The Bothell High boys basketball team (7-5, 11-6) has proven one thing true to its fans this season in 4A Kingco league play — don’t ever leave early.

Never was that truth so evident than on Tuesday night in the Cougar Den, as its second matchup against Northshore rival Inglemoor, much like the first, came down to the final shot in a thrilling 58-56 Bothell victory.

But for head coach Ron Bollinger, it was no rest for the weary as his team plays again tonight at Woodinville, after the Reporter’s deadline, and has another game at third-ranked Skyline tonight, and its regular-season finale at home against Ballard on Saturday.

“Hey, that’s basketball,” said Bollinger on the exhausting schedule caused by the snow cancellations. “Hopefully we’ve done our job throughout the year, so it’s just a matter of making adjustments now.”

A THRILLING FINISH

With both teams seeming to match each other shot-for-shot in the first half, neither team took control in the third quarter, with Bothell shooting 5-for-12 from the field to tie the score at 38-38, while Inglemoor fared even worse at just 3-for-14.

After star guard Zach LaVine stole an inbound pass for a quick bucket to lead off the fourth, Inglemoor went on an 11-0 run to take a commanding 49-40 lead with only about four minutes left to play.

As the capacity crowd at the Den grew anxious, the momentum began to swing back to the Cougars.

Sharpshooting sophomore Kellen Webster drained a 3-pointer to cut the lead back down to four with 3:00 left, and after LaVine connected from downtown, Webster nailed another from beyond the arc to tie the game at 56-56.

Bollinger called a time out with 12.6 seconds left, and put the ball in the hands of LaVine, who hit three straight game-winning shots for the Cougars earlier this season.

But the Vikings’ defense prevented the junior from driving the lane, so he dished the ball out to Webster, who put up a 3-ball from the corner to win the game.

Webster’s shot was deflected into the hands of 6-foot-5 center Aaron Wilks, who converted a layin as time expired, sending a mob of blue-clad fans across the court in a frenzy.

“(Zach) made the right play, kicking it to the corner,” Bollinger noted. “We were getting there all game long on those rebounds, and Aaron gets there, wheels around and hits that shot. Another close one against Inglemoor.”

On the other side of the camp, the sting of yet another tough loss was all too familiar for Inglemoor head coach Greg Lowell and his young team.

“We just made really dumb mistakes the last four or five minutes of the game,” said Lowell, whose team dropped to 1-11 in league, including four losses by one or two points. “The kids are disappointed, I’m disappointed. The effort for 98 percent of the game was great, it was just finishing things the last three to four minutes of the game, and that’s been a struggle for us.”

LaVine led all scorers with 20, followed by Perrion Callandret’s 17 and Webster’s 11. For the Vikings, Chris Bryant scored 19, with Sam Omondi and Brendan Lauck adding 10 each.

“It felt great to get the win at home,” said Wilks, whose game-winning shot was his only field goal of the contest. “(Inglemoor) is our big rival here, and we definitely got away with the game.”

TOURNEY TIME

After the Cougars finish off their regular season, they will enter the eight-team Kingco Tournament, a double-elimination event that will see three teams advance to the 4A regionals and hopefully onto the state tournament in March.

Bollinger admitted that the Cougars’ several recent close wins have given his young squad a huge confidence and momentum boost going forward, and that his team is indeed peaking towards playoff time as planned.

“We’re getting better every game,” he said. “We showed the resilience to come back being down eight with a minute or two to go, but we’ve got to keep getting better.”

From here on out, however, it’s all about jockeying for seeding position for next week’s tournament, and the Cougars have a crucial battle against Skyline tonight on the Spartans’ home court, tipoff at 8 p.m.

And the Cougars are ready for the challenge.

“We’re looking forward to playing in that new gym, and trying to get ‘em in their place,” Bollinger said.

Added Wilks, “We’re hoping to make our move and get the two seed. If not, we’ll take the three (seed) and see how far we can go.”

Tipoff for tonight’s game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Woodinville High.

Inglemoor’s next game is tonight against Garfield on the road, also at 7:30.