By Gerardo Bolong

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

TACOMA - It was a tight battle all the way, but Squeeky Johnson's rebound basket with 0.8 seconds in the four-minute overtime period finally rewarded Greater St. Helens League Skyview a tingling 59-57 boys basketball win against Mt. Rainier in a loser-out, winner-to-regionals West Central III/Southwest IV Bi-District game held at Wilson High School on Mon., Feb. 17. 

With 33.9 seconds left, Sarbatt Singh drove down the lane to score a basket and tie the game at 57-57. 

Skyview passed the ball to Kye Gruhler on the last possession of overtime, but his three-point attempt was off. A Jace Chatman tip-in try was also off the mark. Also crashing the boards, Johnson collected Chatman's miss for the deciding close-range basket. 

"They played hard (in this game and all season)," said Ram head coach Brandon Horstman. "We could have had a better shooting percentage."

The game plan for Mt. Rainier was to slow down the Storm running offense by executing more half court offense and avoid turnovers. 

For the most part, the Rams did this well, but missed shots prevented MR from progressing more strongly. 

The Rams held a 6-4 first quarter before the Storm capitalized for a 9-7 lead going into the second quarter. 

Skyview broke away to a 20-15 second quarter lead, but Mt. Rainier regrouped with Kole Lerwick's driving basket preceding a Mark Murray three-ball. Ricky Bell III followed with a pair of free throws, and the Rams went ahead 21-20 en route to a 23-22 lead at the half, despite continued poor shooting. 

Bell continued to be in the forefront for Mt. Rainier with Bell, Isaiah Fulmore and the Ram defense dueling Gruhler, Chatman, and Alec Marshall. 

The Rams established leads of 30-24 and 34-29, but three-point plays kept Skyview in the thick of the chase to trail only 36-35 heading into the fourth quarter. 

Mt. Rainier recovered its rhythm behind a Bell three-ball and two Bell free throws. 

Fulmore rebounded strongly as Sarbatt Singh battled to the rack for a basket and a 43-35 Ram lead with 5:36 remaining in regulation time. 

Skyview called time out and hit its stride for 10 consecutive points to take a 45-43 lead with just less than three minutes remaining. 

Bell came to the rescue as he converted two free throws. MR stole the ball for Navi Singh to get close for a lay up that hit backboard and dropped off the front rim. Lerwick was there to tip in the miss and forge a 47-45 Ram margin with a minute and a half showing. 

Gruhler was fouled inside to set up his two free throw conversions 30 seconds later. Sean Boss drained a three-point goal at the 31 second mark to give the Storm a 50-47 advantage. 

Fifteen seconds later all-everything Bell tied the score at 50-50 on a three-pointer. 

Mt. Rainier called time out to program the defense that forced Gruhler far away from the three-point arc on a last second miss. 

In the OT, Sarbatt Singh sent the Rams into a quick 52-50 difference. 

Chatman tied the score on two free throws and Bell was called for the first of a trio of charging fouls against the Rams that aided Skyview immensely. 

It was Chatman who set up in the corner to drain a three-point goal that Bell matched with 1:06 on the clock. 

Tied at 55-55, the Storm retrieved the lead on a Gruhler drive into the lane that positioned the teams for the final 54 seconds. 

Despite being a marked man, Bell III exploded for 36 Mt. Rainier points. Kole Lerwick followed at nine. Sarbatt Singh score six, Murray three, Navi Singh two, and Fulmore two. 

      Before playing Skyview, Mt, Ranier lost 85-64 at Olympia and defeated Kentlake 49-46. 

     It's NPSL Cascade recored of 11-3 put in a tie for first place.

For Skyview, Gruhler pored in 24 points while Chatman added 15. 

Players for Mt. Rainier (14-10) are Isaiah Fulmore, Marek Murray, Ricky Bell III, Navi Singh, Kamil Simmons, Julian Rahn, Kendrick Washington, Trenton Brown, Kole Lerwick, Joe Gribble, Sebastian Fessender and Sarbatt Singh. 

Assisting head coach Horstman are Tremain Mack, David Nguyen and volunteers Mike Watts and Josh Jacobs. 

Bryan Peterson is the athletic director.