders. Fazio is pleased with the progress the Wildcats made this year. "The districts is quite an accomplishment in this league. The league itself is so challenging. to get this far..that was our goal at the beginning of the year. We did that which was exciting.” And looking back over the season, Fazio is proud of his scrappy team and their ability to play competitively with larger teams. "There were very few games we were involved in that we weren’t really in it all the way down to the fourth quarter. A few games got away late. I think we did a really good at embracing that - I tell them the underdog mentality - we’re underdogs, we’re West Seattle high school, we’re not supposed to be doing that type of stuff so we embrace that as motivation to play.”

West Seattle graduates Andre Moore this year. With the team of Sophomores and Juniors, the next two years will be exciting times for the Wildcats basketball program.

High Scorers Eastside Catholic

Matisse Thybulle - 32 points including 4 three pointers
Max Hudgins - 14 points
Mandrell Worthy - 13 points
Andrew Padilla - 10 points

High Scorers for West Seattle

Nate Pryor - 21 points
Moore Andre -15 points
Trahan Chaaka - 8 points
Akili Kasim - 6 points

Eastside Catholic, who finished fourth in the Metro Tournament, will take on Bellevue High School on February 17th at Bellevue College. Start Time is 8:15 PM.