By BRIAN J. OLSON
bolson@northkitsapherald.com
KINGSTON – The Kingston Middle School girls basketball team capped a perfect 10-0 season March 17, beating Woodward of Bainbridge Island 53-49 in the West Sound League championship Wednesday. Woodward (8-2) suffered both its losses this season to Kingston.
Ku’uipo Fontes and Samantha Salas led the Cavaliers with 14 points each, despite Salas fouling out less than 30 seconds into the fourth quarter. Ariel Fountain led Woodward with 18, and Grace Kenton added 12 points.
“I cannot even hardly believe it,” Kingston head coach John Goar told his team after the game. “The fact that you beat those guys is just a testament to you guys’ spirit.”
The game started with Woodward jumping out to a 17-6 lead midway through the first quarter. Facing the largest deficit they had seen all season, the Cavaliers began to mount a comeback. With just under four minutes left in the second quarter, Kingston had pulled to within one, to make it 22-21. The Cavs kept up with the Wildcats the rest of the quarter, and by halftime the Woodward lead was 29-27.
“We chose never to give up,” said Napua Fontes, who had eight points in Wednesday’s win. “I told them, ‘Never give up. We want this really bad.'”
The two teams dueled up and down the court in the third quarter, and it wasn’t until the final minute of the period that Kingston took its first lead of the game. In a flurry of turnovers and quick buckets, the Cavs went from being down 37-36, to finishing the quarter ahead 43-37.
“We were mentally ready to be down,” said Goar, “because we knew they were a great team. We have never, this season, been down like that before. So I’m really glad that they did respond.”
Woodward managed to pull within one point twice in the final period, but each time the Wildcats were on Kingston’s doorstep the Cavs edged further ahead.
“They just never gave up,” said Goar. “They kept a positive mental attitude, and that’s what worked.”
Goar said much of the credit for his team’s success must go to Debra Hill, who coached many of the Kingston players on her Wolfpack select team before they came to KMS.
“I owe everything that we did to her,” said Goar.
The Cavs were without their leading scorer, Amanda Carper, during Wednesday’s championship as well as Monday’s playoff versus Poulsbo, which they won 52-31. Carper averaged 18.1 points per game in the first eight games this season, but was sidelined after sustaining a wrist injury in a separate tournament last weekend.
“It’s real hard to lose the heart and soul of your team and still come out and play hard,” said Goar. “There is an attitude of family amongst the team members. It is a joy to coach such a great group of student athletes.”
