4A State Day-3, Semifinal Friday

And then there were four. The semifinals are set and the West Central District has all the bases covered with Kentwood, Bethel, Bellarmine Prep and South Kitsap making up the quartet of survivors after two days of non-stop hoops at the WIAA/Dairy Farmers of Washington Class 4A State Tournament.

Four teams, who came into the tournament with combined records of 80-17, have left the building. Four more will be shown the exit in the consolation round today.

The first semifinal featured old rivals in South Kitsap and Bethel. The Wolves handed Bethel their lone loss, 53-43, in the district playoffs and sent the Braves to a loser-out game. They have also ended Bethel’s last two trips to the state tournament.

The Wolves came out on fire and when 6-8 Jake Beitinger hit a trey from the left wing the Wolves had an 11-2 lead with 4:36 to go in the opening period. An Adam Bennett trey from the right wing made it 14-2 at the 4:00 mark. Derrick Webb’s three ball made it 17-2 and the Wolves had Bethel reeling with still over 3:00 left in the quarter. Alex Tiefenthaler countered with a three form the left corner. With one quarter in the books SK led 19-5.

Beitinger opened the second with a deuce for 21-5 and the Wolves showed no signs of letting up a bit. When Desmond Meray scored on a drive, was fouled and hit the bonus the Braves had cut it to 27-15 with 3:00 left in the half. Tiefenthaler got it to 27-17 seconds later.

Caesar Rayford’s bucket after his free throw cut it to 27-20 but Michael Lizama answered with 4.4 left in the half for 29-20. And with that it was time to take a breath, a long breath. Wow, what a half.

Beitinger scored 13 in the half. Tiefenthaler’s 7 led the Braves.

A Jamil Turner bucket after a pair of Jordan Sutton free throws cut it to 34-29 with 3:20 to go in the third. Beitinger got it back to 38-29 with a drive into traffic at 2:00. Turner answered for 38-31. Meray on a nice dish from Turner had it at 38-33. Tiefenthaler picked Beitinger’s pocket and Bethel set for a final shot. Tiefenthaler’s three from the left wing cut it to 38-36. Derrick Webb’s buzzer-beater sent SK to the fourth on top 40-36.

Turner scored to start the fourth and it was a 2-point game at 40-38. Jamil Moore got it back to 4 points at 44-40 passing 5:00. The Wolves began to milk the clock, using over a minute on their next possession. Turner scored on a put-back and with 2:53 to play it was 44-42.

Beitinger got it back to 4 with a pair from the line at 2:37. Turner’s baseline drive made it 46-44 with 2:13 to go. South K took a T-O at 1:41 to talk things over. Bodies flew after a Bennett save of a ball headed to the concession stand. The intensity was off the chart. Lizama scored on a bounce pass from Beitinger, 48-44. Bethel turned it over at 25.5 and the SK fans were going nuts.

Beitinger was fouled on the inbounds but the Braves had a foul to burn. On the next throw-in Beitinger was again fouled. This time he went to the stripe but missed the front end with 22.3 left. Bethel boarded, and Sutton’s trey from the right wing cut it to 48-47 with 2.4 to go. Moore was fouled before the pass and headed to the other end to shoot the bonus. But the clock was still at 2.4. Moore made the front end, missed the second and bethel rebounded with 2.2 to play and 94 feet to go. Moore’s shot at the buzzer was off, SK is in the final for the first time in over 54 years. That’s older than me, wow.

Beitinger finished with 19 points, Webb added 11. Turner scored 12, Tiefenthaler 10 in the loss. Bethel shot just 34.7% from the floor while SK hit at a 52.5% clip.

Kentwood and Bellarmine Prep took the floor to find out which one would be facing South Kitsap in Saturday’s final.

Like South Kitsap, Kentwood came out firing and ran off to a 9-2 lead in the first 3:00. Bellarmine scratched their way back to trail 11-8 at the end of the quarter.

Rodney Stuckey continued to carry the load and when he nailed a three pointer the Conquerors held a 10-point, 21-11, lead with just over 6:00 left in the half. Stuckey had scored inside, outside, left handed, right handed, it seemed like Stuckey could kick one in with his left foot if he chose.

KW built a 13 point lead but Thomas Ward’s deep three got it back to 10 at 29-19 with 2:56 to play in the half. Ward made it single digits at 31-22 moments later with another long bomb. The Lions were not going away. Ward’s third trey in a minute got it to 31-25. Vaughn Gaines hit one from the line and with 49.2 left in the half it was 31-26. Didn’t we see this game earlier? KW turned it over and Bellarmine had a chance to get it closer before intermission. Ward was fouled, hit a pair and with 20.1 the Lion’s trailed 31-28. Greg Simons’ free throw made it a 32-28 game at the half.

Stuckey scored 14 in the half while Ward’s 16 led all scorers.

Bellarmine got to with 2 at 32-30 on a Ben Hannula bucket to start the third quarter, Stuckey immediately got it back and made it 36-30 on a dish to Matt Mgebroff. Blake Solomon made it 38-30 seconds later. KW had run off a 6-0 run in under a minute.

Vaughn Gaines got it to 44-41 at the 1:00 mark after a wild back-and-forth flurry that saw Ward hitting bombs and Stuckey rattling rims. Heading to the final quarter KW led 48-41.

When sophomore Toussaint Tyler tacked on an “and-1” KW led 53-41 with 6:30 to play. Tyler took it to 57-43 passing 5:00 with a pair from the line and a driving bucket over Ward. Simons made it 59-43 and the Conqs were pulling away with just 4:27 to play.

Stuckey’s thundering dunk made it 68-50 with 52.8 to go and the talented future EWU Eagle took a seat. Kentwood closed it out, got the 72-51 win and will meet South Kitsap and Stuckey’s future college teammate Jake Beitinger for the championship.

Stuckey scored 24 with 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Ward scored 19 in the loss.

Central Kitsap and Pasco got things started in the consolation bracket with the Cougars jumping out to a 13-2 lead over the sleepish Bulldogs and led 17-4 at the end of the first quarter. CK led 32-19 at the half. 6-4 junior guard Neil Fryer had one of the best halves of the tournament, scoring 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, hitting all 3 of his shots from outside the arc and both of his free throws.

CK never let up and ran away with a 64-46 win. The Cougars will take home hardware. Fryer got a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. 6-7 senior Brice Brooks added 13 points with 8 boards. Eric Mattox led Pasco with 13 points.

Mount Vernon and Davis were next for the right to play Central Kitsap for 5th place. Davis pikes to push tempo. That was fine with the Bulldogs as they raced out to an 18-15 lead after 8:00. A slower second quarter saw MV take a 26-20 lead to the half. 6-4 junior Ryan Kendrick, who missed most of the regular season rehabbing from “Tommy John” surgery, scored 10 in the half.

Davis took a 38-36 lead with 3:00 remaining in the fourth quarter on an Andrew Clausen put-back. Jeremy Mangum made it 40-37 after the Pirates ran the clock in a lengthy possession, taking over a minute and a half off the ticker. Kendrick tied it with a three at 1:08. The Pirates ran over a minute off the clock before 5-9 senior guard Terrell Cox drove the lane and put in a floater for a 52-50 Davis lead with 4.2 remaining. Jake Moore’s heave at the horn was off the mark, Davis will play for wood and etched glass.

Mangum scored 13 with 4 assists and 4 steals, Umberto Perez 12. Kendrick had 13 in the loss.

Walla Walla and Puyallup took center stage and the Devils led 13-8 after one quarter. The Devils led by a touchdown, 24-17, at the break. Senior guard Bryce Pendleton had 13 in the half.

The Vikings hit the “danger zone” in the third when Walla Walla went in top 33-20 and began to take time off the clock with their deliberate offense. Wa-Hi led 33-25 at the end of the third quarter.

The Vikings chipped away and when Justin Terry scored off a steal they had the lead down to 5 points at 34-29. But just as quickly Pendleton nailed a three for 37-29 with 4:30 remaining. Erik Anfinson made it 39-29 at the 4:00 mark. Puyallup never got it under 6 points, WW stays alive 47-37. Pendleton scored 23. 6-5 sophomore guard Austin Kilpatrick had 12 in the loss.

To end the consolation round we had a rematch of a WCD semifinal with Mount Tahoma and Auburn. The T-Birds got off to a quick 8-1 lead and had a 21-11 lead after one quarter. Anthony Tennyson’s trey at the horn sent Mt to the break with a 36-25 lead.

6-3 senior wing Daniel Carpenter led all scorers with 13 while Gary Ward’s 8 points paced Mount Tahoma.

After a quick, up and down 8:00 the T-Birds took a 55-41 lead into the fourth quarter. When Dan Stafford drilled a three with 3:35 to go the Trojans were within 6 points at 60-54. Jon Morehead’s trey cut it to 60-57 with 3:00 showing. Tennyson missed a pair from the line and Morehead’s basket cut it to 60-59 with 2:12 to play. Gary Ward hit one from the line for 61-59. Darius Joseph’s freebie made it 62-59. Stafford cut it to 62-61 with a put back of his own miss. Baree Ward was fouled with 37.3 to play and shot the double bonus. Ward one for 63-61. Auburn took a time out with 28.6 to set their play.

Stafford was stripped by Joseph as he drove baseline with Julio Feliciano coming up with the loose ball. A quick foul sent him to the line with 18.0 left. Feliciano knocked down the pair for a 65-61 MT lead. Stafford was fouled shooting a three from the right corner. His free throws cut it to 65-64 with 9.0 left.

Auburn quickly fouled to send Gary Ward to the line. He hit both, 67-64 with 5.6 showing. Kraig Summers got net from the right corner at the horn, OT, 67-67.

Morehead put Auburn on top 70-69 and Stafford came up with a steal on the other end passing through 1:00. Stafford’s freebie made it 71-69 with 49.4 to go. Baree Ward hit from 25 feet for a 72-71 MT lead at 29.7. Stafford missed on a baseline reverse with Ward getting the board and being fouled. He missed the first, made the second, 73-71 with 14.3 to play. Auburn took a T-O to again set for a final shot. Stafford stepped on the sideline trying to get off a shot or draw a foul, ball to MT with 5.2 to go. Baree Ward was fouled once again and missed again. His second shot was intentionally missed with a bullet shot. But the ball was over to Auburn on a lane violation with 2.2 to go. Stafford’s shot at the horn hit the front of the rim. Game over. Mount Tahoma heads for hardware.

Baree Ward finished with 19 points, Gary Ward added 17. Stafford had 28 points with 11 rebounds in the loss. Morehead added 19 points with 10 boards.