The Kentridge High boys basketball team wasn’t given much credit before the winter season began.
Having returned just one starter from last year’s team, due credit can start rolling in for the ninth-ranked Chargers. Behind Shaquielle McKissic’s 20 points and 15 from sophomore sensation Gary Bell, Kentridge stunned Kentwood 51-41 Friday night at Auburn High in a West Central District III game.
The 41 points is a season-low for Kentwood.
With the win, the Chargers (17-8) nabbed the district’s fourth seed to the state tournament. Seventh-ranked Kentwood (19-7) was eliminated.
“This is a big win,” said Bell, the team’s lone returning starter this season. “Nobody expected us to do this in the beginning of the year (we were picked to finish) sixth in our league and then, all of our players worked hard all season to get us where we are.”
Bell lit the Chargers’ fuse early, torching the Conquerors for eight first-quarter points.
“It’s amazing. Just amazing,” said McKissic, who led the Chargers past Rogers in a loser-out game just two days earlier. “It started off this summer. We always said we were going to make it (to state). Then we lost by two to Decatur (Feb. 25). I was not going to let that happen again.”
And McKissic didn’t.
Especially in the second quarter, when he scored nine straight points for the Chargers, highlighted by a steal he flushed home with a right-handed jam. McKissic’s nine-point run helped the Chargers go into the halftime break with a 23-19 advantage. McKissic returned in the third quarter and showed he’s not all about scoring, delivering consecutive assists to forward Colin Williamson underneath the hoop as Kentridge’s lead swelled to 27-19.
“McKissic’s awesome. He is awesome,” said Kentridge coach Dave Jamison. “He’s aggressive and athletic. And he doesn’t lack confidence. He not only has confidence in himself, but in his teammates. And he made things happen.”
Kentridge took command with a 10-1 run to open the second half.
And while Kentridge’s play from Bell and McKissic proved vital, so too did the defense Williamson and Zylstra provided on Joshua Smith, Kentwood’s 6-foot-9, 285-pound force in the paint.
Smith finished with a team-high 18 points along with 13 rebounds and three blocks. The 6-4 Zylstra and 6-6 Williamson sandwiched the big guy all night, keeping Smith from getting many good looks.
Struggling to find the right words, Smith was classy in defeat.
“They came, they brought it,” said Smith, whose team lost in this same round of the district tournament and on the same court as last year. “Good luck to them (at state). I just feel bad for our seniors. Somebody’s season had to end. Unfortunately, it was ours.”
Mikell Everette, who tallied eight points, was Kentwood’s next leading scorer.
Kentridge pushed its lead to 42-29 with 4:55 remaining in the fourth quarter before the Conquerors put on a late push. Guard Tre Tyler started the push with layup, then Jordan Retz drained a 3-pointer, cutting the deficit to 42-34. Smith added another bucket down low in the paint, then delivered two more on an assist from Retz as Kentwood got to within four at 42-38 with 2:33 remaining.
That would be as close as the Conquerors would get.
“They played hard,” said Kentwood coach Michael Angelidis. “They played a little better than us and we wish them the best of luck. I would love for them to win state.”
The top six teams from the district tournament earned state berths. In addition, six of the state’s top 10 teams were competing in this particular district tournament.
Kentwood entered the tournament as the second-ranked team in the state. The Conquerors lost to fifth-ranked Foss earlier in the tournament and were forced to get past Lincoln to have a shot at Kentridge. Kentridge’s only loss of the tournament came against second-ranked Decatur, 64-62.
“It is a rugged district tournament,” Angelidis said. “Sometimes I wonder how they pair the teams out. But, it is what it is. We just didn’t get it done.”
Kentridge will be making its third straight state appearance when the tournament begins on Wednesday at the Tacoma Dome. The Chargers haven’t placed at state since 2007, when they took second.
Kentridge will learn its first opponent at state on Sunday afternoon during the tournament draw.
Earning a state berth was satisfying, Jamison said. However, knocking off crosstown rival Kentwood proved bittersweet.
“Like every other winner-to-state game, I have real mixed feelings,” he said. “I’ve been in that situation before. Coach Angeledis and I are good friends and I respect their program and their kids. Beating them wasn’t a great thing, but getting to state obviously is.”
Kentridge 51, Kentwood 41
Kentwood 11 8 5 17 — 41
Kentridge 14 9 12 16 — 51
Kentwood: Joshua Smith 18, Mikell Everette 8, Jordan Retz 6, Tre Tyler 3, Jason Boyce 2, Henry Everette 2, Greg Humphreys 2, Darrius Coleman 0, Alec Wilson 0.
Kentridge: Shaquielle McKissic 20, Gary Bell 15, Colin Williamson 9, Dylan Zylstra 4, Laron Daniels 3, Leroyce Hill 0, Craig Rasmussen 0, Brendon Westendorf 0.
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