Bear Creek boys defeat Northwest, will play Sultan tonight | Prep basketball

Published 12:26 pm Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Bear Creek staged a thrilling, come-from-behind victory that ended with a buzzer-beating shot by AJ Rial on Saturday afternoon.

In a 1A Emerald City League boys basketball wildcard playoff game, host Bear Creek defeated Northwest, 49-47, and advanced to the 1A Bi-District 1/2 tournament.

Senior Rial scored a career-high 17 points for the Grizzlies (11-9 overall), who will take on host Sultan at 7 p.m. tonight in a loser-out game.

Against Northwest, Bear Creek trailed 26-13 at halftime, but outscored the visitors, 20-7, in the third to tie the game at 33-33. Bear Creek edged its foe, 16-14, in the fourth to win.

With a win tonight, the boys will play Overlake (16-4) in a winner-to-state regionals game at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at Mountlake Terrace High.