Bellevue grabs #1 seed
After going 15-1 against in-state competition and winning the Kingco Division regular season title for the first time in school history, the Bellevue Wolverines were awarded the #1 overall seed in this week’s State Tournament.
However, if history is any indication, the Wolverines should be wary of their top ranking. For the past two years, the #1 overall seed failed to win the state title. Two years ago, the third-seeded Wolverines upset top-seeded Newport in the state finals, 15-8. Last year, top-seeded Mercer Island lost to Curtis in the semifinals. If the Wolverines can reverse the recent trend, they will capture their third straight state title.
Senior George French and junior Marco Stanchi lead the Wolverines’ offensive attack. French and Stanchi, 1st-Team All-State players in 2012, are the Wolverines’ top two scorers in 2013. However, the Wolverines are much more than a two-man show. Balance, depth and unselfish team play has been and will be the key to Bellevue’s success. Four other Wolverines – senior Silas Clapham, junior Liam Naughton, sophomore Zack Rossman and freshman Cameron Hayes – are averaging nearly a goal and a half per game. And the Wolverines have succeeded despite playing the second half of the season without senior co-captain Stuart McClelland, a 2012 2nd-Team All-State performer who is out for the season with an injured finger. Naughton leads the team in steals, while Hayes leads the team in assists. Senior goalies Diego Acevedo and Garrett Moffatt have split time in cage and lead the Bellevue defense.
Standing in the Wolverines’ way are second-seeded Mercer Island (the only Washington team to beat Bellevue this season), third-seeded Curtis, fourth-seeded Roosevelt and fifth seeded Auburn-Mountainview. While Bellevue has defeated each of these teams at least once this year, all of them are talented and dangerous.
The 12-team tournament begins this Wednesday with teams split into four brackets. The top two teams in each bracket advance to a winner advances, loser-out quarterfinals on Friday. Semifinals and finals are on Saturday. Bellevue begins its title defense on Wednesday with games at Rogers High School against #12 Enumclaw at 3:00pm and #5 Auburn-Mountainview at 7:40pm. Click here for the tournament schedule.
State Seeds:
1 – Bellevue
2 – Mercer Island
3 – Curtis
4 – Roosevelt
5 – Auburn-Mountainview
6 – Puyallup
7 – Newport
8 – Bainbridge Island
9 – Auburn-Riverside
10 – Wilson
11 – Lakes
12 – Enumclaw
