Kentwood wins final game for fallen teammate

TACOMA — Julius Lester stood in the front row of the season's final team photo, holding his buddy's jersey in front of his own.

It was a simple, yet symbolic gesture, a reminder that Ben Dimeo remained until the end at the forefront of his teammates' thoughts. Dimeo, a reserve forward on the Kentwood boys basketball team, died in a car accident on Feb. 21.

The playoff run the Conquerors dedicated to him ended last night at the Tacoma Dome with a 68-58 victory over Prairie and a third-place trophy from the Class 4A state tournament. It's Kentwood's highest state finish in boys basketball.

"Man, it has been tough since we lost our teammate," said junior Rodney Stuckey, who had a team-high 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists. "We just came out playing for him and for us."

Lester, one of Dimeo's best friends on the team, said basketball helped the Conquerors cope with the loss and provided them with a way to honor their friend.

"It added some focus to what we were doing," said Kentwood Coach Dean Montzingo. "We wanted to do it for Ben."

The Conquerors (26-3), who lost to Franklin in Friday's semifinals, took a little time to get rolling yesterday. They finally pulled away midway through the third quarter with an 11-2 run.

Stuckey, who averaged 21.3 points in four tournament games, scored seven points during the spurt.

Prairie (22-8), of suburban Vancouver, got no closer than five points in the fourth quarter.

Kentwood center Jason Mgebroff, who will play at Lehigh next year, had 13 points and six rebounds.

Prairie, which upset No. 1 seed Snohomish in the quarterfinals, finished sixth. Patrick Oury had 16 points, four rebounds and two assists for the Falcons.

Central Valley 57, Snohomish 54 (4th-7th)

Central Valley (22-7) earned its first boys trophy since 1993, when the Bears from Veradale (suburban Spokane) placed seventh.

"We came into the tournament hoping for first," said Derek Taylor, who led his team with 23 points and nine rebounds. "We knew we could compete with the best in state. Even though we placed fourth, we know the top three teams ahead of us are all good. Fourth is a good accomplishment."

Snohomish placed seventh for the second consecutive year.

"Seventh and seventh, back to back," said Snohomish Coach Len Bone, "that's coaching."

Junior forward Paul Brockman led Snohomish (22-4) with 21 points before fouling out with 3:35 left. Still, the Panthers managed to tie the score with 2:35 left at 51-51 after Eric Mock's free throw. But Taylor sank a short jump shot to put the Bears in the lead for good.

Mock added 12 points for Snohomish, while Garrett Heinemann had 10. They were among eight seniors who played their final game for the Panthers.

The Panthers rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit before falling.

"Playing catch-up when you're fatigued is definitely hard," said Bone. "It's tiring, then you're trying to exert more. I think we stuck in there; we had a chance to win the game."

South Kitsap 49, Walla Walla 46, OT (5th-8th)

The Wolves got three free throws from sophomore wing Jamil Moore with 1.4 seconds left in the overtime, as they won for the second time in three days in overtime games.

Moore's three free throws were the last of his eight points.

"He grew up today," said South Kitsap Coach John Callaghan. "It's awesome. You shoot those everyday in practice for this kind of opportunity. He knew he just had to get just one, but I told him to get all three."

Earlier in the tournament, South Kitsap went to double overtime to defeat Mount Vernon to stay alive in the consolation bracket.

This was the second consecutive state trophy the Wolves (26-3) have brought back to Port Orchard. They placed eighth last year after losing to Shadle Park in their final game, their first trophy since 1950.

Walla Walla (20-10) led 41-39 with 32.9 seconds left in regulation, but Travis Poulson fouled South Kitsap guard Brian Cox, and Cox sank both ends of a one-and-one to tie the score 41-41.

The Blue Devils had a chance to end the game in regulation, but Craig Waddell's shot was blocked by Adam Bennett with less than 10 seconds remaining.