Dominant down low, the Kentridge girls basketball team covered the full court to seize a breakaway win and gain some momentum for their third consecutive trip to state.
The second-ranked Chargers (24-2) used muscle and quickness to smother Inglemoor of Kenmore 64-49 in a 4A regional playoff at Auburn Mountainview High School on Saturday that determined seeding for this week’s Hardwood Classic at the Tacoma Dome.
Kentridge opens state play at 9 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals against either top-seeded Woodvinville or No. 9 Sunnyside. Those team square off in an elimination game at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
As they have done throughout the season, the Chargers’ one-two inside punch led the way.
JaQuaya Miller, a 6-foot-4 senior bound for the University of Washington, scored 24 points and grabbed 20 rebounds – her first 20-20 game of the season – and 6-1 junior Jordyn Jenkins, a top recruit, had 18 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots for Kentridge.
As effective as the tall towers were, Kentridge’s three-quarters-court trap forced turnovers and pushed the tempo to feed a second-half flurry that put away Inglemoor.
The Chargers ruled the boards and won the transition game.
“We needed to make sure that our defensive intensity funnels into our offense,” said Kentridge coach Brad McDowell.
“We knew Inglemoor was a really good offensive rebounding team, or at least they really attacked the glass,” McDowell added. “We really wanted to make sure that we were boxing out. … We didn’t do a good job of that in the first half, and that was a point of emphasis at the beginning of the game, and we highlighted it again (at halftime).”
Kentridge broke out to an early 11-point lead before Inglemoor went on a closing 9-4 run to pull within 30-26 at halftime.
But the Chargers stormed back, with Miller and Jenkins scoring 13 of the team’s 21 points in the third quarter that opened a 51-36 lead heading into the final period. Kentridge expanded the lead to 20 points midway through the fourth quarter and cruised the rest of the way.
Kentridge is primed for state and a shot to win its second state title in three years.
“It’s not what we do, it’s how we do it,” Miller said of the win.
The Chargers appear confident going into state, but Miller and her teammate refuse to get ahead of themselves.
“You can always be better,” she said.
Her coach agrees.
“We can always improve,” McDowell said. “We are executing well on offense … and defensively, we want to change up every once in awhile. On both ends of the floor there’s always tweaks we can do, but heading into where we want do be, I think we’re right on track. Obviously, it’s going to take big effort. We’re going to be on the tougher side of the brackets … so we have to come ready to play every single minute of every single game that we have.”
Dayla Ballena, Hana McVikcer and Kiernan Denckler each scored seven points for Kentridge.
Jenna Troy and Abby Haller each had 11 points for the Vikings (20-6), who open the state playoffs against Rogers of Puyallup in an elimination game at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
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