Kentridge, Zylstra zap Kent-Meridian

A slow start turned into a fast finish Friday night for the Kentridge High boys basketball team.

Behind a season-high 28 points from Dylan Zylstra and another strong performance from guard Gary Bell, the Chargers turned back Kent-Meridian in a South Puget Sound League North Division basketball game, 73-59.

“This is about what we thought we’d see,” said Kentridge coach Dave Jamison. “They’re (Kent-Meridian) really quick and play hard. They’ve got a couple of guys who can score. We hadn’t been playing very well and hadn’t had a game in awhile. But we’ve been practicing well, so I’m happy with the team coming out.”

Kent-Meridian (1-5 in league, 1-7 overall) jumped to a quick lead in the first quarter before Kentridge’s Bell gave the Chargers (5-1 league, 6-4 overall) a 16-14 advantage with less than a minute left in the quarter. He finished with 19 points.

Kentridge built a 42-31 halftime lead and limited the Royals to just 28 points in the second half, courtesy of a suffocating full-court press.

Laron Daniels and Colin Williamson added eight points apiece for the Chargers.

“We knew they would be physical and we knew they would be aggressive,” Zylstra said. “We knew we would have to play as a team and not get down on each other and just run the floor, do as we’re taught and finish strong. And I think that’s what we did.”

Barento Ahmed led the Royals with 17 points while Marlowe Brim (12) and Brandon Harris (10) also reached double figures.

“These guys have a lot of pride and they’ve watched the teams the last couple of years,” Jamison said. “We’ve talked about not being the team that starts the slide down. So we’re pretty happy with our league play so far.”

Kentridge, at No. 8 in the current Class 4A state rankings, is one of four SPSL North teams in the top 10. The others are No. 3 Federal Way, No. 5 Auburn and No. 9 Kentwood.

The Chargers’ only league loss this season was a 69-65 decision to Auburn on Dec. 9. Four days later, Kentridge shocked the previously No. 1 ranked Federal Way Eagles, beating them, 67-66.

“We’re about where we thought we’d be, but we’re hoping to strive for a little better,” Zylstra said. “We beat No. 1 Federal Way and that helped. We need to work on being aggressive because we’re going to be outsized most of the time with our biggest guy being 6-6 and me at 6-4. But we have to keep going strong.”

ELSEWHERE:

• Auburn 71, Tahoma 44: The Fifth-ranked Trojans (6-2 league, 8-2 overall) put a hurting on Tahoma (0-7 league, 0-11 overall) on Saturday. The Trojans limited the Bears to just 16 first-half points. Jeff Gouveia had a game-high 22 points for the Trojans, with Christian Behrens adding 18 points for Tahoma.

• Auburn 67, Auburn Riverside 66: The Trojans survived a scare from cross-city rival Auburn Riverside (3-4 league, 5-5 overall). The Trojans overcame a 35-24 halftime deficit to sock away the SPSL North win. Gouveia led Auburn with 22 points, and Isaiah Johnson added 15. The Ravens were led by junior Ryan Rogers with a game high 26 points and Mitch Hagerty chipped in with 19.

• Kentwood 62, Kentlake 47: Kentwood junior Joshua Smith poured in a season-high 36 points to lift the Conquerors (5-1 league, 6-3 overall) past Kentlake (1-5 league, 3-6 overall). The Falcons were led by Jeff Budinich with 24 points.

GYMNASTICS

Tahoma’s Brianna McKenney was the all-around winner last week in a three-way SPSL meet between the Bears, Auburn Mountainview and Decatur. at McKenney who notched 34.65 all-around points, winning the bars with an 8.4, and the vault, with a 9.1. McKenney also placed third on the beam and second on the floor exercise. In the team competition, Tahoma placed second with 151.1 points. Auburn Mountainview won with 155.9 points. Lexi Matthews finished third for the Bears on the bars with a 7.1 score, and Kayla Kershner was third in the all-around with 30.95. Host team Decatur finished third with 133.5. Emerald Ridge was scheduled to compete but did not show because of the weather. … Kentwood finished second in a quad meet featuring the Conquerors, Kentridge, Federal Way and Olympia. The Conks were paced by a one-two all-around finish with Jamie Larsen taking home first with 34.45 points and Alex Perez finishing second with 32.55 points. Olympia finished first in the team competition with 152.7 points, followed by Kentwood with 147.45, Federal Way with 145.05 and Kentridge with 139.85.