Kentridge Remains Undefeated With Win Over Auburn

Kentridge Remains Undefeated With Win Over Auburn
By Steven Dion

The Chargers are one of the few teams in the state that has not lost a single game this season and is quietly emerging in the state rankings as one of the top teams in 4A. Hailing from the SPSL North, Kentridge would have to contend with the second place Auburn Trojans (8-3 league, 10-5 overall) to keep the blemish-free mark in the standings. The gut reaction heading into this contest was the size advantage down low for the host Chargers as Chris Adams and Danny Torlai standing at 6’7 and 6’6 respectively had a distinct size advantage to Auburn’s forwards that peak at the 6’3 range. It was intriguing to see if Ryan Hansen could draw up a plan to upset first place Kentridge.

The first frame consisted of both teams trading buckets early as a Marquise Prater three-ball energized the visiting Trojans. However, the Chargers offense got rolling and carried a 14-8 lead after one frame of play. Kentridge built on this lead by using their size advantage down low to convert on close range buckets. Auburn was able to tie the ball game at 18 apiece midway through the second by forcing Kentridge to take some outside shots, which were not falling. A 10-2 run to close the first half by KRHS gave the home team a 28-20 lead going into the half.

Dave Jamison’s Chargers picked up where they left off in the third quarter as the monstrous presence of senior Chris Adams on defense led to smooth offensive transitions which consisted of no-look passes by either Deon Thomas or Jawan Stepney to Danny Torial under the bucket time after time. Thomas nailed all six of his points on consecutive possessions as a three-pointer, defensive stop, and another triple built a 46-31 lead after three quarters. Auburn senior Rio Paul scored a big chunk of his game-high 24 points in the final frame by knocking down tough shots. With a comfortable lead, Kentridge was content to challenge Paul, but not over-extend defensively and give the 6’2 wing extra points from the charity stripe. An alley-oop dunk from Thomas to Stepney followed by an Adams two handed slam and a fourth and final block by the big senior put a bow on this contest to keep Kentridge undefeated at 17-0.

Top Performers:
Auburn
Rio Paul – 24 points

Kentridge
Danny Torlai – 20 points, 9 rebounds