Photo by rocky ross
LIVIN LARGE. Foss was able to offset the size advantage Kentwood had with 6’10 Joshua Smith (guarding Falcon Jeremy McLain) and beat the Conquerors to advance to the state tournament.
When the state basketball tournament comes to the Tacoma Dome March 4-7, at least one boys team from the city will be there, and four others come into this week in contention for the final two spots available for teams from the West Central District.
Henry Foss took care of Kentwood Feb. 21, after having beaten Todd Beamer two nights earlier, to clinch one of the four seeds in the winner’s bracket of the district tournament.
Foss played Decatur, and Curtis faced Federal Way, on Feb. 25, to determine who will play in the district championship game Feb. 28. The championship game will determine the No. 1 and 2 seeds going to the state tournament. The losers will play for the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds.
The remaining two spots will go to the two finalists in the loser’s bracket. As of press time, Bellarmine Prep would be playing Central Kitsap, and Todd Beamer was to play Mt. Tahoma Feb. 25, with the winners advancing to the game on Feb. 27 that will determine the No. 5 seed.
The No. 4 seed will be determined that same night in a game that will pit the winner of Lincoln vs. Kentwood against the winner of Kentridge vs. Rogers.
In clinching the state spot, Foss used a combination of press defense on Kentwood’s ball-handlers, and aggressive fouls on 6-10 center Joshua Smith, who averaged 26 points a game during the season. Smith was held to 15 points, making only five of 16 free-throw attempts.
The Falcons were led LaQuam Thompson’s 19 points.
It looked like the Falcons might enjoy a comfortable victory as they led 24-13 at 5:50 in the second quarter. But Kentwood ran off 10 straight points, with Smith controlling the low post and hurting the Falcons inside.
Thompson ended the run with a jumper, but the Conquerors took a 29-26 lead at the half.
“They got that run on us, but we came out in the second half and we all knew what we had to do,” Thompson said.
Kentwood did not score a field goal in the third quarter. Foss’ relentless pressure by an array of Falcons including Thompson, Dre Sutton, Julian Cruell, Damri Lewis, Allen Brown, Jamal Byrd and Xavier Gibson made every possession by the Conquerors an exercise in frustration.
By the end of the third quarter Foss led, 39-30.
“I’m so happy for these kids,” coach Mike Cocke said. “They wanted this, and they have worked so hard.”
In other district tournament games, Mt. Tahoma lost to Curtis, after having beaten Todd Beamer in the first round.
Curtis was able to get behind the T-birds for some easy transition baskets in a fast-paced first quarter, in which there was only one possession by Curtis longer than 12 seconds.
Mt. Tahoma, known more for its up-tempo offense, moved the ball well in its set offense and shot 42 percent in the half and trailed by one, 38-37.
Neither team led by more than two points in the third quarter and at the 3:27 mark, John Barr gave the T-birds a 50-50 tie with a steal and a fast-break basket.
The T-birds were clinging to a 64-63 lead through the last minute and had possession after a traveling call on Curtis.
With 27 seconds, a bizarre ending unfolded: Josh Lord was trapped on the sideline with the ball, guarded closely by two Curtis defenders, and stepped out of bounds in front of the Mt. Tahoma bench. There was obvious contact between the Curtis defenders and Lord, but the referees, who had been allowing a lot of bumping in this game, did not call a foul, and Curtis got possession and scored with two seconds left in the game.
Curtis fans came onto the court as Mt. Tahoma was in-bounding the ball. After the floor was cleared, two seconds were put back on the clock and a desperation heave by Lord fell short, and Curtis prevailed 65-64.
Bellarmine Prep, after a first-round defeat by Kentridge, knocked Wilson out of the tournament, 75-67. The Lions avenged a loss to the Rams from earlier this season, as they outgunned Wilson, with Abdul Gaddy scoring 28, Donald Gaddy 12, and Tommy Joyce, up from the JV squad, getting 11. Jordan Coby, playing in his last game for Wilson, scored 19.
Lincoln bounced back from a first-round loss to Curtis with a 71-69 overtime win against Puyallup. Jordan Russell led the Abes with 21 points
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