The Skyline Spartans boys basketball teams aspiration of a KingCo 4A regular season championship was derailed by the Eastlake Wolves.

Eastlake fended off a Skyline rally in the fourth quarter, earning a 63-54 win on Feb. 3 at Skyline High School in Sammamish. The Spartans dropped to 9-4 overall in KingCo league play and will be the No. 2 seed in the KingCo 4A playoffs this week. Eastlake, which improved to 5-9 in league play, climbed to sixth place in the standings. If Mount Si loses to Woodinville in their regular season finale at 8 p.m. on Feb. 4, the Wolves will clinch the No. 6 seed at the KingCo tournament. If Mount Si is victorious against Woodinville, the Wolves will be eliminated from playoff contention and finish the season in seventh place. Eastlake head coach Steve Kramer is glad his team is still alive at this juncture of the 2016-17 season.

“We did what we could do. We had to win two games this week and we did. Both were tough places (Woodinville, Skyline) to win and we beat two tough teams on the road. Regardless of how it turns out, I’m really proud of my kids. They did everything that we asked them to do. The rest is up to some good luck hopefully,” Kramer said with a smile.

The Wolves controlled the first three quarters of the game against Skyline, building a commanding 54-38 lead.

The lead nearly evaporated in the fourth quarter.

Skyline went on a 11-0 run, cutting Eastlake’s lead to 54-51 on a Ben Smith bucket with 4:22 left in regulation. The Wolves didn’t get rattled by their scoring drought early in the fourth quarter. Eastlake outscored Skyline 9-3 in the final four minutes of play to keep their playoff hopes alive. Kramer said his team was determined to attain a victory in their rematch against Skyline. Skyline defeated Eastlake 64-52 on Jan. 13.

“The seniors made a pledge before the game that they weren’t going to lose on this court in their last game right here. Our guys gutted this out. We played them tough the first time around. We had a fourth quarter lead at our place (Jan. 13). We knew we could play with them. Our kids have played tough all year long. Nobody has blown us out,” Kramer said. “We’ve been in every game in the fourth quarter. We’re learning how to win. Hopefully we’re not out of time and the postseason can continue.”