Chief Sealth's bid for a Class 3A boys' basketball state championship teetered on the results of the final 79 seconds in their game against the Bellevue Wolverines March 3.

Keon Lewis had just countered a Nate Sikma inside goal with an inside basket, giving the high flyers a 48-47 lead with 1:19 remaining in the fourth quarter. Sikma was whistled for a foul on a backing in move to give Sealth possession 15 seconds later.

Following several exchanges of possession, Bellevue stole the ball, but in action near the Wolverine basket, the ball was rolling on the court. Evian Richard scooped up the ball for the Wolverines and went to the basket for a hoop with 12.6 seconds remaining.

Following a time out, the Seahawks inbounded and worked the ball around the perimeter until Lewis saw the opening he wanted and went to the hoop. The ball rolled around, but failed to go in with 4.1 seconds showing, causing Sealth to foul.

Two missed Wolverine free throws later, the Seahawks rebounded and called time out with 1.4 seconds left. On the inbounds, Lewis was well defensed in the corner and his three-point heave at the buzzer fell short, giving Bellevue a comeback 49-48 Class 3A quarterfinal win against No. 10 Chief Sealth.

A tearful Lewis -- who would later be voted on to the second team all-tournament squad -- was respectfully consoled by Bellevue players, an indication of how strongly the breadth and depth of the CS players' emotions were after the close loss.

"Keon was sick all week and we didn't know if he would play," said Seahawk head coach Colin Slingsby. "He gutted it out and put us in a position to win. They played their guts out. They took it hard, obviously. I will take it hard, probably in hindsight, but I told them the last locker room is going to be hard on me. This is going to be a hard group to say goodbye to. I just don't want it to be until Saturday."

Chief Sealth, which beat Bellevue on January 17, worked its outside game well enough to make the inside give-and-goes effective in the first quarter as the Seahawks rolled to a 14-4 lead on a Korwin Flowers corner three-pointer before heading into the second quarter with a 14-6 clearance.

Lewis dropped in two second quarter opening free throws for CS, but Kendrick Van Ackeren scored six points in an 8-0 Bellevue rush that brought the Wolverines within 16-14.

Following a 21-17 Sealth halftime edge, the Wolverines ran off the first six points of the second half.
With "Mighty Mite" Charlie Smith leading the charge, the Seahawks picked apart the Wolverines to establish a 37-28 lead with just more than two minutes left in the third quarter.

Bellevue responded by quickly shaving the margin to 39-37. Nate Sikma's two consecutive goals gave the Wolverines a 43-42 lead with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter, and the squads proceeded to exchange one-point leads until the finish.

Lewis finished with 14 points and six rebounds for Chief Sealth. Teammate Smith also scored 14 points to go along with four steals.

Six-foot, five-inch senior Sikma finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds for Bellevue while Will Locke added 13 points and four steals. Wolverine Van Ackeren scored 12 points.

The Seahawks (21-10) played North Central next on Friday and lost, 53-46, while the Wolverines (23-5) met Glacier Peak.

Lewis led with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Smith was next with eight points. Pepe Hernandez swished in seven and Korwin Flowers and D'Nique Harris-Welch scored six apiece. Aaron Knox rounded off the scoring with three.

Sealth shot only 28 percent from the field (14-for-50) in a game that was knotted at 19-19 at halftime.