TACOMA – Kingston High’s first postseason boys basketball game didn’t have a happy ending.

The Buccaneers (13-8) fell to the Fife Trojans, 52-43, in the West Central District III playoffs at Foss High in Tacoma. Kingston will face Olympic League rival North Mason at 6 p.m. Thursday in a loser-out contest at Foss High. The Bucs won both regular season matchups with the Bulldogs by narrow margins.

“We had two battles with them last time,” Kingston coach Blake Conley said. “We’ll be ready, and I expect it to be a great game like the last two were.”

Kingston struggled most of the night with sloppy passing under the full-court press and up-tempo pace set by the Trojans (19-3). The Bucs settled into a rhythm in the fourth quarter to draw within four points after being down by as much as 13. But with time fading away, Kingston was forced to foul to stop the clock. Fife responded by sinking five of their final six free throws to put the game out of reach. The Bucs could not equalize, despite several chances.

“We normally shoot better than that,” Kingston forward Zane Ravenholt said. “The ball just wouldn’t go in the hoop for us.”

Ravenholt added that, despite the loss, he was happy the team has made it as far as it has this season. The Bucs were winless two years ago in their first season as a team, and only eked out one victory last year.

“Going from 1-39 to a playoff game was pretty amazing,” Ravenholt said. “But just like anything new, we had a problem with it.”

(Staff Photos by Brad Camp)