Conks and Falcons take games to the Dome | 4A State Tourney

The Kentwood boys and Kentlake girls played under the bright lights at the Tacoma Dome in the 2016 Hardwood Classic 4A basketball championships.

Both teams made the Elite Eight and hit the hoops March 3.

The Conks finished second losing in the championship game 66-54 to the defending champions Federal Way Eagles.

Kentwood

The Kentwood boys may have surprised a few doubters, but not themselves. The Conks played top shelf basketball from the opening bell Friday against Issaquah in the quarterfinal round to the championship game against Federal Way.

The Conquerors guard Darius Lubom said after beating Issaquah the opening night of the tournament the team was confident it could make a run for the championship.

The team did make a run and nearly handed the undefeated Eagles its first loss.

Kentwood had the Eagles against the ropes for much of the game with its battle-tested defense and inside game.

At the half the Conks led 29-25.

Kentwood’s Rayvaughn Bolton, who was named WIAA Athlete of the Week coming into the tournament, led the scoring with 14 points.

The Conks were leading on the boards with Kentwood taking down 15 and the Eagles 14. Kentwood had 12 defensive rebounds and three offensive.

In the second half the Eagles Ferron Flavors and Christian Jones began hitting shots and the battle of the boards tilted to Federal Way 35-24.

The Conks shot 41.7 percent, 25 percent from three-point range and 62.5 percent free throws.

Kentwood played Curtis in the semifinals winning 66-59.

The Conks had lost to Curtis 66-63 in the subdistrict tournament Feb. 6.

This time losing was not on their mind.

“We had all the confidence in the world,” Lubom said after the game. “We knew we could do this.”

Lubom led all scoring with 21 points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals.

Davonte Sanchez hit 19, Koby Huerta 13 and Bolton 10.

Kentwood and Curtis split 14-14 in the first quarter, but in the second the Conks hit 13 to the Vikings 10.

In the third Kentwood put the wraps on Curtis with 24 points to 19 for the Vikings.

Curtis outscored Kentwood in the fourth 16-15, but Kentwood made the defense stops to salt the game away.

Coach Blake Solomon said, “Our guys just stuck with it, emotionally and mentally, and made sure they finished.”

Soloman said once the boys got the win against Issaquah in the first round the team “got their legs under them (against Curtis) and they fought and that’s what it came down to.”

Kentwood shot a hot 56 percent for the game. In the first half the Conks hit 44 percent but in the second half they threw in 68 percent. From three-point land the team hit 30 percent and 41.2 from the free throw line.

Curtis shot 37.9 percent, 22.2 for three-point shots and 57.9 from the line.

Kentwood hurt Curtis in the paint scoring 44 to 24.

The score was tied six times and the lead changed six times.

Issaquah gave Kentwood a very tough test before the Conks took the victory 57-51.

Kentwood played from behind for much of the game and the team was 10 points in the hole by the end of the first half.

When the boys came out for the third it was a different story from the opening bell. The Conks went on a 13-2 run to take the lead 33-32.

The lead switched back and forth for the rest of the game until the closing minutes. The Conks defense forced several turnovers, along with a couple of timely three-point shots that lifted the game into Kentwood’s hands.

Kentlake

The Falcons lost both games at the state championship tournament. The good news is Kentlake is a very young team. Its leading scorer and sparkplug, junior Sydney Peterson, along with its other top scorers – sophomore Aniston Denckla, junior Kylee Johnson and Jada Leonard, also a junior – gained valuable experience that can pay dividends in a run for the title next season.

The girls proved during the regular season and in the district and regional tournament they have the Kentlake grit to join the fight and find a way to win.