TACOMA — Edmonds-Woodway went ahead early, but not a lot of people expected the Warriors to keep the lead.
But as the game went on, the Warriors kept withstanding Kentridge’s comeback efforts, and rather than collapse in the fourth quarter, Edmonds-Woodway excelled, burying last year’s state runner-up with a 9-0 run. The end result was a 58-40 victory over fourth-ranked Kentridge in the first round of the boys Class 4A state tournament Wednesday afternoon.
“Every team will make a run during a ballgame, and what you’ve got to do is weather it,” Edmonds-Woodway coach Gail Pintler said. “Our kids understand that. They just had a calmness.”
Pintler said that calmness came from his players believing in themselves. When his team was eliminated from last year’s state tournament, he convinced them that they could do better this season.
“Make them believe in themselves,” he said. “Make them say, ‘We can do these things. This is what we can do, this is us.’ And the kids believe it. I said from the time that we ended it last year that this year’s team would be better, and we just make them believe it … You convince them that they’re better.”
Convinced they were better, the Warriors (20-4) had a chance to prove it against the same program that beat them by 21 points in the first round last year. That Kentridge team went on to the state championship game, where it lost in double overtime.
“I don’t think a lot of people thought we had a chance to win this game, but everyone on the team at the beginning of the game thought we were going to win,” said senior guard James Conti, who finished with 17 points, three assists and three steals. “We just came out intense, pumped and ready to go.”
The Warriors now face undefeated Ferris, the defending state champion, in today’s 7 p.m. quarterfinal.
E-W, which led the entire game, jumped ahead 11-2 in the first six minutes and were up by 10 at halftime while holding the Chargers (21-6) to just 13 points.
“At the beginning of the game, we were up, and everyone was like, ‘We can win this game,’” Conti said. “I don’t think anyone was shell shocked. As soon as we got up we said, ‘We’re keeping this lead, we’re not going to let them come back.’ As soon as they get up on you, it’s hard to get back.”
The Warriors won in large part because of their defense, which focused on Kentridge forward Renado Parker. Facing double and triple teams every time he touched the ball, Parker struggled early, scoring just six points in the first half. He finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds, but most of those points came late when the Warriors were safely ahead.
“Make everyone else beat us, not him,” was the Warriors strategy, Conti said.
That plan worked. The rest of the Chargers combined for 19 points and were just 6-for-26 shooting from the field.
Edmonds-Woodway’s win was the only one on the boys side for Wesco, and the only loss of the day for the South Puget Sound League. Conti said that played into his team’s performance, noting that the Warriors had not been to state since 1998 prior to last season.
“We’re trying to get some respect back up north,” he said.
At Tacoma
E-W13101025—58
Kentridge761116—40
Edmonds-Woodway — Ortiz 4, Wilson 1, McCartney, Conti 17, Wafer 8, Reilly, Enquist 4, Laue 12, Heard, Donaldson 8, Polovina 4, Willcock. Kentridge — Bell, Poffenroth, Suom, Simpson 3, Green 5, McKissic, Sahota, Turner 5, Washington 4, Parker 21, Williamson 2. 3-pointers — Laue 2, Simpson 1.
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