Eastside Catholic is back.

Head coach Bill Liley lamented the loss of the grit and determination that has defined his team, even though it resulted in a lopsided win, against Franklin in the quarterfinals at the Sea-King district boys basketball tournament Tuesday.

But in a 55-47 win over Bellevue in Thursday’s semi-finals, the Crusaders got back on track.

“That’s a great feeling,” he said. “I’m really proud of my seniors.”

Eastside Catholic pushed to a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game and led 32-20 at the half, as junior Mattisse Thybulle scored eight of his 10 points. Senior Nathan Christie led the way with 16 points and junior Mandrell Worthy added 14 more.

“We played well as a team,” said Thybulle, who gave his team a 12 point lead with a three-pointer before the half. “We want to see that every night.”

Ian Christie extended the Crusader lead to 14 to start the third, and a galvanized defensive effort had them seemingly in control.

But the Wolverines closed the gap with a run that went into the fourth quarter and saw the lead change hands for the first time on a Sharif Khan bucket with five and a half minutes remaining.

“We know Bellevue really well, and they know us,” Liley said. “It was just one of those games.”

Senior Zach Wallin put his team back in front before Nathan Christie scored six straight to push the margin back to seven, and EC outscored the Wolverines 10-2 after surrendering the lead, to earn a spot in Saturday’s title game and another date with nationally-ranked Rainier Beach.

“We have guys who have been through the wars,” Liley said of his team’s ability to overcome the Bellevue surge.

The next of those comes against a group of Vikings that escaped last week’s conference title game with a three point win after the Crusaders held a late lead, and beat O’Dea 64-57 in the other semi-final.

“We’re pretty pumped,” Thybulle said. “We almost got them last time, so we will see how it goes.”