By Anastasia Stepankowsky

The chant echoed through the Bellevue College gym Saturday afternoon.

“I believe that we will win. I believe that we will win ….”

The outcome often seemed in doubt, but the faith of the Seattle Lutheran student section proved well founded, as the Saints pulled off a narrow 52-49 win over the Yakama Nation Tribal School Eagles Saturday to move on to the state 1B basketball tournament.

“It was a battle. We had to play our hearts out and not get down on ourselves,” said Saints Xavier Turner, who netted 11 points.

Though it turned into a nail-biter, the game began slowly. Both teams’ scores only added to six in the first four minutes. But the Eagles pulled away when Justin Strom and Joseph Sanchey, who ended with 19 points, swished several three pointers. Midway through the second quarter, Yakama opened its biggest lead of the game, 21-13. But the Saints found some momentum and trailed only 25-21 at intermission.

The second half proved decisive for the Saints, who made some defensive adjustments and forced several turnovers. The lead kept changing until Seattle Lutheran took the lead for good with a minute on the clock.

Roberto Duenaz netted some of the last points from the field for his team in the waning seconds to give the Saints some insurance. Duenaz led in scoring for the afternoon with 19 points. The squad swept off the bench like a tsunami wave at the final buzzer.

“For the most part we were down the whole game until the end, when our defense really turned up a little bit and created some turnovers. We just really attacked at the right time, got good steals, capitalized, and made the finishes that were needed,” Seattle Lutheran head coach Brett Kapels said.

Looking ahead, the Saints may have some worries about Turner. The team scoring leader had patellar tendon surgery on his knee six month ago, and he limped through the last minute of Saturday’s victory. He admitted the knee was bothering him but said he doesn’t expect it to be a problem for state.

Tournament draws will be announced Sunday. The 1B Division state tournament is held at Spokane Arena in Spokane March 5-7.

“We’re going to face the best of the best there. We’re proud to be one of the eight going,” Kapels said.