On Feb. 12, the Kentwood Conquerors boys’ basketball team defeated the Curtis Vikings by a score of 86-66. This was a shockingly wide deficit given the overall competitiveness of the first three quarters, which saw Curtis take leads of up to four.
“Everybody we play is good, everybody can punch, so we need to have a counterpunch,” Kentwood Head Coach Blake Solomon said. “It was good for our guys to be able to see some adversity and respond.”
The game started ablaze, with each team scoring at will and the presence of two full high-school bands egging on the action.
Kentwood’s Mason St. Louis silenced the away team’s crowd with a dagger three-pointer buzzer-beater, ending the quarter at 25-16.
“Offensively, we want to hunt good threes. We got a lot of guys on the team that can shoot the ball, and when they get hot like they got hot tonight, we really like to use that to our advantage,” Solomon said.
While Kentwood was living by the three in the first half, they were also dying by the three and by turnovers Every time Kentwood tried to pull away, consistent three point shooting from Curtis and defense that forced turnovers kept them in the game. An errant pass with 3:18 left in the second let Curtis cut the lead to 32-25, and a blown Kentwood defensive assignment later let Curtis’ guard Skylar Clements hit a three to make it 35-30 with 1:50 left.
“In the first half, we really lost #2(Clements) a lot, and that was not our game plan at all,” Solomon said.
This deviance from the game plan hurt Kentwood, as two threes later they entered the halftime break only up 41-36.
The third quarter began with more sloppy basketball, as three straight turnovers gave Curtis an easy 42-41 lead with 6:36 left in the third.
“There are definitely times where we get sped up and turn the ball over,” junior Brandon Tagle said. After a called travel led to Kentwood going down 47-43, they reverted to leaning on the aspects of their game that made them so successful. Senior Corey Tita and Tagle went on a run, with Corey dominating the paint and Tagle the three-point line. After multiple buckets from each, Kentwood had a 60-51 lead going into the fourth quarter.
“Corey’s been huge for us,” Solomon said. “It’s his fourth year on varsity, so he’s been through a bit of everything with us. Today, he scored, he defended, and he cleaned up the glass.”
Tita also attributed his comfort playing on varsity to his years experience.
“I didn’t play much my freshman year, but the last three years have really taught me to go make plays,” Tita said.
The comeback, however, was marked with an energy shift in the gym. Tagle, who consistently leads the offense up the floor, infected everyone with enthusiasm after every bucket that he made or helped create.
“[Tagle} is just so skilled. He can shoot the ball, he’s such a good passer makes the right decisions most of the time. Beyond that, he’s an emotional leader. He loves to win; he hates to lose. He’s a guy that picks up his whole team when they need it,” Solomon said.
The fourth quarter was all Kentwood. They defended as a team, knocked down threes and twos alike, and had a lead of 85-63 with 1:54 left in the fourth. “The fan support so far has been phenomenal,” Solomon said. “We had some years here recently where the support wasn’t that great, but we’re fun to watch now, our team is good, and people show up – they definitely did tonight.”
The players also feel boosted by their home fans. “Some games the fans don’t pop out, but when they do pop out for the big ones like this, it means a lot,” Tita said.
Kentwood can now reflect on their early mistakes as they move forward in the playoffs.
“We’ve got to come with more intensity and more of a want to win,” Tagle said. “Come playoff time, we need to turn on that switch. The goal for the season is to win the state championship.”
In the coming days since the Curtis victory, the Conks fell to Olympia 70-56, but have since rebounded with a 74-55 win over Kennedy Catholic. Kentwood faces Sumner in a winner-to-state loser out game on Feb. 20 at Mount Tahoma.
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