Kent-Meridian Hits Target -- Arney's Shooting At Line Helps End Kentridge Streak

-- KENT

Ryan Arney admits Mike Volm is the better golfer.

"But hopefully, in the long run, I'm the better free-throw shooter," Arney said.

Arney, a 5-foot-10 senior guard, was nearly perfect when it counted last night, calmly sinking six free throws in the final two minutes as ninth-ranked Kent-Meridian High School knocked off No. 2 Kentridge 48-44 in a South Puget Sound League North Division boys basketball game last night.

It was the first loss of the season for Kentridge, which came in with a 17-0 record. K-M, which lost to the Chargers in overtime last month, improved to 15-3. K-M is 9-1 in division play and Kentridge 8-1.

An estimated crowd of 2,500 crammed into the K-M gym and another 300 fans were turned away at the door.

It was Volm who helped secure Kentridge's victory the first time around, dropping in two free throws with 19 seconds left. Kentridge Coach Brian Pendleton likened those shots to money putts in golf.

This time, Arney was the ice man. He actually missed his first free throw with 1:59 to play and K-M leading 39-34. But he chased down his own rebound and was back at the line two seconds later. Arney dropped those two in and followed with four more, including two with eight seconds on the clock after Jeremy Flagel's three-point basket had cut K-M's lead to 46-44.

Arney, who had only six points for the night, said he remembered reading about Volm's free throws being like pressure putts.

"I play golf, too," he said. "I played against Mike Volm at district. I put my putts in this time."

K-M Coach Mike Albrecht said Arney was the perfect choice to face the pressure situation.

"When you have intelligent kids like Ryan, they're great to have on the line," he said. "They know concentration is a key and they just know they have to relax and get things done. He's a 3.99 student. We have confidence in him. We hoped he'd get the inbounds passes so he could knock them (free throws) in."

The coaches agreed controlling the tempo was a key. Kentridge averages more than 70 points a game.

Pendleton also pointed to K-M's 13 offensive rebounds. Matt Eilers dominated the boards in the second quarter with six of K-M's nine caroms, including three on the offensive end. Kentridge had just two rebounds in the quarter, which ended with K-M ahead 24-20. Eilers sat out eight minutes of the second half with four fouls.

Peter Charles led the Royals in rebounding with 10 and added nine points. Chris Schlect topped the K-M scoring list with 16, while Darrell Lozan had 11. Warren King scored 12 for Kentridge and Flagel wound up with 10 to go along with 10 rebounds.

"In order to take the first step toward the state championship, we knew we had to win tonight," Arney said.

Pendleton pointed out that the Chargers are still well ahead of the pace they set for themselves before the season started. King agreed.

"I'm not worried about it," he said of the loss. "I'm going to come back and I know everyone else is going to come back. It's not like we lost everything we had."

Other games

-- DECATUR 74, AT AUBURN 57 - Todd Wilhelm scored 14 of his game-high 29 points in the third quarter as the Gators (7-3, 14-4) began to take control after trailing 31-22 at halftime. They outscored Auburn (4-5, 7-10) 25-17 in that period and 21-9 in the fourth. Wilhelm sank 11 of 13 field goals, including all four three-point tries. Mike Dickerson added 20 points, hitting 10 of 14 shots, and pulled down eight rebounds. Justin Mentink provided 11 points and 10 assists. Rob Preston popped in 19 points for Auburn and added nine rebounds, while Joel Shabel had 17 points and six assists. -- AT KENTWOOD 62, JEFFERSON 55 - The Conquerors (2-7, 8-9) won behind the 33 points and 11 rebounds of Jeff McBroom, who dropped in 13 of 23 shots from the field, including five of 10 three-pointers. Adam Dean helped out with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Jefferson (0-9, 1-16) got 14 points each from Colin Malone and Eric Scharmer. Maloney also nabbed 14 rebounds. -- AT ROGERS 65, SPANAWAY LAKE 49 - Jeff Prewitt scored 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting and had nine rebounds to power Rogers to the SPSL South Division victory. Jamey Haigh had 20 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Jason Thompson had 10 points for Rogers (9-2, 11-6).