Consider it payback.
Kentwood’s Josh Smith scored a team-high 22 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and blocked three shots, leading the Conquerors past Kentridge 74-54 on Tuesday night in a West Central District III loser-out boys basketball game.
The Chargers (14-10) eliminated the Conquerors (15-10) last year in a winner-to-state, loser-out game and also knocked Kentwood into the loser’s bracket of the district tournament the year before.
“The last two years, they’ve beaten us in district,” said Smith, Kentwood’s 6-foot-9, UCLA-bound center. “We had to get some revenge.”
Of course, Smith knows all too well that the Conquerors still have another win between themselves and a state berth.
On Friday at 8 p.m. at Foss High in Tacoma, Kentwood will be seeking its first state berth since 2007, when it plays Beamer (17-7). Beamer, which qualified for state for the first time last year, stunned Lincoln 56-55 in the earlier game Tuesday night to avoid elimination.
“We still have one more game,” Smith said.
Kentwood couldn’t find its shooting touch in a quarterfinal loss to Decatur last Friday night, but found its groove at the beginning on Tuesday, connecting on its first six shots and finishing the first quarter 10 of 13 from the field. The result was an instant 22-9 lead, which was built on a balanced offensive attack in which each Kentwood starter scored at least once.
“They came out and got hot (and) were hitting everything,” conceded Kentridge’s Gary Bell, who scored a game-high 27 points. “They went on a little run (in the fourth quarter) and we couldn’t stop them.”
Bell’s big night came in front of University of Washington men’s basketball coach Lorenzo Romar, who was stationed in Kentridge’s parent section the entire game.
Outside of Bell, however, the Chargers were unable to find another hot hand. Brendan Westendorf added 9 points for the Chargers while Dylan Zylstra chipped in seven.
Meanwhile, the Conquerors delivered one of their most balanced offensive performances of the season. After Smith, Jason Boyce, Tre Tyler and Alec Wilson scored 14 points apiece. Wilson, who had connected on just one 3-pointer in his previous four games combined after tying a school record with eight against Kentlake on Feb. 5, hit 4 of 6 from long range.
Despite Kentwood’s big lead, Kentridge didn’t back down, outscoring the Conquerors 15-5 in the second quarter and cutting the halftime deficit to 27-24. Kentridge, which trailed by as many as 15 points early, didn’t take its first lead until Zylstra converted a three-point play with 2:18 remaining in the third quarter, giving the Chargers a 40-39 advantage.
The Conquerors responded quickly, going on a 21-5 run that ended the third quarter and opened the fourth. During the run Smith, Tyler, Boyce and Wilson all scored at least one bucket.
Kentridge’s Bell took the season-ending loss in stride.
“I told Tre and Josh to keep it in Kent,” said Bell, who plays on the same select team as Smith. “They’re the only team out of Kent that’s going to state probably, so I told them to keep it in Kent, to bring back a trophy.”
Smith replied with class.
“I told (Bell) to keep his head up. He has got one more year,” Smith said. “If this would have been us, I’m done. So I told him to keep his head up, he should have a strong team next year.”
