MUKILTEO
When the Jackson Timberwolves are cooking, it’s a sure bet Kristi Kingma is the one stirring the pot.
Jackson’s 62-32 drubbing of the Kamiak Knights in a Western Conference South Division girls basketball game Jan. 4 certainly took a page right out of the Timberwolves’ prize-winning recipe book.
Kingma had an assist, two rebounds and scored four points as Jackson closed the first quarter with an 8-0 run and established a 16-5 lead.
Then, after not scoring in the first five minutes of the quarter, Kingma scooped up a loose ball on the left side and dropped in a mid-range jump shot.
Moments later, the University of Washington-bound senior snared a defensive rebound and dribbled nearly the length of the floor before throwing down a dagger from just left of the foul line.
Kingma’s hot hand was contagious as Erin Feeney – who scored 10 of her 14 points in the second quarter – made a long jump shot and a 3-pointer to punctuate a closing 14-0 run that resulted in a 36-12 halftime bulge for Jackson.
Kamiak suffered its second straight division setback and dropped to 4-2, 6-4.
Kingma was slicing and dicing throughout and finished the contest with 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
“Kristi’s such a great athlete and draws tons of attention by her ability to create her own offense,” Jackson coach Jeannie Thompson said. “She was able to hit a couple of shots and start dishing off.”
Aside from Kingma, the Timberwolves got their biggest offensive boost from Feeney, a sophomore guard, who is the team’s third-leading scorer averaging 10.3 points per game.
“Erin’s strength is to be able to catch the ball and put it right up,” Thompson said. “To have someone like Kristi who can drive and kick to the outside … it’s great to have that 1-2 punch and it’s hard to stop them.”
Kingma especially enjoyed Feeney’s lights-out second-quarter shooting performance.
“(Feeney) missed one and got a little down, but I told her to just keep shooting,” Kingma said. “She stepped up big time, especially when we made our run.”
It’s scary to learn Kingma is apparently only now reaching mid-season form.
“I’m feeling confident now and letting the game come to me more,” Kingma said. “This was a good win, but we can still improve a lot.”
Jackson’s defense stymied cold-shooting Kamiak’s offensive attack, although 10 Knights scored in the game.
Leading scorer Kelsey Patrick came in averaging more than 20 points per game, but was limited to a team-high seven. Kariah Kussman, a sophomore guard, added five second-half points and Samantha Sovick came up with a half-dozen rebounds.
Kamiak’s 6-foot-2 post Julia Church and the rest of Knights expended a lot of energy trying to contain Kingma.
“(Kingma) is an amazing player that’s all I can say,” said Church, a senior who will play volleyball for the University of Idaho. “I was sweating bullets trying to guard her … she is definitely D-I and (Feeney) was just on fire.”
Bob Mortenson writes for The Herald in Everett.
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