Skyline Spartans boys basketball head coach Bill McIntyre shouted words of instruction at the top of his lungs throughout the fourth quarter during his team’s rivalry contest against the Issaquah Eagles.
Unfortunately for McIntyre, his directives couldn’t be heard by his players down the stretch due to the raucous crowd noise in the Issaquah High School gymnasium.
“I was yelling for plays every time but they couldn’t hear me,” McIntyre said. “I didn’t really do much in terms of coaching. They just took it on their own shoulders and guys stepped up and made some big shots.”
The Spartans, who trailed the Eagles 63-54 midway through the fourth quarter, outscored the Eagles 22-10 to finish the game with a 76-73 win on Jan. 9. Skyline improved its overall record to 6-5 with the win while Issaquah dropped to 8-4. Robert Biegaj, who scored a team-high 26 points for Skyline, played a pivotal role in his team’s comeback in the fourth stanza. Biegaj hit two three-pointers in Skyline’s signature 12-0 run in the fourth quarter. Biegaj buried a three-pointer as the shot clock expired with 3:22 left in regulation, giving Skyline a 66-63 lead.
“We just stayed together. That is the biggest key of our team. We stay together, trust our system and trust our game-plan,” Biegaj said. “It’s an amazing feeling. We played them in fall league and we noticed some mistakes that we had made. I’m glad we came out here and fixed it and I’m glad we pulled it out.”
Skyline couldn’t contain Issaquah guard Tyler Gibson. Gibson scored a team-high 26 points in the loss. “Gibson had a great game. ‘Did he miss? Did he have 40 (points)?’ Both teams played well. We were fortunate that we scored a couple of more buckets than they did,” McIntyre said. “I’m just so proud and so happy for our team. This is a group of seniors that has worked so hard and not had a lot of success. This was just one regular season game but it’s a big, big win for our program.”
McIntyre said getting a victory against the Eagles, who captured third place at the Class 4A state tournament during the 2013-14 season, is a monumental achievement for his basketball program.
“It feels really good right now. We told them last night (Thursday, Jan. 8) when we finished practice, ‘You’re going to their gym, they’re highly ranked, its a Friday night and that these opportunities don’t present themselves very often,” McIntyre said. “We knew we had a chance to do something special and we did it. I’m just super proud of them.”
Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com
