Kentwood High doubles team Tess Manthou and Eliana Spero found out Friday afternoon how big of a difference a week can truly make.
The Kentwood duo played tennis together sparingly during the regular season, but joined forces a little more than a week ago for a postseason run.
That week of practice proved worthwhile for the standout Conquerors.
After taking second at last week's South Puget Sound League tournament, Manthou and Spero took the next step on Friday during the West Central District tournament at Sprinker Recreation Center in Tacoma, knocking off Tahoma's Maddie Turek and Sierra Southworth in the championship match 7-6 (3), 6-1.
Turek and Southworth upended Manthou and Spero just a week earlier, and in relatively easy fashion, 6-1, 6-4.
Kentwood wins first game against Gig Harbor and drops second to Redmond
Live Updates: State 4A baseball Playoffs | Kentwood and Tahoma
QUINCIE PROCTOR-GUYTON, KentwoodGrade: Senior.Sport: Track & Field.Accomplishment: Proctor-Guyton ran the third leg on Kentwood’s winning 4 x 100 (49.16) and 4 x 200 (1:41.53) teams… Continue reading
Tennis is in Katelyn Overland’s blood, yet the Kentridge High freshman had never been much of a fan of the sport. That is, of course,… Continue reading
The Kentwood High boys soccer team had plenty of chances Tuesday night at French Field in a Class 4A state opener against second-ranked Jackson.
Despite missing on several point-blank shots, the Conquerors were able to do just enough to knock off Jackson 4-2 in a shootout and earn a berth to the state quarterfinals.
"We had a lot of opportunities and chances inside the box," said coach Aaron Radford. "It's a big win. Jackson is a very, very nice team. They have a lot of components. We just stepped up our intensity and had the run of play the majority of the game."
Slide show from May 11 and 13 sub-district track meet at French Field.
After pulling out an ugly, error-filled game in the opening round of the district tournament last week, the Kentwood High baseball team came correct in the final two rounds of the West Central/Southwest 4A Bi-District tournament at Art Wright Field in Kent.
On Saturday, behind another strong performance by ace lefthander Kyle Doyle and steady defensive play throughout, the Conquerors turned back South Kitsap 5-0 in a semifinal game. The win helped the Conquerors earn a berth to the championship game, which was originally slated for Saturday night, but rained out.
After a day off Sunday, the Conquerors continued their momentum Monday night with a 10-2 thumping of third-ranked Puyallup for the district title.
Kentwood South Kitsap Slide Show
Kentlake isn't known for playing small ball, but on Friday night that's what earned the Falcons another fastpitch league championship banner.
In fact, Kentlake had a stretch of four games with a combined 50 runs scored, so the 4-0 victory over Spanaway Lake in which not a single run was earned for the South Puget Sound League crown was a bit out of character.
Dante Dudley had five touchdown receptions to help lead the Wyoming Cavalry to a 59-39 win over the Seattle Timberwolves Saturday in a professional Indoor Football League game in Casper, Wyo.
After pulling out an ugly, error-filled game in the opening round of the district tournament, the Kentwood High baseball team came correct Saturday afternoon at Art Wright Field in Kent.
Behind another strong performance by ace lefthander Kyle Doyle and steady defensive play throughout, the Conquerors turned back South Kitsap 5-0 in a semifinal game of the West Central/Southwest 4A Bi-District tournament.
The Kentwood High boys soccer team bounced back from its lone loss of the season in a big way Saturday afternoon.
Behind goals from Stefan Bangsund and Cody Crook along with another rock-solid defensive performance, the Conquerors turned back Federal Way 2-0 in a winner-to-state West Central/Southwest 4A Bi-District game at Art Crate Stadium in Graham.
Mr. Mad Max turned in one of the most explosive finishes of the early Emerald Downs season Friday evening.
The miracle season came to an end for the Kentridge High baseball team late Thursday night.
The Chargers could not hold on to a 3-0 lead after three innings and fell to Federal Way at Art Wright Memorial Field 5-4 in a loser-out West Central/Southwest 4A Bi-District tournament game.
Kentridge (14-9) advanced to the winner-to-state game thanks to a 7-1 victory over Kentlake Tuesday afternoon. The Chargers, however, couldn't sustain the momentum in a loss to Federal Way, which took third at state a year ago. The Chargers were trying to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 2003
It was business as usual last week for the Kentwood High girls track team.
The Conquerors, which entered the season as the favorite to win the South Puget Sound League North Division title, once again lived up to the promise last Wednesday afternoon as they put away Kent-Meridian 100-50.
The victory helped Kentwood wrap up its second consecutive North Division crown. It also is Kentwood’s second straight perfect run through league competition.
Kent-Meridian High’s Brandon Harris hasn’t peaked just yet. But the senior track standout certainly is on his way.
Harris captured titles in the 100-meter dash, the triple jump and the high jump last week, helping the Royals dispatch Kentwood 95-50 and win their second consecutive South Puget Sound League North Division title.
However, Harris wasn’t quite finished with only three individual titles on the day. He wanted more.
It wasn't pretty, but the Kentwood High baseball team (16-8) earned a state berth in its first district playoff game Tuesday night with a 15-7 win over Gig Harbor at Heritage Park in Puyallup.
"We didn't play very good defense and didn't pitch very well, but we came to hit," said Kentwood coach Jon Aarstad.
They are the self-proclaimed no names on the South Puget Sound League diamond.
After Tuesday afternoon's performance, however, the Kentridge High baseball team very well might have made a name for itself.
Behind a pinpoint pitching performance by ace righthander Ian Buckles and the perfect combination of clutch hitting to go along with spectacular defense, the Chargers turned back Kentlake 7-1 in a loser-out West Central/Southwest 4A Bi-district at Art Wright Field in Kent.
Erika Smyth thought for sure the home run she hit in the bottom of the fourth Tuesday afternoon wasn't getting out of the infield.
Instead, it carried over the center-field fence at Kentwood to give Kentlake a 4-0 lead in a first-place tiebreaker game against Tahoma.
