Long after the Skyline boys put Lake Washington away 52-42 Friday night, players remained in uniform on the Juanita High School basketball court — individually posing with the marble and glass trophy that represented a piece of school history.

For the first time since the school opened in 1997, the boys basketball program earned a KingCo championship, locking up the program’s second ever trip to the state tournament.

“This was probably the biggest win in Skyline basketball history,” senior center Cory Hutsen said. “We’ve worked so hard. Since we were all in the sixth grade we dreamed of putting the banner on the wall and now we just want to go to state and keep bringing it.”

Stuck in a back-and-forth battle early on, the Spartans built their cushion over a near six-minute span from the 4:19 mark of the first quarter to the 6:56 mark of the third. Skyline went on a 13-0 run in the time frame, taking an 18-8 lead. The run was highlighted by a Kasen Williams two-handed slam with 13 seconds left in the first quarter. Stuck under the basket, senior Miles Edwards tossed the ball up toward the rim. Williams came flying in from the opposite baseline, crushing the ball through the hoop.

“He’d like to say it was a pass, I don’t know,” Williams said, laughing. “I’ll say it was a pass too.”

Skyline kept a comfortable lead over the next two quarters, taking a 25-16 lead at halftime and a 43-28 advantage after three quarters.

Lake Washington wasn’t done, however. The Kangaroos went on a 7-0 run late in the fourth quarter, closing the Spartan lead to six, 46-40, with 3:48 left in the game.

Williams, who led his team in scoring with 13 points, came through with his shot of the night with 1:29 remaining in the game. With just two seconds left on the shot clock he called for the ball, rose up and knocked down his second three-pointer of the game for a 51-42 lead.

“I knew there was two seconds to go on the shot clock,” he said. No one guarded me and I told my man look at me right here. When I went up for the shot it felt good coming out, so I starting back-pedaling.”

Also key to Skyline’s victory was its suffocating defense. The Spartans held 6-foot-10 sophomore Darien Nelson-Henry to 12 total points, and just three in the second half. Matt Staudacher, who scored 26 in Lake Washington’s semifinal win over Garfield, was held to 10 points — largely due to the defense of senior guard Connor Gacek.

“That’s what we’ve been doing all year,” head coach J. Jay Davis said. “We just look at the box score and say ‘Who’s there best scorer?’ And we put Connor on them.”

Hutsen added 12 points for Skyline, Gacek scored 10 and Edwards added eight.

Skyline, which made its last state appearance in 2003, will find out Sunday afternoon who its first round state opponent. The double-elimination tournament tips off Wednesday morning at the Tacoma Dome.

“We’re excited to be going, to be one of 16 teams, but that’s not where it stops for us,” Davis said. “This team hasn’t placed at state … we’ve got our eye on bigger prize. We’re one of four No. 1 seeds. We’ll see how the draw turns out on Sunday and we’ll take it from there.”

Check the Reporter blog, The End Zone, on Sunday afternoon for a look at the 4A state tournament matchups.