Owen Paznokas is a tall force on the basketball floor who aspires to be a filmmaker.
All-purpose Jeremy Banks is a playmaker who knows his script.
Together, they joined a supporting Kentridge cast to star on the playoff stage Saturday night.
Paznokas, a 6-foot-4 junior forward, scored 20 points, and Banks, a 6-foot senior guard, erupted for 14 second-half points as Kentridge ousted Mariner of Everett 64-50 in a 4A regional boys basketball playoff at Auburn Mountainview High School.
The ninth-seeded Chargers (20-7) – with their first regional playoff win since 2014, the last time they made it to state – join the final field of 12 at the Tacoma Dome this week. Kentridge opens state play at the Hardwood Classic against Battle Ground (18-9) in an elimination-round game at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The Chargers beat Battle Ground 63-54 on their home court back on Dec. 1.
The Marauders, the No. 16 seed, finished the season 14-10.
Kentridge, the North Puget Sound League Cascade Division champion, is peaking at the right hour, so says Paznokas. The Chargers hope to play into March, something they haven’t done in five years.
“Tonight we were coming in with a lot of motivation to win this game,” said Paznokas, who wishes to play more basketball in college and attend film school, preferably on the West Coast. “Even though they were the 16th seed, none of us could really do anything about that. We just wanted to come out and give it 100 percent, and that’s what we did.”
Added Banks: “We realized we only have one shot to get to the Dome, and the Dome has been our goal the whole year. We felt if we came out strong in the second half … and rise together, we could get the win.”
Paznokas started quickly, scoring eight points during a first half filled with erratic shooting and turnovers by both teams. He and Banks made an impact in the second half, combining for 17 points during a decisive 24-10 run that broke a 31-31 tie with three minutes left in the third quarter and ended with a 55-41 gap late in the fourth.
Paznokas scored freely down low, and Banks was effective all over the court, making five steals and grabbing seven rebounds in the game while igniting the second-half scoring spree. He also contained the Mariners’ lightning quick guard, Edwin Bouah, who finished with a team-high 17 points, with only seven coming in the second half.
“He’s a pretty good player,” Banks said of Bouah. “He can go both ways (to the rim) … that’s what made him good. My coaches put faith in me to guard him, and I stepped up to the challenge to get the win.”
Banks, a versatile big-playmaker in football, a sport he will continue to perform on scholarship at Central Washington University next fall, is powerful inside with a good shooter’s touch from the outside. He drilled a pair of baseline 3-pointers during the Chargers’ run.
“He doesn’t want to look bad. I put him on their best guy, and he responded. He wants to step up and do that,” Kentridge coach Dave Jamison said of Banks. “Offensively, sometimes he’s hit and miss, but he’s been shooting the ball well. I was real happy with the way he took the ball strong to the basket and made good decisions with it.
“Sometimes he gets a little greedy and goes for steals when he shouldn’t, but sometimes he gets those. It’s hard to tell him not to do it but … he’s a strong, quick, aggressive kid,” Jamison said. “He does way more good than he does bad. Some nights it doesn’t go as well, but it went well tonight. He carried us in the second half. It was good to see.”
Jamison knows the way to state. In 19 seasons at Kentridge, he has led the Chargers there six times, coming up short in the 2007 finals. This year’s bunch found a way.
“We talked about being patient. Emotions run high in these type of games,” Jamison said. “I thought we were a little quick with the trigger in the first. In the second half, I thought we moved the ball a lot better. We found Owen down inside, and we’re always better when we share and do that.”
To his credit, Paznokas played well with three fouls late in the second half.
“A lot of times I see myself in foul trouble (facing quicker or bigger players),” he said, “so I am used to that situation and I kind of know how to adapt to it.”
Jett Briceno, a 6-3 senior, scored 11 points for Kentridge.
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