It has been feast or famine for the Kentridge High boys basketball team all season long. Live by the 3-pointer. Die by the 3-pointer.
The Chargers did a little living Saturday morning at the Tacoma Dome, but not nearly enough to overcome Olympia in the fourth-place game. Behind a 9-0 fourth-quarter run, the Bears put away the Chargers 77-67 in the 8 a.m. Saturday morning opener.
With the loss, the Chargers (21-10) left the Tacoma Dome with a sixth-place trophy. In addition, the Chargers established a new tournament record for 3-pointers made (55) in a tournament and in a single game, connecting for 15 in the opener last week against Jackson.
Against Olympia, the Chargers hit on 9 of 23 from beyond the arc, but just 3 of their last nine, including an 0-for-3 run in the pivotal final minutes of the game.
“It’s tough. I can’t say I have another year to win a state championship,” said Kentridge’s Gary Bell, who scored 28 points and grabbed four rebounds in the loss. “I didn’t want to go out losing, but the guys did great this whole year. We still got sixth place, we’re six out of I don’t know how many 4A teams in the state. We’ve got to keep our heads up, we still got a trophy.”
Kentridge opened the game in customary hot fashion from long distance.
Bell opened the game by connecting for a 3-pointer from the top of the key, giving the Chargers an immediate 3-2 lead. Moments later, Denzel Daniels followed with another three-ball and all appeared in line for Kentridge.
Kentridge hit 6 of 14 3-pointers in the first half and went into the break trailing by just one, 33-32.
Olympia clamped down on the long-range Kentridge gunners in the second half, holding the Chargers to 3 of 9 from 3-point land.
“Usually we’re on,” said Daniels, who finished with a tournament-high 15 points against Olympia, including three 3-pointers. “We couldn’t hit most of our shots (in the second half). Olympia is a good team.”
With 2:40 remaining in the fourth quarter and the game yet to be decided, Daniels converted on a fastbreak bucket, cutting a narrow Olympia lead to 66-64. The Bears proceeded to go on a 9-0 run, which included three consecutive Kentridge misses behind the 3-point line.
“We went on a streak when we couldn’t hit a three,” said Bell, who will play next year at Gonzaga University on a full-ride scholarship. “That’s when they went on their run.”
Olympia’s run and the end result hardly put a damper on an otherwise stellar season for the Chargers.
“We were co-champs of our league, won regionals in two outstanding games … there were some huge memory builders for the kids,” said Kentridge coach Dave Jamison. “We played here for three days, broke the single-game 3-point record and hit the most 3-pointers in a tournament.
“They surpassed my expectations, but not my dreams. I had dreams we would be playing on Saturday night.”
Olympia took a 52-50 lead into the fourth quarter and proceeded to outscore the Chargers 27-15 in the final eight minutes. In addition to increasing its defensive pressure, Olympia received a huge push from Alex Weber-Brader, a 6-foot-5 guard who finished with a game-high 32 points. Weber-Brader scored 12 of his points in the final quarter.
“Olympia did what they had to do,” Jamison said. “We had to go to a zone because we couldn’t stop (Weber-Brader) and then their shooters started hitting shots.
The Bears hit three 3-pointers in the fourth.
After Bell’s 28 points and Daniels’ 15, Brendan Westendorf added 12. Kentridge point guard Roddy Hanson added five points, including a key 3-pointer in the third quarter, and three assists. Freshman Jawan Stepney came off the bench to chip in seven points.
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