The Falcons rallied and forced overtime, beating the Chargers 72-71 behind 37 points from Mia Hughes.
Midway through the second quarter of Monday’s girls basketball game between No. 5 Woodinville and No. 1 Kentridge at the King Showcase at the ShoWare Center in Kent, it looked as if another challenge for the Chargers was going to turn into another rout.
The Falcons had other ideas.
Kentridge led by as many as 16 points, but the Falcons clawed their way back, taking their first lead late in the fourth quarter and forcing overtime. Woodinville outlasted the Chargers in the extra session, hanging on for a 72-71 win, and handing the Chargers (16-2) their first in-state loss of the season.
“It’s a fun win, for sure,” Woodinville coach Scott Bullock said. “We just try to keep it in perspective. It’s just a regular-season win. But I guess what really makes it special is that it’s MLK day, and that’s a day that we’ve talked about as a team. We’re just privileged to play here on this day and play a good team. It was an exciting game. It’s fun to win, but that game could’ve gone either way.”
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It may be just another regular-season win, but with the state tournament a little over a month away, the Falcons (15-2) proved that they are in the mix of teams that can compete to win the Class 4A state championship.
“The nice thing is that it tells us that we’re kind of right where we want to be,” Bullock said. “The nice thing it does for them is that it probably gives them a little bit more motivation the next time we play, so it works both ways, but it definitely tells you that we’re somewhere in the ballpark of where we want to be.”
Leading the charge in the Falcons’ comeback was 5-foot-10 sophomore Mia Hughes. Despite giving up a size advantage to Kentridge junior Jordyn Jenkins (6-2) and senior JaQuaya Miller (6-4), Hughes battled inside all night, scoring 37 points and shooting 17 of 31 from the field.
“I definitely didn’t think I’d score that many points, but I knew I just came out ready to play,” Hughes said. “One thing I’ve always believed in, JaQuaya and Jordyn are both big girls and really talented players, but I think heart over size always matters to me.”
Jenkins and Miller got their hands on several of Hughes’ shots, but the sophomore battled for second chance opportunities time and time again. And on the defensive side of the court, she battled with Miller for much of the second half.
Miller made her work, finishing with 30 points and 24 rebounds. But the Chargers were hurt by Jenkins fouling out late in the third quarter. She picked up a personal and a technical in succession to foul out of the game with 17 points and six rebounds.
That left Miller to do much of the work in the fourth quarter and overtime.
“I always try to carry my team the best way I can, no matter if she’s in or out of the game,” said Miller, a UW commit. “Not having her was tough, but I tried to push through and make it work with the rest of my teammates.”
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The Kittitas Coyotes, who have won the last two Class 2B state titles, routed the Kentridge Falcons, a 4A school, 77-52. Senior guard and Gonzaga signee Brock Ravet finished with 30 points, 13 rebounds and six assists for the Coyotes.
The game was tied at 13 after the first quarter, but Ravet and company pulled away in the second and third quarters, outscoring the Falcons 52-23 over that span.
“We have a lot of haters that say that we’re a small school and we can’t play with the big guys, but I think that we proved ourselves and it feels good,” Ravet said.
Ravet is closing in on the state’s career scoring record and should pass Sunnyside Christian’s Lance Den Boer (2,851 points) before the end of the season.