A state berth was within reach of the Kentlake High girls basketball team on Saturday night at Foss High.
The Falcons, however, couldn’t hold on long enough to seize the opportunity.
Jordan Asher scored a game-high 22 points, leading Rogers of Puyallup past Kentlake 61-53 in a West Central District III loser-out, winner-to-state game.
Kentlake (15-11) held a 15-point lead early in the third quarter, but was unable to hang on.
The loss was heartbreaking, especially when considering what was on the line, Kentlake coach Scott Simmons said.
“(A state berth) was there,” Simmons said. “We gave up 40 points in the second half. I don’t know that we’ve done that all season long.”
The Falcons were trying to grab their first state berth since 2007. Kentlake was well on its way, too, taking a 33-21 lead into halftime and pushing it to 15 points early in the third quarter.
Midway through the third quarter, however, Rogers went on a 10-0 run to take the momentum.
Rogers took a 47-44 lead with less than six minutes remaining on a 3-pointer from Asher.
“We had a hand in her face and we were closing in on her every time,” Simmons said. “She’s just a great shooter.”
Making the loss even more difficult to swallow was the fact that the Falcons were playing the game in memory of former teammate Carly Stowell, who led Kentlake to state as a freshman in 2007. Stowell died of arrhythmia in the summer of 2007. This would have been her senior season.
“It was a successful season for the school, for the community and everybody involved. It was a good season even though we didn’t make it to the state tournament,” Simmons said. “But for myself and I think for the seniors, we didn’t feel like we quite got it done.”
Morganne Comstock, as she has all season long, led the Falcons with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Teammate Riley Butler added 17 points and eight rebounds while Jessica Barnes chipped in eight.
Despite the loss, the 15 wins is the most Kentlake has posted during Simmons’ five-year tenure. Kentlake will graduate five seniors from this team — Comstock, Butler, Cody Sisco, Katie Bubsey and Meliame Leua — four of whom are starters.
“I am losing a lot of kids and a lot of production, but I have faith in the kids who are on the team now. There’s some talent (returning),” Simmons said.
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