The Kentridge High boys basketball team isn’t going to leave the Tacoma Dome with a state title.
But the Chargers will leave with some hardware, and their names in the state record books, too.
A day after going cold from long distance, the Chargers picked up the pace Friday morning, torching Puyallup 75-34 in a Class 4A state tournament loser-out consolation game.
Kentridge hit 12 of 29 from 3-point land, including 7 of 14 in what proved to be a decisive first half.
“We just played hard to make up for yesterday,” said Kentridge’s Brendan Westendorf, who scored 18 points and was 3 of 6 from behind the stripe. “We wanted to make sure we won today so we could play tomorrow.”
Kentridge (21-9) will play for a fourth-place trophy in an 8 a.m. game Saturday morning against Olympia. Olympia throttled Jackson 70-42.
“We’re playing on the last day of the season, why not come out with a win?” said Kentridge star Gary Bell, who scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 19 minutes of work against the Vikings.
Regardless of what happens Saturday morning, the Chargers already have shot their way into the state record books with their prolific shooting. Kentridge opened the tournament by connecting for a single-game state record 15 3-pointers against Arlington. The Chargers continued the trend Friday morning, hitting 12 more 3-pointers and giving themselves a tournament total of 47, which easily surpasses the all-time mark of 33 established by Sehome in 1996.
Though he was well aware of his team’s shooting prowess before the season began, Kentridge coach Dave Jamison was unaware the Chargers had etched their names into the state record books.
“Wow. Sweet,” Jamison said. “We might set one that doesn’t get broke for a while.”
In the summer, however, there were indications of how good of shooting team the Chargers could be.
“In the summer, I knew the guys we had. I knew (teams) would have to pay special attention to Gary and that I had guys who could spot up and knock ’em down,” Jamison added. “Westendorf and Daniels are just money. Even the kids we have coming in off the bench can shoot it really well.”
Such was the case Friday morning.
Kentridge’s first two field goals of the game were of the 3-point variety, the first by Bell and the second by Daniels, giving the Chargers an immediate 6-3 lead. It was a lead Kentridge would not relinquish. In fact, after Puyallup tied the game 3-3 on a Dalton Daniels free throw, the Chargers went on a 21-0 run that began at the 6:24 mark of the first quarter and didn’t end until there was 7:23 remaining in the second quarter.
Westendorf scored 11 points on the spree, which helped the Chargers build a 24-3 lead.
Puyallup wouldn’t get any closer than 16 points the rest of the morning. The Vikings, who were a step behind all morning, connected on 2 of 18 3-pointers and shot just 17 percent (8 of 46) for the game.
“People are tired, still thinking about sleep and not ready to play,” Bell said. “I put the mindset in my team’s head that we had to come out and play.”
And play they did.
Nearly everyone on Kentridge’s roster scored at least one bucket. Freshman Jawan Stepney came off the bench to score 12 points and five different players hit at least one 3-pointer. Starter Caleb Smith was the lone Charger not to score, though the 6-foot-6 post player grab a team-high 9 rebounds.
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