The 2024 surprise team of the boys basketball state tournament, the Kentwood Conquerors, are headed back to the state tournament after a 81-72 win over Sumner on Feb. 20 at Mount Tahoma.

“They are just winners. They have just established that is what we do. They have such a strong belief that they think we are going to win every time we step on the floor,” Head Coach Blake Solomon said.

Kentwood was the eighth seed last year with just one senior on the roster and climbed the ladder to finish fourth inside the Tacoma Dome.

This year, Kentwood made the state tournament the hard way, advancing to the state tournament in the consolation bracket.

“We all play as a team. Considering we took that hard loss to go to state (against Olympia), we knew there was no other opportunity to get there without a win tonight. We responded and played together,” Kentwood junior Brandon Tagle said.

A week prior to the Sumner win, the Conks’ season was in limbo after a crushing defeat to Olympia on the road, 76-50, their largest margin of defeat since 2023 (FW, 101-38). The Bears switched the game day on the Conks, moving the game up a day and forcing Kentwood to travel down, missing a day of practice.

“Last week was a mess. Olympia told us we had to play Saturday, then they called us at 11 a.m. and said we had to play that day,” Solomon said.

Kentwood is no stranger to adversity. and following the Olympia loss, the Conks have now won two straight and punched their ticket to state.

“One of our assistant coaches kept saying, somebody has to go 2-0 this week. Why not us. That was the mentality our guys took,” Solomon said.

A win over Kennedy, a team that had beaten Kentwood early in the season, set up their date with Sumner.

Kentwood shot out of a cannon to start the game and took a 13-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game. At the end of the first quarter, the Conks were in control, 26-10.

Sumner battled back in the second quarter and cut the Kentwood lead down to, at the lowest, five points in the second quarter. But at the break, Kentwood held a six-point lead, 39-33, heading into the locker rooms.

Kentwood’s defensive focus was to minimize the impact the Spartans could make from the three-point line. In the first two quarters, Kentwood did enough to slow down Sumner, but the third quarter was a different story.

Colton Kelley, Austin Collins and Jalen Hyppa all made an impact in the third quarter and the lead that was 16 early in the second quarter had dwindled away — and in fact at the end of the third quarter, Sumner was on top, 54-53. On top of the hot shooting, Kentwood battled a tightly officiated game. But that was just more adversity to overcome.

“They can really shoot it. We did a really good job early, but we let them get loose in the middle of the game and it really tested us,” Solomon said.

Kentwood buckled down defensively in the fourth quarter and with the help of Aaron Ton and Jacob Bail, Kentwood slowed down the Spartans.

“We are a disciplined team. Sometimes calls don’t go your way. I try my best to be a leader and get my guys going. Adversity is something we have faced all season and we just got better and better all season,” Tagle said.

On the offensive side of the floor, Kentwood deployed both Corey Tita and Brandon Tagle. The two guards combined for 21 fourth quarter points on 14 made free-throws.

Tagle had a few uncharacteristic turnovers in the first half against the Spartans, but he closed out the game like the Brandon Tagle his coach and teammates have become accustomed to.

“He set the school record at the free throw line. We had him step up and do what he does, which is close out games,” Solomon said.

The season could have been over in both games against Kennedy and Sumner if the results had flip-flopped, but Tagle and the rest of the Conks wanted to give their seniors a proper ending. A chance at a state title.

“Seeing these guys for another week is just awesome,” Tagle said.

Corey Tita takes on a Sumner defender at Mount Tahoma. Ben Ray / The Reporter