Three years of frustration — a span of six close games, and six Eastlake losses, was put to rest on a grand stage Tuesday night.

The Wolves finally defeated rival Garfield, pulling out a 65-62 victory in a KingCo 4A loser-out playoff game at Juanita High School.

“It’s a very big monkey off the back,” said senior Michael Russo, moments after being stormed on the court by the Eastlake student section. “We’ve played them for three years pretty solid, especially this year … I can’t tell you how proud I am of everybody.”

Up by one, 63-62, with 13 seconds left, 6-foot-6 senior Kyle Hansen tipped a Conner Iraola miss to give the Wolves a three-point cushion. Iarola followed with a huge defensive play at mid-court, stealing the ball from Garfield’s Glenn Brooks with 4 seconds left. The junior ran the ball down the court before being fouled with under a second remaining. His free throw attempt was off the mark, but the Bulldogs couldn’t get off a shot before the final buzzer sounded.

“It’s a team we felt like if we played our best game, or one of our better games, we could beat these guys,” Eastlake head coach Pat Bangasser said.

The Wolves did just that, pressuring the Bulldogs the entire game.

A pair of steals and big buckets resulted in a 7-0 run in just 8 seconds at the end of the first quarter. A Russo three-pointer, a quick two by Hansen, and another three-pointer by Iarola gave Eastlake a 20-17 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“Nobody thinks any team can press Garfield, but we stayed disciplined and we stayed to our game plan,” Russo said.

Eastlake held on to its advantage the next two quarters, leading by as many as seven, 38-31, at halftime.

Garfield closed the gap in the second half, eventually regaining the lead, 52-51, on a shot from Des’Juan Newton with 5:55 left in the fourth quarter.

Eastlake snagged the advantage back seconds later, and never gave it up.

Russo led the Wolves with 27 points. Iarola and senior Justin Lester added nine points apiece, while senior Dillon Pericin had eight.

Brooks led Garfield, which ended its season at 17-6, with 25 points.

Eastlake (15-8) will play Bothell (12-11) at 8:15 p.m., Thursday at Juanita High in another loser-out contest. The winner of that game moves on to play the No. 2 team from the Greater St. Helens League, Saturday, on the road for a state berth.

“This is a stepping stone, this is a great win, but we’ve got business to take care of on Thursday, and then hopefully on Saturday,” Russo said.