It was the third time this season the Falcons and Chargers met on hardwood, and the game was every bit as tough and tense as it was billed to be.
The Kentlake and Kentridge high school girls basketball teams battled for the 4A North Puget Sound League Cascade Division top seed Tuesday at Auburn Mountainview after the teams tied for first in the regular season. Kentlake came out with 34-26 victory securing the top seed going into the sub-district tournament Saturday.
The Falcons and Chargers came into the game with 13-1 division records and 19-2 overall. Each team had beaten the other during the regular season. Kentlake won 52-45 on Dec. 16 and the Chargers beat the Falcons 50-33 on Jan 20.
The tiebreaker game was a low scoring, defensive slug fest. The Falcons fell behind 11-5 early before the girls found their groove. By the half the Falcons squeaked out a 17-14 advantage.
After the break the Chargers jumped out to the front in the third with 21-19 lead. But as the third frame came to a close the Falcons tied the score at 23. The 23-all knot was finally broken at the 6 minute, 35 second mark in the fourth when Kentlake’s Gabby Bruno knocked down a free throw.
The two teams fought it out in the paint over the next six minutes, with the Falcons clinging to a narrow lead until the closing minute when the team widened the gap.
“I am so proud of every single one of our kids,” said Kentlake Coach GC Hillburn. “They played a very good team today; this was a team that really smacked them up the last time we played them. I’m so proud of the way they fought and the way they responded. It’s really about them. I have a ton of great players and they fought their tails off today.”
Hillburn said the team prides itself on its defense, which was the winning equation for the Falcons in this third match with the Chargers.
“We really pride ourselves on how much effort and how much detail we put into how we are defensively and these kids got it done,” Hillburn said.
Kentlake junior forward Aniston Denckla said the game was both, “fun and challenging. Kentridge is a great opponent and they really bring out our character and our strength. It was very physical down there in the post but we worked hard and it really paid off.”
Kentlake will play Auburn Riverside, the No. 1 seed from the Olympic Division, at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Auburn Riverside High School for the top two seeds to the West Central/Southwest district tournament. The Ravens took the Olympic Division title after beating Todd Beamer 51-41 at Auburn Mountainview prior to the Kentlake-Kentridge game.
Kentridge will play Todd Beamer at 2 p.m. Saturday at Auburn Riverside for the third and fourth seeds to the district tournament.
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