Prep roundup: Bellarmine’s Malachi Flynn sets district tournament scoring records
BOYS BASKETBALL
Malachi Flynn entered the record books Saturday.
The Bellarmine Prep senior set two 4A West Central District tournament records with his 39 points in the sixth-ranked Lions’ 67-63 win over Kentwood for the third seed to the regional round of the 4A state tournament.
Flynn accumulated 149 total points in the four games of the district tournament. That makes his the highest scorer in 4A West Central District tournament history.
Here’s who he passsed:
▪ Federal Way’s Virgil Matthews scored 138 points in 2001.
▪ Wilson's Curtis Allen scored 132 points in 2000.
▪ Foss' Marc Axton had 128 points in 2001.
▪ Decatur's Quincy Wilder had 126 points in 1996.
▪ Curtis' Isaiah Thomas, now with the Boston Celtics, scored 125 in 2006 .
In four district games Flynn scored 29 points, then 34, then 41 in a semifinal los to Curtis and Saturday’s 39. Flynn also set a new record for most points per game in the tournament, averaging 35.8 points. The record was previously held by Decatur’s Quincy Wilder, who averaged 31.5 points per game in 1996.
Flynn has scored 715 points this season, including playoffs, and is averaging 29.8 points per game.
Darius LuBom led Kentwood with 18 points. It was Bellarmine who staged a comeback in the second half, outscoring the the Conks 43-30 to end the game.
CLASS 4A
Timberline 62, Kentridge 54: Jarryn Bush scored 19 and led the Blazers to fifth place in the 4A West Central District tournament. Eli Morton scored 10 for Timberline, Jaelen Bush had nine.
The Chargers were up by two points heading into halftime but could not hold onto the lead as the Blazers (16-8) turned it up during the third. They outscored Kentridge (15-11) 18-12 in the third and 15-11 in the fourth to seal an eight-point victory.
Kentridge earned the No. 6 seed.
CLASS 3A
3A WEST CENTRAL/SOUTHWEST
Peninsula 67, Wilson 52: JaQuori McLaughlin scored team-high 19 for the Seahawks.
Peninsula capitalized on much improved second half to take third place in the 3A West Central/Southwest bidistrict tournament at Rogers.
“We didn’t come out strong, we were down by nine at halftime,” Peninsula coach Jake Jackson said. “Elijah (McLaughlin) was a huge spark off the bench. It got really competitive ... at the end we held our composure to get the win.”
Elijah McLaughlin, JaQuori’s younger brother, was tasked with guarding David Jenkins Jr. Peninsula outscored Wilson 48-24 in the second half to pull off the comeback.
“Basically we got punched in our mouth and it took us a while to gain our breath,” said Wilson coach Dave Alwert.
Jenkins scored a game-high 23 points, despite being benched in the first quarter for team disciplinary reasons. Emmitt Matthews Jr scored 16 for the Rams, who earned the district’s No. 4 seed.
“Wilson is a great team but in the end our defensive togetherness allowed us to win the game,” Jackson said.
CLASS 2A
2A SEAKING/WEST CENTRAL
No. 2 River Ridge 70, Steilacoom 57: After suffering only their second loss of the season on Wednesday the Hawks knew they had to come out strong against the Sentinels, their 2A SPSL league opponent on Saturday. That’s exactly what they did.
The Hawks outscored the Sentinels 17-12 in the first and headed into halftime with a 36-23 lead. And that’s how it would stand. Mac Armstrong — a 6-foot-3 senior forward — scored a game-high 19 points for River Ridge, which earned the No. 3 seed out of the SeaKing/West Central bidistrict tournament.
LaJon Enis-Carter scored 14 and led in scoring for the Sentinels, who earned the No. 4 seed.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
CLASS 4A
4A WEST CENTRAL
Bellarmine Prep 51, Gig Harbor 32: The Lions sealed third place by leading in every quarter on Saturday night against the Tides.
Jayana Ervin was the games’ leading scorer as she downed 16 points for the Lions. Jenny Hagle was second on the list with 12 for the Lions, who earned the third seed out of the 4A West Central District tournament.
CLASS 2A
2A SEAKING/WEST CENTRAL
North Kitsap 51, River Ridge 41: The Vikings outed the Hawks in a battle for fifth place, outscoring them 29-19 in the first half.
MaKenna Schultz scored a game-high 22 for the Hawks but it wasn’t enough for the win as they earned the district’s sixth seed to the regional round of the 2A state tournament.
Raelee Moore scored 13 for N-K, Olivia Selembo had 11.
This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Prep roundup: Bellarmine’s Malachi Flynn sets district tournament scoring records."