At 6-foot-9, there isn’t an inch of the basketball floor that Kentlake’s Jeff Budinich doesn’t see.
And right now, Kentlake’s big man sees a team that’s finally clicking the way he anticipated before the season began. As much was evident Tuesday night, when Budinich delivered a team-high 24 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in leading the Falcons past Tahoma 71-47 in a South Puget Sound League North Division game.
“We’re clicking on all cylinders,” said Budinich, who will play next year at Montana State University. “We’re playing great right now.”
The win was Kentlake’s fourth straight. And, quite frankly, the run of good play couldn’t have come at a better time for the Falcons (5-7 in league, 7-8 overall), who are currently in a fight for their playoff lives.
With four league games remaining, Kentlake finds itself in a battle with Jefferson (5-8, 6-9) and Auburn Riverside (6-7, 9-8) for the fifth-and-final playoff berth from the North. The top four slots, currently held by Federal Way (10-2, 14-2), Kentwood (10-2, 12-4), Kentridge (10-3, 11-6) and Auburn (9-4, 11-4) have pretty much been decided.
That said, the road ahead remains critical for Kentlake, which plays Kent-Meridian (1-11, 1-13) Friday at the ShoWare Center in the Kent Shootout followed by the most pivotal game of its season on Tuesday against Auburn Riverside.
“We’ve got to win on Friday,” said Kentlake coach Ron Charrier. “That’s another must-have. Then we have Auburn Riverside on Tuesday. That’s another big game.”
But Tuesday’s win over Tahoma (0-12, 0-16) was just as big for the Falcons, who can’t afford another loss with league heavyweight Kentwood slated for the season finale on Feb. 6.
And the Falcons wasted little time getting down to business against the Bears, leading from start to finish. Kentlake did it with a little bit of everything as well, getting lock-down defense from forward Mike Salazar and guard Daniel Landram and physical inside play from Budinich and Carson Crooks.
Tahoma remained close early in the second quarter before Kentlake went on a 10-0 run to take a 32-18 lead.
The Bears cut the deficit to 38-26 at the half, but were unable to get any closer.
Budinich personally saw to it that the Bears wouldn’t make a late run, either. Kentlake’s senior standout scored the first six Falcon points in the fourth quarter, pushing Kentlake’s lead to 64-40 en route to the win.
“It was really big win,” Budinich said. “My team kind of underestimates (an opponent) once in a while. We had a meeting right after school and told them we couldn’t come in and do that. That we needed to put them away right away.
“And that’s what we did.”
Salazar added 16 points for the Falcons.
The win for the Falcons overshadowed another stellar performance from Tahoma super sophomore Christian Behrens, who showed a bit of everything in the loss. Behrens finished with a game-high 28 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, two dunks and several strong moves to the basket.
Behrens came into the game second in the North in scoring, averaging 20.5 points per game.
“It’s tough,” said Behrens, who also had 10 rebounds. “We have to try to not be negative. We just have to stay positive and work to get better.”
The difference in the game, however, proved to be defense, Tahoma coach Rob Morrow said.
“We were poor defensively,” he said. “We had no purpose (defensively) of what we were doing.”
ELSEWHERE: BOYS BASKETBALL
• Kentwood 56, Jefferson 45: Joshua Smith continued to outdo himself Tuesday night, scoring a career-high 40 points in leading the second-ranked Conquerors (10-2, 12-4) past the Raiders (5-8, 6-9). Smith’s previous high came on January 20, when he poured in 39 points in a win over Auburn Riverside.
• Kentridge 71, Auburn Riverside 68: Shaquielle McKissic and Gary Bell combined for 41 points, leading the Chargers (10-3, 11-6) past the Ravens (6-7, 9-8).
Ryan Rogers continued to deliver for the Ravens, scoring a game-high 29 points. Mitch Hagerty added 14 for AR, which remained one game ahead of Kentlake in the win column for fifth place in the North.
• Federal Way 63, Auburn 45: Cole Dickerson led four Eagles in double-figures, scoring 17 points as top-ranked Federal Way knocked off the Trojans (9-4, 11-4). Jeff Gouveia led Auburn with 11 points.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
• Kentlake 81, Tahoma 45: The Falcons (7-5, 10-6) posted a season-high in scoring, getting 24 points from Morganne Comstock and 18 from Brona Nienow in a win over the Bears (3-9, 5-11). Kentlake can clinch a playoff berth with one more win.
Brittani Reiterman led the Bears with 14 points.
• Kentwood 61, Jefferson 46: The second-ranked Conquerors (11-0, 15-0) continued to cruise, getting 13 points from Kylie Huerta, 12 from Jessie Genger and 10 from Courtney Johnson in a win over the Raiders (8-4, 11-4). Jefferson’s Hannah Kiyohara led all scorers with 24 points.
• Auburn Riverside 84, Kentridge 22: The Ravens (10-3, 12-5) made quick work of the Chargers (1-11, 2-14), bolting out to a 19-2 first quarter lead and never looking back. AR’s Makenna Clark led all scorers with 26 points. Mercedes Wetmore added 20 points for the Ravens.
Kelli Suguro paced the Chargers with 10 points.
