They didn’t hit a field goal in the entire fourth quarter. They were flustered an unable to get into a rhythm all evening long. But when the final whistle sounded Friday night, the Kentwood High girls basketball team still had a victory in hand.
Junior guard Liz Mills delivered a season-high 22 points, helping the fifth-ranked Conquerors fend off Kentlake 50-42 in a South Puget Sound League North Division game.
“This win is very key,” Mills said. “It does a lot for our confidence and I think we will be feeling a lot better going into Auburn Riverside knowing we have another win under our belt.”
The win helped the Conquerors (6-1 in league, 7-2 overall) break a second-place tie with Kentlake (5-2, 8-3). Top-ranked Auburn Riverside (7-0, 11-0) remained at the head of the SPSL North, beating Auburn Friday night 57-33.
Kentlake certainly gave Kentwood all it could handle, holding the Conquerors to just five points in the final quarter, all of which came on free throws. Kentlake’s size advantage also kept the Conks from getting many easy inside shots.
“We were frustrated. We didn’t knock down some of the shots we normally do and we didn’t make some smart plays,” said first-year Kentwood coach Dean Montzingo.
Kentlake held Kentwood’s Kylie Huerta, who entered the night averaging a league-best 20.5 points per game, to 11 points. On the flipside, however, the Falcons converted just 11 of 21 at the free-throw line and committed 22 turnovers.
“If we could have just made our freethrows, we could have been ahead,” lamented Kentlake’s Morganne Comstock, who scored team-high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds. “It’s just a tough game that we have to learn from. We keep improving, taking steps and getting better.”
Comstock came into the game second to Huerta in the league in scoring, averaging 19.2 points per game.
Kentwood was unable to shake Kentlake the entire night, taking a slim 27-25 lead into halftime on a Mills layup.
“She was huge,” Montzingo said. “She really stepped it up and took advantage of some things.”
In the third quarter, it was the Eastern Washington University-bound Comstock’s turn to be huge. The Kentlake senior scored 9 of her 16 points in the quarter, including a 10-foot jumper that tied things at 27-27.
It was the last time the Falcons would even things up with the Conquerors. Kentwood followed with a 6-0 run, getting buckets from Maddison Rankin, Courtney Johnson and Kylie Huerta to take a 33-27 lead with 5:15 left in the third.
Every time Kentwood appeared to be pulling away, however, Kentlake bounced back. Comstock followed with a 3-pointer and a layup, cutting the deficit to 33-32. Kentwood responded with a 7-1 run, highlighted by a 3-pointer from Allison Newcomb to take a 40-33 advantage with 1:34 left in the third. Kentlake cut the deficit to 40-35 on a Cody Sisco bucket, but was unable to get any closer the rest of the night.
The Conquerors converted 5 of 6 free throws in the final eight minutes to seal the victory.
“We’re so close. So close. I am so proud of these kids,” said Simmons, whose team was playing the second of three games against three of the state’s top three teams – Federal Way, Kentwood and Tuesday’s showdown against Auburn Riverside. “We’re going to get there.”
It was Kentwood’s fourth win in its last five games.
“I think (the Falcons) were definitely motivated to beat us,” Montzingo said. “I knew they’d have a lot of energy. This was a game for second place and both teams were motivated.”
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