There’s something about the basketball court at Auburn High that brings out the best in Kentridge guard Shaquielle McKissic.
As much was evident Saturday afternoon, when McKissic lit up Rogers of Puyallup for a game-high 19 points in leading the Chargers past the Rams 68-53 in a South Puget Sound League seeding game at Auburn High.
It was Kentridge’s fifth win in its last six games.
“I was hitting everything the last time I played at Auburn (High). I dropped 31 here … I like the court, so I was just going to let it fly and see what was going on,” said McKissic, a wiry 6-foot-3 senior guard who plays well above the rim, but also has soft enough touch from the outside to make opponents pay.
McKissic turned a 9-8 first-quarter lead into a 17-10 Kentridge advantage, scoring eight-straight points, six of which came on long 3-pointers.
“It was just flowing,” said McKissic, who also registered seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block.
With the win, the 10th-ranked Chargers (14-7) nabbed the SPSL’s No. 5 seed to the West Central District III tournament. Kentridge will play host to Bellarmine Prep at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the opening round of the district tournament. The top six teams from the 16-team district tournament advance to state, which begins March 4 at the Tacoma Dome.
Kentridge led Rogers from start to finish. After taking command in the opening quarter, the Chargers kept the Rams at an arm’s length the rest of the way. Rogers didn’t get any closer than six points the rest of the afternoon.
Part of that was due to McKissic’s big performance.
“He was awesome,” said Kentridge coach Dave Jamison. “The second half of the year, he’s just been playing great. … He’s got some dreams he wants to fulfill and he’s really stepped it up. I’m really proud of the way he’s played.”
The other part of Kentridge’s successful equation was simply spreading the wealth. Five Chargers registered double-figures in scoring: McKissic, Gary Bell (15), Laron Daniels (11), Colin Williamson (11) and Dylan Zylstra (10).
“Our guys have been really good in sharing the ball,” Jamison noted. “They want to win and they know playing together will get them where they want to go.”
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