KENT-MERIDIAN<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Coach: <\/strong>James Olive, first year<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Last year\u2019s record:<\/strong> 3-5 in the South Puget Sound League Northeast 4A, 10-9 overall<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Returning starters: <\/strong>Romaine Jackson, senior; Jalani Bell sr.; Mahlik Hall sophomore; Markel Banks, junior<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Top newcomers: <\/strong>Tre\u2019Jordan Fuentas-Williams, soph.; Kevin Ford, jr.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Strengths: <\/strong>Will rely on a strong backcourt with Jackson, Bell and Hall and consistent shooting from Banks. \u201cOur defense will be the key to our success,\u201d Olive said. \u201cWe will have to rely on pressure and quickness.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Weaknesses: <\/strong>Lack of size in the front court. Tallest player is senior Joshua Campbell, 6-foot-3.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Outlook: <\/strong>\u201cShould be a very competitive team. What we lack in size we will make up in aggressiveness, determination and pride,\u201d Olive said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n KENTRIDGE<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Coach: <\/strong> Dave Jamison, 16th year, record at KR: 246-130, career record: 291-159.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Last year\u2019s record:<\/strong> 10-3, second place SPSL 4A NE; 19-7 overall, fifth place West Central District III 4A, 4A state regional appearance<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Returning starters: <\/strong>Joran Ticeson, sr. 6-7, forward; Elijah Ticeson, sr., 6-2, guard; Ethan Walker, sr., 6-4, forward; AJ Chappell, jr., 5-6, point guard<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Top newcomers:<\/strong> Tanner Conner, sr., 6-4, forward; Dawson Duff, sr., 6-3, forward; Juwuan Brown-Harris, sr., 5-10, guard; Matt McVicker, jr., 5-9, guard; Will Johnson, soph., 6-0, guard; Jett Briceno, freshman, 6-4, forward<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Strengths:<\/strong> Experience and depth inside.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Weaknesses:<\/strong> Guard play, toughness and leadership.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n KENTWOOD<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Coach: <\/strong>Blake Solomon, fourth year<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Last year\u2019s record: <\/strong>12-1, first place SPSL 4A NE; 24-5, sixth place in 4A state<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Returning players:<\/strong> Darius LuBom, jr.; Rayvaughn Bolton, jr.; Davonte Sanchez, sr.; Connor Benson, sr.; Sam Kramer, sr.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Top newcomers:<\/strong> Beau Roggenbach, jr.; Koby Huerta, jr.; Jared Goldwire, sr.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Outlook: <\/strong>\u201cWe took sixth place in state last year and we return two starters. We also return key reserves as well as multiple newcomers who will produce at a high level. We play a tough non-league schedule early that will prepare us for league and playoffs later in the season. If this group can continue to get better each day and not shortcut the process, we will have a chance to accomplish even more than we did last season. We should vie for league and district titles,\u201d Solomon said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Strengths: <\/strong>\u201cStrengths are in our experience. We have four guys who played heavily in our state tournament run. We return our backcourt from a season ago. We are an athletic group who has a lot skill. We will rely on unselfish offense and are ability to full court press and play half court pressure defense. We share the ball extremely well and defend hard,\u201d Solomon said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Weaknesses: <\/strong>\u201cWe lost the reigning MVP of our league as well as our other starting front court players. We will need to prove that we can play physical down low and rebound at a high rate. If we can continue to win the rebound battle like we did a lot last season, we could have a very successful year,\u201d Solomon said.\u00a0 <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n KENTLAKE<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Coach: <\/strong>Godfrey Drake, fourth year<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Last year\u2019s record:<\/strong> 2-6, fourth place SPSL 4A NE; 15-11 overall<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Returning starters: <\/strong>Kevin Baker, sr.; Julion Mackey, sr.; Larry Alar, jr.; Austin McBryde, sr.; Trey Helgeson, sr.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Top newcomers: <\/strong>Justin Olson, sr.; Michael Alar, fresh.; Jarese Eddie, fresh.; Garrett Eversole, fresh.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Strengths: <\/strong>\u201cJulion Mackey and Kevin Baker are matchup nightmares for other teams. Larry Alar and Austin McBryde form as tough a backcourt as you will find in high school basketball. We also play pressure defense for four quarters and that\u2019s our identity,\u201d Drake said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Weaknesses: <\/strong>\u201cLeadership is our weakness. We have guys learning to be leaders on the fly but I believe that they will figure it out,\u201d Drake said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Outlook:<\/strong> \u201cWe should be very solid defensively and our tempo should make games very exciting for our fans. Our work ethic and attention to detail will determine if we make a playoff appearance for the second year in a row. Every team should be chasing a state championship and we are definitely a team with those championship aspirations,\u201d Drake said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2013 Heidi Sanders<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A look at the four Kent boys basketball teams this season<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-11071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11071"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11071\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11071"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=11071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}