None of the little things went Kentwood’s way on Feb. 23 against Garfield in the regional round of the boys 4A state basketball tournament at Juanita High.
Garfield raced out to a 19-10 lead in the first quarter and though Kentwood battled back, the Conquerors just couldn’t find a way to build on the leads they got against the Bulldogs, losing 63-59.
Kentwood had strategies about the little things, head coach Brian Davis explained in an email on Monday.
“Against Garfield, often times you go into games like that with specific ideas about keys to the game like controlling the boards, winning the transition battle, and maximizing possessions,” Davis wrote. “For the majority of the game we did a great job. Against a good team like us, or Garfield you must win those areas at critical times. Unfortunately on Friday, those critical moments usually went to them.”
Early in the second quarter Austin Benson got the bucket and the foul. He converted the three point play at the line to cut the lead to 22-17. Taylor Jones drove baseline on the next possession to cut it to three followed by a bucket from Isaiah Malvar to trim the lead to one.
With 1:15 left in the first half Malvar took it down the floor in transition and tied the score at 25-25 but Garrett Hopper of Garfield drained a three with 14 seconds on the clock to give the Bulldogs a 28-25 advantage at halftime.
Much of the second was a battle of back and forth between the Bulldogs and the Conks. There were eight lead changes and five ties in the game.
During the first four minutes of the fourth quarter Kentwood struggled to score.
Jones scored with 3:51 left to tie it at 49-49, then Garfield turned the ball over, followed by a bucket and free throw by Austin Weiher to give Kentwood a 52-49 lead.
From there, though, Garfield’s Trevaunte Williams and Tucker Haymond took over. Williams had eight of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. Haymond led all scorers with 19 in the game. Both players are juniors and both are listed at 6-foot-5. Pierre Wright added 12 points for the Bulldogs.
“I thought it was a well played game with a high level of energy, tremendous atmosphere, and competitiveness,” Davis wrote. “Both teams really sold out and that is what you want to see.”
Jeremy Smith led Kentwood with 18 points, Malvar had 10, Benson chipped in eight and Jones had six.
It was a disappointing end to a strong season for the Conks but Davis was proud of the team.
“The season went very well,” Davis wrote. “The guys really came on down the stretch of the season (the) last 15 games, last two weeks. Winning a league title, winning 18 games, getting to ‘state’ (regionals) are all great accomplishments. I was really impressed with how our seniors were tremendous leaders and really competed as a unit to show how much it meant to them. They provided great examples for the underclassmen to follow.”
