Boys Basketball Roundup: CK eliminated from postseason; Klahowya falls to Bellevue Christian

TACOMA — The Cougars couldn’t stem the tide in crunch time, and so a great season came to an end Thursday night in the West Central/Southwest 3A bi-district tournament.

Spanaway Lake came out of the gates hot and had several long runs that coincided with some sloppy play on the part of Central Kitsap. The end result was a 79-57 loss and elimination from the playoffs.

“That’s going to be a tough one for us to swallow,” head coach Scott McMinds said.

The Sentinels were in perfect sync early, opening up a 21-11 lead after the first quarter on a 9 for 12 shooting performance. That would be a recurring theme throughout the night as Spanaway Lake had a 13-3 run to close the second quarter and a 17-0 run late in the fourth to turn the game into a rout.

“I thought we did some good things defensively,” McMinds said. “But we were a little aggressive, we overextended ourselves and they made us pay.”

The Cougars were initially resilient — Elijah McGee willed his team back into the game in the second quarter, scoring 8 of his 10 points. A 21-11 deficit turned into a 25-24 lead thanks to a 14-2 run that saw Central Kitsap completely disrupt Spanaway Lake’s half-court offense and force several turnovers.

But every Central Kitsap run was answered until the last one.

A Maurice Green layup with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter pulled the Cougars back within eight. Owen Davies then hit a free throw and scored a layup on the next possession and the score was 57-52 with five minutes to go.

A 9-0 Sentinels run put them back in the driver’s seat with a 66-52 lead with 2:34 to go and ultimately buried ten field goals in the final frame to walk away with a 22-point win.

Davies finished with a game-high 18 points while Colby White chipped in 15 and Green added 10.

Central Kitsap ends the season with a 14-8 record and a third place finish in the South Sound Conference. The team had some exciting wins this year, including home victories over Timberline and Capital, the two teams ahead of them in the standings, both of which are still alive in the district tournament.

“This team definitely had a deep run in them,” McMinds said. “We didn’t play our best basketball and when you get to the playoffs, you have to play your best to advance.”

Spanaway Lake 79, Central Kitsap 57

CK 11 19 15 12 — 57

SL 21 19 15 24 — 79

Central Kitsap (57) — Davies 18, White 15, Green 10, McGee 10, Massey 2, McMinds 2.

Spanaway Lake (79) — Wright-D’Abreau 14, Williams 13, Ballah 12, Alexander 10, Shanks 9, Sullivan 5, Joseph 4, Millen 4, Okonda 4, Johnson 2, Natkha 2.

Bellevue Christian 55, Klahowya 28

TACOMA — The undersized Eagles were no match for Bellevue Christian’s length as they struggled to stop 6 foot 7 inch forward Ken West in a 55-28 loss in the West Central District III 1A tournament.

West dropped 29 points, including three 3-pointers and several highlight reel dunks while Klahowya struggled to score against a tall, long, athletic Vikings defense that sported West, 6-6 forward Joseph Primas, 6-4 forward Jeff Jewett and 6-3 guard Griff Hopkins. Passing lanes were clogged with arms and legs and the Eagles struggled to sink shots from the outside.

John Hartford led Klahowya with 10 points, Gabriel Smith added six.

Klahowya plays Vashon Island at 3 p.m. on Friday in an elimination game at Bellarmine Prep. The winner will go on to play for the second seed out of the district against the loser of the Cascade Christian-Bellevue Christian game.

Bellevue Christian 55, Klahowya 28

BC 14 14 12 14 — 55

KL 6 3 8 11 — 29

Bellevue Christian (55) — West 29, Moyer 14, Hopkins 5, Heise 4, Postma 2.

Klahowya (28) — Hartford 10, Smith 6, Betzing 5, D. Kraft 3, N. Hytinen 2, Lewis 2.

— Mark Krulish is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at mkrulish@soundpublishing.com. Follow him on Twitter @MKrulishKDN.

Elijah McGee drives the basket against Spanaway Lake’s Jarrod Wright-D’Abreau (14) during Central Kitsap’s second quarter 13-2 run. (Mark Krulish/Kitsap News Group)