They wanted to repeat as the Class 4A state champions.
Despite exceeding most all expectations, the Kentwood High boys basketball team didn’t quite reach that lofty status last week, falling to top-ranked Garfield and unranked Olympia in succession at Juanita High en route to being eliminated from the Class 4A state tournament.
“It’s tough for me to say we overachieved because that means we reached our goals,” said Kentwood coach Brian Davis. “Coming in to the season, I knew we were going to be able to compete for a league title. We were knocking on the door all season. And then to get second in district, that’s huge. My goal was to get back to state and we did that. We wanted to play on Saturday in March, and we didn’t do that. But we did get back to the state tournament.”
The Conquerors (17-10) entered the season in a sea of uncertainty, having graduated their top player in star Joshua Smith, now at UCLA, and with a new coach in fold after Michael Angelidis stepped down shortly after the team won last year’s state crown.
Despite the change, Kentwood opened the season with six-straight wins, which included victories over eventual state participants Jackson of Mill Creek and Auburn.
As the season unfolded, the Conquerors were unable to remain step-for-step with Auburn and Kentridge, which finished in a tie atop of the South Puget Sound League North Division. However, Kentwood bettered both of its league foes at the district tournament, taking second after picking up wins over Kentridge, Auburn and Olympia. Olympia and Kentridge remain alive in the state tournament’s Elite Eight.
“Overall, you finish top 12 in the state and get to the state tournament, that’s pretty good,” Davis said. “We didn’t get to the Dome, but we still have something to be proud of. We had a great run through districts, then met three really good teams.”
That run of “three really good teams” began with a 59-43 loss to Curtis in the championship game of the district tournament.
Kentwood’s luck didn’t improve thereafter as it drew star point guard Tony Wroten and top-ranked Garfield (22-3) in an opening-round game of the state tournament.
Wroten drained four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 29 points in putting away the Conquerors 78-48.
“He went out and did his thing,” said Kentwood forward Taylor Jones, who finished with six points in the loss. “He started out distributing the ball, then he got on a roll and was on fire.”
Kentwood got behind big early — 26-11 in the first quarter — and was unable to claw its way out. Mikell Everette led Kentwood in scoring with 10 points.
The following day, however, the Conquerors had another opportunity to earn a berth into the state’s Elite Eight. All they needed to do was upend Olympia, which the Conquerors had beaten a week earlier in the district tournament, 66-49.
After taking a 14-9 lead through the first quarter, Kentwood was unable to sustain the momentum, going into halftime tied 25-25. Olympia proceeded to take control of the game by outscoring the Conquerors 14-8 in the third quarter.
“We didn’t play our best basketball the last 3 games,” Davis said. “(Olympia) made us take tough shots, made us uncomfortable and we didn’t execute and make plays.”
Jason Boyce led Kentwood in scoring, delivering 14 points while Jones added 10.
“Coming into the game, we were feeling confident,” Jones admitted. “But we also knew that they were coming in off of a high after their win (over Monroe) and that we had to be careful.”
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