Joshua Smith was given the green light on Wednesday night at the Tacoma Dome.
The green light, however, didn’t come only from his Kentwood High teammates, but from the Mead Panthers as well.
Smith delivered a dominating performance, scoring a game-high 28 points and grabbing 18 rebounds, leading the Conquerors past the Panthers 57-44 in a first-round Class 4A state boys basketball game.
Smith, Kentwood’s 6-foot-9 UCLA-bound center, has seen a variety of defenses this season. Tuesday night, however, he faced something that he hadn’t seen in quite some time – man-to-man.
“All over here (in Western Washington), I’ve seen double teams, triple teams, box-and-one, everything,” Smith explained. “It just kind of gave me the green light when they played man. Then I thought, ‘Hey, if they’re going to play man, I can go (to the hoop) every time.’”
And early on, that’s exactly what Smith did, scoring Kentwood’s first seven points en route to an immediate 7-0 lead. Tre Tyler followed with a 3-pointer and Alec Wilson followed with another, helping the Conquerors (17-10) forge an immediate 13-0 lead they would not relinquish.
“If I have single coverage, I am going to look to score,” Smith said. “Against single coverage, I feel like I can go to the hoop every time.”
With the win, Kentwood advances to an 8:30 p.m. quarterfinal matchup on Thursday night against Eastlake (18-8), which throttled Lake Stevens 69-48 in another first-round game.
While Smith did considerable damage against the Panthers, several Conquerors got into the act. Tyler chipped in eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter, and Isaiah Malvar came off the bench to add eight points. In addition to scoring 28 points and grabbing 18 rebounds, Smith showed off his passing skills as well, delivering five assists. Kentwood collected 16 assists in the win, 13 of which came in the first half. Tyler led the way with six assists
“Last year when I got the ball, our guys got stagnant,” Smith said. “Now, our guards understand that when I get the ball, I’m looking to pass first.”
Kentwood cruised to a 20-4 first-quarter lead. Mead got within nine points at 50-41 with just under two minutes remaining, but couldn’t get any closer.
The Conquerors rolled to a 35-13 advantage on 15 of 28 shooting. In comparison, the Panthers (19-7) were ice cold in the first half, hitting just 5 of 23 from the field and settling for long-range jumpers for much of the first 16 minutes.
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