LYNNWOOD — The Cedar Park Christian-Mountlake Terrace boys basketball team finished its season with a 75-61 loss to Christian Faith in the 1B state regionals on Saturday night.
The Lions struggled under the onslaught of a bigger Eagles team that came out shooting and took an early 19-point lead. But the Lions stuck with it, getting back to within nine in the third quarter and threatening a huge comeback.
But Christian Faith settled down, hit its free throws down the stretch and didn’t allow the Lions to complete the comeback.
“They came out on fire. They are physically bigger and stronger. They just shot the ball really well,” said Lions head coach Pat Russell.
Part of the reason for the Lions’ resilience was the shooting of Wilson Reidt, who finished with a team-high 20 points.
“He’s coming into his own as a player. He’s only 5-foot-9 but he drives the ball. … Having lost Eric Matson at the beginning of the playoffs … Wilson really stepped up,” said Russell.
Trailing 49-25, Russell challenged his team at halftime. It seemed to work, as the the Lions came out and outscored Christian Faith 19-8 in the third.
“We had to foul to try to get possessions. Up until the last part of the game they were probably 1-for-14, they closed out 10-for-12,” said Russell.
CPC-MLT dropped out one game shy of regionals last year.
“We made it one step further this year, but one step too short unfortunately,” Russell said. “I really in some ways despise the regionals format. Being 23-4 on the season, winning tri-district, playing a team that is a very good team. … It’s just a tough one to swallow right now.”
At Lynnwood H.S.
Christian Faith 31 18 8 18 — 75
Cedar Park Chr.-MLT 12 13 19 17 — 61
Christian Faith—Stanson-Richardson 24, Cabiles 0, Lee 0, Rolinsky 0, Amosun 16, Toor 16, Santos 0, Kim 0, Medani 15, Weep 4. Cedar Park Christian—Micah Patterson 12, Wilson Reidt 20, Terry Eun 14, Daniel Schettler 6, Ben Reidy 6, Austin Schley 3, Andrew Paulson 0, Christian Guddal 0, Zach Wallace 0, Aaron Gillis 0. 3-point goals—Stanson-Richards 4, Toor 1, Meani 1, Reidt 2, Eun 3, Schley 1. Records—Christian Faith not reported. Cedar Park Christian-MLT 23-4 overall.
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