Kentridge High guard Gary Bell felt the need to take over Friday night at Jackson High.
Trailing Arlington 10-4 midway through the first quarter of a Class 4A state basketball opener for both teams – and just moments after being knocked hard to the floor but not getting the call – Kentridge’s star point guard turned up the heat on the Eagles.
Bell proceeded to rip off six straight points, tying the game 10-10 and giving Arlington a taste of what was about to come.
Behind Bell’s 31 points, the Chargers ripped Arlington 88-63 in a first-round state basketball game.
“I had to take over a little bit,” Bell said, pointing out that the early deficit was a wake-up call to the Chargers.
And Bell did just that, scoring 10 of Kentridge’s first 12 points before going on an absolute torrid shooting spree, scoring 19 points in the second quarter alone en route to the runaway.
Bell carved up the Eagles in the second quarter. Leading 26-20 with 2:15 remaining, the Kentridge star drained four straight 3-pointers in less than a minute as Kentridge’s lead ballooned to 38-24. Yet, these weren’t your average, garden-variety 3-pointers, either. If Bell wasn’t several feet behind the stripe, he was fading away. And doing so as the Kentridge crowd chanted “Gary, Gary.”
“(Arlington) gave Gary room,” said Kentridge coach Dave Jamison. “You can’t give Gary room.”
Indeed. The Gonzaga-bound senior connected on 6 of 8 from 3-point land. In addition, Bell’s 31 points came in just 22 minutes of play.
“They weren’t really guarding me, so I had to shoot,” Bell said.
As good as Bell was, however, the Chargers were nearly flawless as a team. Kentridge hit 15 of 27 from 3-point land. Freshman Jawan Stepney came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers and finish with a season-high 15 points. Meanwhile, Brendan Westendorf quietly delivered another standout performance, finishing with 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and a team-high 10 rebounds. Denzel Daniels added nine points and also drained a pair of 3-pointers.
“When we get going, we can shoot a little,” Jamison deadpanned.
The Chargers did just that over the weekend, torching Arlington with a barrage of 3-pointers, then doing the same to Auburn a day later in an 84-66 victory that helped seal Kentridge’s trip to the Tacoma Dome this week. In the win over the Trojans, the Chargers connected on 13 of 23 3-pointers, bringing their two-day total to 28 of 50.
“We’re all clicking now, I guess,” Bell said.
Bell scored 27 points in the win over Auburn to go with eight assists and seven rebounds. And like the win over Arlington, Bell was far from alone against the Trojans. In fact, Stepney, who scored a season-high 15 points the night before, added 18 more against the Trojans.
“He’s got a lot more confidence,” Jamison said of Stepney.
Stepney reached double-figures in scoring just twice during the regular season. Meanwhile, Westendorf added 16 in the win over the Trojans while Roddy Hanson chipped in 11.
It was the fourth time Kentridge met its SPSL North rivals this season. Auburn had taken the previous two meetings against Kentridge. In addition, the two teams had to share the regular-season title.
“We should have won it hands down,” Bell said. “We definitely had a chip on our shoulders heading into that game.”
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