The Kentwood High girls basketball team may have a new coach this season, but the results have remained largely the same.
Courtney Johnson scored a team-high 20 points and Liz Mills added 17, leading the Conquerors past Rogers of Puyallup on Saturday at Auburn High, 65-55 in a West Central District III game.
With the win, the Conquerors (21-4) clinched their fifth straight state berth, their first, however, under Dean Montzingo.
“It was definitely one of our goals to get back to state,” Montzingo said. “To keep the program at the level that (previous coach) Keith (Hennig) had it at, I felt a little pressure. I wanted to keep the program in its winning ways. Keith did such a nice job building it up. I am really glad for the girls that we could continue that.”
The win over Rogers was Kentwood’s 10th in a row. In addition, it pushes the Conquerors into the semifinal round of the district tournament. Kentwood will play Bellarmine Prep at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the ShoWare Center. The winner advances to the championship game (6 p.m., Saturday, ShoWare Center) and will play the winner of the Auburn Riverside/Federal Way showdown.
Beating Rogers was no easy task for the Conquerors.
The Rams entered the fourth quarter with a slim 42-41 advantage. The Conquerors, however, saw to it that the game wouldn’t go down to the wire, outscoring the Rams 24-13 over the final eight minutes.
“We got a lot of great looks, but just couldn’t make them,” Montzingo said. “But the girls hung in there. These girls are resilient.”
Johnson’s 20-point performance was her most since scoring 23 points on Dec. 4 in a win over Kent-Meridian.
Sanda Milovic added 11 points for the Conquerors while Kylie Huerta, the team’s leading scorer at 19.3 points per game, finished with just 10.
Wednesday’s game against Bellarmine Prep will be a rematch for Kentwood, which lost to the Lions 59-40 on Dec. 30. It was Kentwood’s worse loss in more than two years.
“They were hot and we were not,” Montzingo said about the mid-season game against Bellarmine Prep.
ELSEWHERE
Bellarmine Prep 61, Kentlake 38: Kentlake’s Morganne Comstock delivered a team-high 17 points, but it wasn’t enough in a district quarterfinal loss to the Lions. The loss drops the Falcons (14-10) into the loser’s bracket of the district tournament. Kentlake will play Olympia at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Auburn High in a loser-out game.
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