The Ballard High School boys basketball team may have made the KingCo 4A playoffs for the second year in a row, but it will have to wait at least another year for its first playoff victory.

The Beavers followed up a loss to Skyline earlier this week with a 63-46 loss to Eastlake Feb. 19 to end their run in the double elimination playoffs.

Eastlake built up an early 10-2 lead with a couple of threes and excellent defensive pressure and had a double-digit lead midway through the first quarter.

After senior Gary Smith, one of Ballard's two leading scorers, went down with an ankle injury in the opening quarter, senior David Doerr provided a spark off the bench, converting a three-point play and upping Ballard's intensity.

Freshman Seth Berger's three-pointer cut the Eastlake lead to six to end the first quarter.

Unfortunately for Beaver fans, that was the closest Ballard would get.

By halftime, Ballard was down 15 thanks to some poor shooting and a lack of offensive rebounding, coupled with a tough Eastlake defense.

"We really had too many unforced errors, which led to scoring opportunities for Eastlake," coach Billy Rodgers said. "I also think we missed some shots we usually make. That puts a lot of pressure on your defense."

Ballard came close to cutting the Eastlake lead to single digits in the opening minutes of the second half, but a technical foul on senior Kyler Korsmo, who finished with six points, reversed a foul call on Eastlake and stopped the Beaver's momentum.

Berger led the Beavers with 11 points. Smith, who returned to action in the second half, added seven.

Eastlake's Michael Russo, Rodgers said he considers the best player in the league, led all scorers with 21 points.

Ballard's regular-season leading scorer Salim Gloyd did not play due to a team-imposed suspension.

Rodgers said the team played inconsistently at points this season but has shown improvement during the last couple of seasons.

Ballard has some underclassmen that should make Beaver fans positive about next year, Rodgers said.

"We have a great core group of young players that is hungry to get better and continue the improvement," he said. "Our league is never easy, so we will roll up our sleeves and get to work."