The 3-point well ran dry for the Kentridge High boys basketball team Thursday afternoon.
Just days after torching Arlington and Auburn with a barrage of 3-pointers in the opening two rounds of the Class 4A state tournament, the Chargers couldn’t buy a bucket down the stretch in a quarterfinal game against Gonzaga Prep.
Chris Sarbaugh scored a team-high 22 points and teammate Parker Kelly added 20, leading the Bullpups past the Chargers 72-60 at the Tacoma Dome.
Kentridge, which connected on 28 of 50 3-point attempts in back-to-back wins to open the tournament, hit 7 of 20 Thursday afternoon, but was just 1 of 10 in the pivotal second half.
“They played tough defense and collapsed when we tried to penetrate with the ball,” said Kentridge star Gary Bell, who scored a team-high 22 points despite having few good looks at the basket. “We had been shooting the ball well. Today we really didn’t shoot that great … and that hindered us from playing good. When we shoot the ball, we can beat anybody.”
Kentridge hit on 21 of 53 shots (39.6 percent) for the game.
The loss drops Kentridge (20-9) into a consolation-round game against Puyallup (21-8) at 10:30 Friday morning. Puyallup lost to top-ranked Garfield 90-80. Kentridge lost to Puyallup 61-60 on Feb. 11 in a South Puget Sound League seeding game. Gonzaga Prep (21-3) moves on to play Garfield (23-3) at 5:30 p.m. Friday. If the Chargers win, they will play in the fourth-place game at 8 a.m. Saturday morning.
“We’ve still got another game tomorrow and have to come out hard,” Bell said.
The Chargers came out plenty hard Thursday afternoon as they took an 11-8 lead, a run that was highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers, one from Denzel Daniels and the other from Brendan Westendorf.
Kentridge’s lead grew to 17-12 after another Daniels 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining in the opening quarter. After the first quarter, however, Kentridge went on to hit just 4 of its next 20 3-point attempts.
Gonzaga Prep’s relentless defense was the difference, Kentridge coach Dave Jamison said.
“That’s probably the most physical guard play I’ve seen,” he said. “They did a good job posting as well, getting the shots they wanted. They’re not tall and they’re not heavy, but they’re pretty strong.”
The Bullpups were on the brink of pulling away, leading 35-30 with 2:00 left in the half when Bell hit what would be his lone 3-pointer of the game, cutting the deficit to two. Westendorf followed with a 3-pointer and Daniels added an inside bucket, helping the Chargers go into halftime tied, 38-38. Daniels scored 10 points in the half, and finished with 12 for the game.
Gonzaga Prep ripped off an 11-4 run to open the third quarter to take a 51-44 lead. Scarbaugh scored six and Kelly added four on the run. None of the Bullpups’ field goals during the spurt came from outside.
Gonzaga Prep outscored Kentridge 20-12 in the third quarter. The Bullpups increased the defensive pressure during the quarter, when the Chargers went 0-for-3 from behind the stripe, connected on just three field goals and turned the ball over four times.
The Chargers were unable to get any closer than seven points the rest of the afternoon.
“They’re good together as a team,” said Westendorf, who finished with 13 points. “They set screens for each other and move around and cut well and got a lot of open shots.
“They were just a little too physical for us and we got frustrated at the end.”
The difference in the game was slowing down Bell, Gonzaga Prep coach Matty McIntyre said.
“The key, I think, you’ve got to do something with Gary Bell. The guy’s very special,” the coach said. “Our kids battled and played their absolute tails off.”
Bell, who was playing with a bruised hip, connected on 6 of 19 shots, including 1 of 7 from 3-point land, and was 9 of 12 from the line.
None of his points, however, came easy.
“It’s not an excuse, but he got a thigh bruise the other day and couldn’t walk on Sunday,” Jamison said. “He took treatment on Monday and Wednesday … he wasn’t 100 percent, but I think he was moving OK. I give more credit to their defense.”
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