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Conquerors land Washington’s Class 4A state title with unlikely postseason run; Brandon Knight’s career ends on disappointing note.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010
By: Jason Hickman
MaxPreps.com

From the outside looking in, the season seemed to be unraveling back on Jan. 19 for head coach Michael Angelidis and Washington’s newly-crowned Class 4A state champions at Kentwood (Covington, Wash.).

Conqueror star Joshua Smith, a 6-foot-9, 280-pound post player and MaxPreps.com’s No. 6 player overall in the 2010 class, was battling through a patellar tendon injury that sidelined him for a month. Even with the future UCLA Bruin in the lineup, Kentwood took a 14-point thumping from middle-of-the-pack league rival Auburn-Riverside that night, giving them a 6-8 overall record.

Not exactly what a team ranked in the preseason top 25 nationally by at least one publication had in mind.

Smith was in danger of being tagged locally as the mega-talent who couldn’t get his team to the Class 4A state tournament in any of his final three seasons.

But Angelidis knew his star would return to form and never allowed panic or surrender to enter in to his team’s mentality.

“We really didn’t. We felt like we would be a very tough matchup against anyone with a healthy Josh,” Angelidis said.

The wait was agonizing. Expecting to have Smith in the lineup, Kentwood took on a national schedule with appearances in the T-Mobile Invitational and the Hoophall Classic. Without the big man, the Conks struggled in those events, losing by an average of 21 points per game to national No. 1 Yates (Houston, Texas), Florida 6A state champion Winter Park (Winter Park, Fla.) and Kinston (Kinston, N.C.), led by future North Carolina Tar Heel Reggie Bullock.

“Playing three national games without Josh, we got clobbered pretty well,” Angelidis said. “We competed in those games and we were getting better, but we were getting overwhelmed without Josh.”

The turnaround began Jan. 26 against Thomas Jefferson. Smith led three Conquerors in double figures with 18 points for a 60-44 win. The only regular-season loss Kentwood suffered after that came against a talented Jefferson (Portland, Ore.) squad on ESPN2 – a game decided by three points.

“Things just started rolling. We really felt we were coming together at the right time,” said Angelidis, a native of Greece who came to the United States after a 10-year playing career in his home country.

Still, Kentwood entered the postseason as an outsider in the state championship hunt with an 11-9 record.

But back-to-back dominating performances in the SPSL Tournament began to paint Kentwood as a team to be feared. After thrashing Decatur by 20, the Conks crushed SPSL South Division champion Curtis by 14 behind 22 points from Smith and 18 more from 6-4 junior forward Jason Boyce.

It was a sign of things to come.

Kentwood ran roughshod over the 16-team Class 4A field at the Tacoma Dome last week, winning four games in four days by an average of 14.5 points per outing. Upstart Jackson was the championship opponent but couldn’t find an answer for Smith, who scored 22 points, grabbed 16 boards and even dished out five assists.

Smith earned tournament MVP honors after posting averages of 23.2 points and 14.2 rebounds per game over the four-day event. Angelidis believes the lay-off in December and January may have been beneficial for his star center.

“He came back a little hungrier,” Angelidis said. “He stayed away from the game for about seven weeks. His conditioning was a concern, but in some ways it kept him fresh. I think he felt confident and was more determined, and that comes with being a senior. He put us on his back.”

Hoisting the trophy Saturday night also put two years of playoff frustration to rest for the program. Kentwood was eliminated in loser-out, winner-to-state games each of the past two seasons.

“It’s a great journey,” Angelidis said. “Josh and Tre (Tyler) played for me for four years. (Fellow seniors) Max (Manthou) and Paul (Brennan), they were very critical in our success. Although they didn’t get a lot of playing time at times, they did a lot of things for us in practice. Max did an amazing job in leadership.

“We went to state with Josh as a freshman and maybe we all took it for granted that we would be back all four years with him. I think that makes it even sweeter. We had to work for it.”

State championship news and notes

• Kentwood alum and current Detroit Piston Rodney Stuckey, who led the school to a state title in 2004, collapsed during a game Friday night just as the Conks were preparing to take on Wilson in the semifinals. Angelidis said many of his players know Stuckey and the NBA standout even spoke to the team last season. Needless to say, the Conks were relieved when Stuckey was released from the hospital Saturday afternoon.

• Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski was part of Angelidis’ path to the United States. The Kentwood coach served as an interpreter and travel coordinator for Coach K during a trip to Greece and sought his advice about opportunities in the US. “We kind of hit it off and he was very instrumental in helping me get over here,” Angelidis said.

• A Class 5A Division I state title capped a tumultuous year for North (Phoenix, Ariz.) wing Daniel Bejarano. Thanks in part to the 6-5 senior’s 19 points, the Mustangs beat Cesar Chavez of Laveen 71-66 to earn back-to-back championships.

Bejarano’s father was shot and killed last summer. In the fall, he de-committed from the University of Texas and landed with the Arizona Wildcats a short time after.

Bejarano averaged 21.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game this season.

• A 24-point loss in Florida’s Class 3A state championship game was not exactly how Brandon Knight envisioned closing out his high school career.

Knight, MaxPreps.com’s No. 1 senior in the country, scored 18 points for Pine Crest (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) in the final, but Rickards (Tallahassee, Fla.) got 23 from Avery Moore to run away with a 70-46 win. The victorious Raiders finished 27-0.

The still-unsigned and uncommitted Knight posted 32.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game this year. Pine Crest won the 3A title in 2008 and 2009.

• In an all-Jackson Class 5A final in Mississippi, star junior guard Deville Smith hit a shot with 1.2 seconds remaining to give Callaway (Jackson, Miss.) its second-straight state title over city rival Provine (Jackson, Miss.), 34-32.

Smith’s brother, 6-2 sophomore De’Vion Smith, contributed 12 points and eight rebounds in the low-scoring affair.

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