‘It’s the best feeling in the world’: Denckla sisters taking Kentlake back to the Tacoma Dome

Going to the Tacoma Dome the past two years was pretty fun.

But to go this year, in Aniston Denckla’s final season at Kentlake High School — and playing alongside her younger sister?

“Oh, it’s the best feeling in the world,” Aniston said, smiling and pulling her sister over for a hug.

But they won’t just be happy to be there next week.

Behind Kiernen Denckla’s 14 points and Aniston Denckla’s 13, No. 8 Kentlake shut down Rogers for a 42-25 victory on Friday in the regional round of the 4A state tournament at Auburn Mountainview High School, ending Rogers’ season and keeping its own alive.

Yeah, Rogers scored just 25 points — a season-low for the Rams (16-10).

“We just went away from our game plan,” Rogers coach Amy Looker said.

Her husband is Puyallup graduate and former NFL receiver Dane Looker. But it’s unlikely even he saw many defenses like that in his seven seasons as a wide receiver with the then-St. Louis Rams.

“They are very disciplined with their defense,” Amy Looker said. “And we just didn’t move the ball very well — and we missed a lot of shots.”

Rogers scored just 12 points in the first half, making 5 of 19 shots, and standout sophomore guard Ragain Barrett, who entered the game averaging 21.6 points, was held to five.

But Kentlake has been doing that all season to opposing teams, holding them to an average of 38.2 points. Now it will play the loser of Saturday’s game between Eastlake and Lake Stevens in the first round of state on Wednesday in the Dome.

And they say they even have fun playing D.

“It’s really fun when we play like a good, solid 30 seconds of team defense and then the shot clock goes off and you’re like ‘Yeah!’” Aniston Denckla said. “It’s the best feeling.”

Kentlake does it with a zone and a lineup that seems interchangeable.

Aniston Denckla embodies that. She’s 5-foot-11 senior post, but she has the skills of a guard. Her 3-pointer from the left corner with 3:15 remaining in the fourth quarter deflated Rogers and put Kentlake ahead 40-23.

Then there’s Kiernen Denckla, a 5-foot-10 sophomore point guard. She helped Kentlake start the second half on a 10-2 run thanks to a couple of backdoor cuts behind Rogers’ zone.

The Denckla sisters said they grew up both attending point-guard camps and both also going to post camps to work on their versatility.

“I kicked her butt in the post, and she kicked my butt at the point-guard stuff,” Aniston Denckla said.

But she said the best part of their relationship is there’s no rivalry between them. They can each play their separate positions.

Well, check that, there is one rivalry.

Kiernen’s ponytail is dyed purple because she’s a University of Washington fan, while Aniston said she had dyed her hair crimson because of her love of Washington State, though she doesn’t have it like that anymore.

“I just keep mine because it’s kind of how people know me now,” Kiernen said. “I’ve had that since like fourth grade.”

And together, they have Kentlake on its greatest three-year stretch in school history. The Falcons had never before been to the state tournament three consecutive seasons like they have under Aniston’s watch.

“It’s unbelievable,” Aniston said. “Our coaches have always been like, ‘Work hard, work hard and good things will come.’ I think it has really shown the power of teamwork, too.”

For Rogers, this was its third consecutive state appearance, too, but each year the Rams have lost this loser-out regional round game to fall short of the Dome.

Avery Campbell led them with 10 points.

“It was emotional,” Amy Looker said outside the team’s locker room. “They really wanted to win this game for our seniors.”

This story was originally published February 23, 2018 at 8:33 PM with the headline "‘It’s the best feeling in the world’: Denckla sisters taking Kentlake back to the Tacoma Dome."