Turnovers doom Mariner

Published 11:15 pm Wednesday, March 4, 2009

TACOMA — While Mariner High School entered the first round of this week’s Class 4A state boys basketball tournament as one of the most experienced teams in the field, the Marauders certainly didn’t look like they’d been here before.

Mariner, which featured four starters who were making their third consecutive trip to state, threw the ball away four times on its first 11 possessions and found itself in an early hole.

The Marauders eventually settled down but never quite recovered.

Other than a two-minute stretch in which the teams were tied in the second quarter, Kentridge led wire-to-wire en route to a 65-50 victory Wednesday morning. Kentridge (18-8) moved on to a quarterfinal matchup with Inglemoor, while Mariner faces Roosevelt in a loser-out game at 9 a.m. today.

The Marauders’ struggles at state are nothing new. They lost for the fifth time in as many games over the past three years. Mariner is now 0-11 all-time in 4A tournament games and hasn’t won at the Tacoma Dome since advancing to the 3A semifinals in 1999.

“You can call it pressure, or you can call it motivation,” Mariner coach Dexter Griffen said of the losing streak. “We just talked about using it as motivation (in the postgame locker room). We’ve had several games down here that we’ve had (in the grasp), but we just haven’t gotten it done.”

Wednesday’s problem was, for the most part, turnovers. Mariner (19-5) finished with 15 of them, as compared to 10 for Kentridge.

The Chargers (16-8) took advantage of a turnover on Mariner’s opening possession en route to a 5-0 lead. Kentridge led the entire first quarter and into the second period before Ayanle Yusuf came off the Mariner bench to give the Marauders a spark. Yusuf’s 3-point shot with 6:21 remaining in the first half tied the score at 23.

The two teams traded baskets before Kentridge closed with a 6-0 run for a 31-25 halftime lead.

After outscoring Mariner 18-10 in the third, the Chargers essentially put the game away.

The Marauders made a run midway through the fourth quarter, pulling to within 55-48 behind six points from senior Nick Malysheff. Kentridge tried to run out the final three minutes, and Mariner’s only steal resulted in — you guessed it — another quick turnover. That came with 1:45 remaining, and Kentridge hit 10 free throws the rest of the way to clinch the win.

Senior Michael Minor scored 12 of his team-high 17 points after halftime to lead Mariner. But the turnovers — particularly early on — were too much to overcome.

“We just didn’t come into the game ready to play,” said Mariner senior Tevin Dillon, who had nine points but also was charged with six turnovers. “… (Minor) and I were turning the ball over, and that’s not like us. We knew we had to come out and lead the team, and we didn’t do a good job of that.”

Kentridge was led by star sophomore Gary Bell, who scored 19 points.

Mariner will get a chance to end its tournament drought this morning against Roosevelt. The Marauders are more than ready to sit in a winning locker room at the Tacoma Dome. “That’s a big motivation,” Yusuf said.

Said Dillon: “The whole year, that’s been our goal. Every practice, every game, we say: ‘Let’s go out and win state — or, at least, win a game at state.’

“We need a win. We’ve been working too hard. We deserve it.”

At the Tacoma Dome

Kentridge18131816—65

Mariner15101015—50

Kentridge—Bell 19, Innes 0, Daniels 11, McKissic 17, Rasmussen 2, Westendorf 0, Hill 0, Zylstra 13, Williamson 3. Mariner—Yusuf 9, Kiehl 0, Zerahaimanot 0, Minor 17, Doerscher 2, Dillon 9, Hall 0, McCulloch 0, Malysheff 9, Purnell 4. 3-point goals—Bell 3, Daniels, Yusuf, Minor. Records—Kentridge 18-8, Mariner 19-5.