Prep roundup: Jordyn Jenkins, Kentridge seal 4A NPSL title over Kentlake; Divante Moffitt has triple-double as Spanaway Lake reached triple digits

Girls Basketball

Top Performer: Julianna Walker, Annie Wright

Scored 29 points, 15 steals in 47-32 win over Bear Creek.

CLASS 4A

No. 3 Kentridge 50, No. 10 Kentlake 38: Jordyn Jenkins scored a game-high 21 points as the Chargers clinched the 4A NPSL Cascade title with their second win over Kentlake.

Jenkins, the 6-foot-2 sophomore post, even stepped back for a 3-pointer early to get the defending state champions rolling.

“That kinda got us fired up,” Kentridge coach Bob Sandall said.

And Kentridge (16-2; 12-0 4A NPSL Cascade) went on to outscore Kentlake 17-3 in the first quarter.

It was pretty evenly matched the rest of the way. Anna Kruse led Kentlake (13-5; 10-2) with 12 points and Aniston Denckla scored eight.

“We play each other a bunch of times so we know each other pretty well,” Sandall said. “They’ve given us trouble in the past.”

One of those times was in the 4A state quarterfinals last season, when Kentridge won on its way to winning the school its first state title.

Last year, Kentridge shared the 4A NPSL Cascade title with Kentlake, which had won six consecutive games since a loss to No. 5 Lake Stevens. The Chargers beat their city rival, 38-33, on Dec. 16 and now hold a two-game advantage, with the head-to-head tiebreaker in hand, with two league games remaining.

“Their zone is so good. It really tests offenses,” Sandall said. “It makes it tough for teams to score. For us to score 50 points made me really comfortable against a really good defensive team.”

CLASS 3A

Peninsula 70, Yelm 53: Belle Frazier scored 24 points and Kirsten Ritchie had 20 as the Seahawks got a big win over the Tornados by finding the weaknesses and adapting to exploit them.

“They really did a good job in the first half against us in being able to attack the back side of our zone,” Yelm coach Russ Riches said.

Riches knew his Tornados had to stop the prolific-scoring Frazier. But then Ritchie went and had a night, too, for Peninsula (14-2; 8-2 3A South Sound Conference).

“Ritchie had a big game for them tonight. From years past we knew that she has that ability,” Riches said. “Frazier did a nice job in involving Ritchie and she’s just one of those top players have to be able to contain. We definitely tried to do that.”

This sets Peninsula up with a critical matchup on Tuesday against rival and 3A SSC-leading Gig Harbor (12-4; 9-1) at 6:30 p.m. at Peninsula. A win for the Seahawks would leave the two teams tied atop the standings with three more games to play.

No. 10 Gig Harbor 68, Shelton 45: Sydney Langworthy stepped up this time for the Tides, leading them with 24 points in the win to stay atop the 3A SSC standings.

Brynna Maxwell added 20 points and Maddie Willett scored eight. Kylind Powell scored 13 points for Shelton and Kayla Gairns added 12.

No. 8 Bethel 78, Mount Tahoma 30: Tianna Brown scored a game-high 22 points and her sister, Tiarra Brown, scored 17 as the Braves were all over the T-Birds.

“In the first half with the press I think we had like 22 steals and we converted on most of them,” Bethel coach John Ainslie said.

Bethel (15-1; 9-1 3A Pierce County League) outscored Mt. Tahoma 29-7 in the first quarter and hit the cruise control from there.

“We shot the ball really well in the third quarter,” Ainslie said. “They’re really tall but we got around that with speed.”

Jackie Lewis led the T-Birds with 10 points.

No. 3 Lincoln 65, Bonney Lake 18: A lockdown defensive effort allowed the Abes to runaway from the Panthers.

“For us, this was usual. Everything with us starts off with defense,” Lincoln coach Jamila Jones said. “One of the things I’ve been telling our team all year is that we’re pretty deep. On any given night it can be anyone leading the team.”

That person tonight was Sa’Naya McAfee who led Lincoln (15-1; 10-0 3A PCL) with a game-high 15 points.

Faith Brantley added 11 points, A’shia Donahue also had 11 and Nashontae Frazier and Kondalia Montgomery each scored nine.

CLASS 1A

Annie Wright 47, Bear Creek 32: Julianna Walker did it again as she led the Gators with 29 points.

The freshman also got it done defensively as she set a school record for 15 steals in the game and grabbed four rebounds. Amina Webb also came up with 12 points.

Bear Creek was led by Kim Do, scoring 12 points.

CLASS 1B

Tacoma Baptist 51, Pope John Paul II 26: The Crusaders worked really well using their high-low post strategy and JoEllen Stokes went off for 22 points and nine rebounds.

“This is our second time playing them. Our first time, we lost at their place by one,” Tacoma Baptist coach Jen Brooks said. “Katie Tonsager is a freshman and doesn’t usually start, but tonight she did and she brought the energy.”

Tonsager only finished with two, but her impact beyond points showed as the Crusaders easily handled the Eagles.

Boys Basketball

Top Performer: Divante Moffitt, Spanaway Lake

Scored 28 points with 10 rebounds, 10 assists in 101-69 win over Stadium

CLASS 2A

Clover Park 54, Highline 53: Longtime Warriors coach Mel Ninnis was sweating a little more than he might usually in the final seconds of this one.

It wasn’t what he drew up, but Ranique Mosley saved the Warriors with a heads-up play.

“My kids are hyperactive,” Ninnis said. “I told them not to steal and they tried to.”

Yet, it still worked out as Clover Park (8-7; 7-3 2A SPSL Sound) handed Highline (11-4; 8-2) just its second league loss and inched closer to the Pirates in the fight for playoff positioning.

Mosley poked the ball lose and it went into the backcourt as time expired. Even though Ninnis used his last timeout to tell his team not to try to go for a steal and let their defense force a tough shot.

So all Ninnis could do was shrug his shoulders.

Davien Harris-Williams led the charge offensively for Clover Park, scoring the final five points in the last minute. He would finish with a game-high 22.

"Highline is a very intelligent, patient well-coached team that really looked for our deficiencies and exploited them,” Ninnis said. “This year we've been losing very closely but this could be our signature win. This is a good win for us.”

But it was a better win for JonJon Sealy, celebrating his birthday with a double-double getting 13 points and 12 rebounds.

And now Clover Park has won two straight since a 58-42 nonleague loss to No. 4 Mountlake Terrace. It had lost a stretch of four consecutive games, including against Steilacoom and Renton, but a win like this, as Ninnis said, might be the spark that sends Clover Park rolling.

No. 3 Foss 84, Washington 43: Micah Pollard scored 27 points, Demetrius Crosby had 19, Max Marlier had 15 and Kenzel Massey scored 11 as the Falcons cruised to the win.

Foss took a 50-19 lead at halftime.

CLASS 3A

Spanaway Lake 101, Stadium 69: The Sentinels got back to what they’re best at – a lot of scoring.

Divante Moffitt led that charge with his second triple-double, finishing with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as Spanaway Lake exploded in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Tigers 33-16.

Jordan Garner added 20 points and Isaiah Turner had 19.

Davion Gaines led Stadium with 23 points.

It was the most points Spanaway Lake (13-3; 8-2 3A Pierce County League) since dropping 97 against Evergreen of Vancouver and 91 against Graham-Kapowsin.

The Sentinels play Bonney Lake on Wednesday before facing No. 2 Lincoln at 7 p.m. Friday at Lincoln.

No. 2 Lincoln 82, Bonney Lake 39: Emmett Linton scored 19 points to lead to the Abes to their 16th consecutive win to start the season.

Lincoln now enters a critical week. It plays No. 5 Wilson on the road at 7 p.m. Wednesday and then Spanaway Lake at home at 7 p.m. on Friday. It won its first meetings with each and if it does so again, it would clinch its sixth consecutive year with at least a share of the league title.

No. 5 Wilson 76, Lakes 64: The Rams continue to keep pace in the 3A PCL as they took down the Lancers on the road.

Wilson’s UConn signee Emmitt Matthews Jr. was locked in a scoring battle with Lakes Daeshawn Wayne. Matthews scored a game-high 27 points and Wayne scored 26.

The first quarter was kept close as the Lancers were ahead 14-13, then it was all Wilson from there on out.

After Matthews was Daniel Santana and Londrell Hamilton, both scoring 15 for the Rams.

CLASS 4A

Puyallup 42, Bellarmine Prep 41: Jacob Holcomb scored like he was wearing shoulder pads as he put up the game-high 20 points for the Vikings.

Holcomb, who is Puyallup’s quarterback in football, scored eight points in the fourth quarter as Puyallup took a 41-33 lead. His late free throw would be the difference as Bellarmine’s Chris Mackey led a Lions comeback late that came up just short. Mackey scored 12 points.

This means Puyallup (11-5; 8-4 4A SPSL) and Bellarmine (9-7; 8-4 4A SPSL) are tied for the third spot in the league standings, with Curtis in first and Rogers second, with Olympia a game back of Puyallup and Bellarmine with three league games remaining.

Sumner 61, Emerald Ridge 51: The offense cranked up in the second half as the Spartans kept their grip on the lead against the Jaguars.

At the half, the Spartans were up 23-19. But both teams found a way around the defense and put up big points in the second half. Leading the way for Sumner were four players reaching double-digit scoring, including the team-high 16 points from AJ Andino.

Tyler Matthew of the Jaguars was the high scorer for the game as he put down 23 points.

Kentridge 49, Kentlake 40: The Chargers banked on Tyler Cronk as they pulled ahead late against the Falcons.

Entering the fourth quarter tied at 31, the Chargers poured on the scoring as they finished on a 18-9 run to close the game out.

Cronk was the leading scorer for the game with 16 points, and he was helped by Cruz Medina’s 13 as well.

CLASS 1B

Tacoma Baptist 72, Pope John Paul II 48: The Crusaders started strong and kept going to beat the Eagles behind strong play by PJ Talen who finished the game with 33 points.

Talan made four 3-pointers in the first quarter, scoring 16 of Tacoma Baptist’s 27 points in the period.

“He was in a rhythm,” Tacoma Baptist coach Rich Hamlin said. “He’s got a mid-range and he can get to the basket so he’s tough to guard.”

That first quarter was indicative of a strong shooting game for the Crusaders as a team.

“We shot the ball well, especially from the three-point line,” Hamlin said. “Scoring 27 points in that first quarter was a great start for us obviously.”

The hard-fought win now brings the Crusaders to 14-2 for the season.

“This was a nice game for us to come out and play a solid team,” Hamlin said.

CLASS 1A

Cascade Christian 53, Seattle Christian 38: In a game that seemed to be slipping away from them the Cougars refocused and beat the Warriors.

“I think we felt that we weren’t playing to the best of our ability,” Cascade Christian assistant coach Garth Greiner said.

The win vaults the Cougars (9-7; 3-1 1A Nisqually) up the league standings after beating Vashon Island on Wednesday and now Seattle Christian.

Nathan Larsen scord 14 points for Cascade Christian and Corbin Nohr added 13 points.

This story was originally published January 20, 2018 at 10:20 AM with the headline "Prep roundup: Jordyn Jenkins, Kentridge seal 4A NPSL title over Kentlake; Divante Moffitt has triple-double as Spanaway Lake reached triple digits."