By Kyle Howard, Photos by Kurt Howard

The Kennedy Catholic Lancers squared off against last years 2A State Champions the Clover Park Warriors at ShoWare Center in Kent, Monday night Jan. 16th in the Valley Medical Center Showcase. This was the fourth of seven games played at ShoWare Center; fourteen teams were featured, both girls and boys games.

Kennedy Catholic’s ability to rebound and limit their turnovers late in the game was a big key to their win. Clover Park did not make it easy for them, their conditioning showed in the fourth quarter, pushing the ball up court quickly and driving to the hoop for easy layups kept the game tight.

Clover Park was obligated to foul near the end of the game, sending Kennedy Catholic players to the line for free throws. The Lancers struggled a bit with their free throws in the fourth quarter, shooting only 9-14, missing their chance to seal the win earlier before it came down to the final seconds.

Clover Park was able to pull within one with 37 seconds left but having to intentionally foul they sent Mitch Penner and Anthony McCluskey to the line as the clock ticked down. Penner and McCluskey sealed the deal in the final 30 seconds by making 5 of 6 free throws pushing their lead to 61-55. Clover Park guard David Crisp wasn’t done yet; Crisp hit a three pointer with seconds left but proved to be too late as the Warriors fell to the Lancers 61-58.

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Getting out rebounded 62-33 proved to be a huge reason for the Warriors loss. “We’ve got a great young team with good skill level but getting out rebounded like that was the difference; we need to work on the physical aspect of the game, other than that we did fine” Clover Park head coach Mel Ninnis said after the game. He was pleased with how his team shot the ball saying “Our guards can play at a very high level”.

Though the Lancers struggled in the opening quarter, they were able to calm down and show their composer the rest of the game. Lancer coach Don Hoffman said “We settled down against their press, it was the first time in a while that we were pressed like that against a quick team. We adjusted to it and got aggressive against it and that helped us get some easy buckets”. He and the team also felt it was a great atmosphere to play in and Hoffman added that all the playoff games should be played at the ShoWare Center.

Clover Park’s offense stood on the shoulders as David Crisp and Ahmad Rorie combined for 47 of their teams 58 points. Mitch Penner led the Lancers by scoring a team high 21, followed by Cole Anderson with 12 and A.J. McGrew with 10.