It was a story of two halves, two games. Kentlake won the first and Kentridge the second, the one that mattered most.<\/p>\n
The two teams met at the Tacoma Dome on Thursday afternoon in a quarterfinal matchup of the 4A girls state basketball tournament.<\/p>\n
Kentridge won 55-44 after trailing for much of the game. The girls locked down the paint and made critical free throws to grab the victory from the No. 1 seeded Falcons.<\/p>\n
Kentridge will play Bellarmine Prep in the semifinal game at 7:15 p.m. Friday at the Dome. Kentridge is the No. 7 seed and Bellarmine the No. 6 seed. Bellarmine beat Central Valley 56-55 in its quarterfinal game.<\/p>\n
Kentlake will play Central Valley at 12:15 p.m. Friday at the Dome, and the winner will play for fourth or sixth place.<\/p>\n
The first half ended with the Falcons leading 29-15. Kentlake was hitting perimeter shots and taking it to the Charges inside. Kylee Johnson dropped in eight points and Aolani Talamaivao-Calderon seven for Kentlake. The Falcons had gone on an 18-8 run to close the second quarter.<\/p>\n
One indicator of trouble in paradise for Kentlake was Chargers center Jordan Jenkins, a freshman, had dropped in a game-high 10 points and guard Morgan Gary five. They would prove to be principle factors in the undoing of the Falcons’ quest for a state title.<\/p>\n
When the third quarter started, Kentlake’s hot hand went stone cold. Kentridge outscored the Falcons 14-2 and at the opening of the fourth frame Kentlake held a slim two-point lead.<\/p>\n
In the second half, JaQuaya Miller locked down the boards, grabbing eight defensive and two offensive for a game-high 15. Kentridge decisively took the battle of the boards for the game 37-30.<\/p>\n
The other telling statistic was in the second half Kentridge shot 11-of-25 from the field, 45.8 percent and Kentlake was 4-of-23, 17.4 percent. In the first half Kentlake shot 46.2 percent and Kentridge 33.3 percent.<\/p>\n
Both teams played high-level defense and battled inside and outside to the final ticks of the clock.<\/p>\n
Kentridge’s ability to box out and win the rebound battle once Kentlake’s shots stopped dropping, hitting timely free throws and scoring inside told the tale.<\/p>\n
Jenkins ended up with 20 points and Gary 17.<\/p>\n
For Kentlake, Gabby Bruno was Kentlake’s leading scorer with 12 and Johnson finished the game with 10. Aniston Denckla added six and lead the team with eight rebounds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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