Basketball: Eastlake tripped up by Kentwood

Eastlake kept it close early, but couldn't sustain its hot start Thursday night, eventually falling 78-57 to Kentwood in the 4A state quarterfinals.

March 5, 2010 2:44 am
Eastlake's Ryan Sikma takes a shot to the head from Kentwood's Mikell Everette early in the first quarter. Sikma scored on the play for an early 2-0 Eastlake lead.
Eastlake's Ryan Sikma takes a shot to the head from Kentwood's Mikell Everette early in the first quarter. Sikma scored on the play for an early 2-0 Eastlake lead.

Eastlake kept it close early, but couldn’t sustain its hot start Thursday night, eventually falling 78-57 to Kentwood in the 4A state quarterfinals.

The Wolves led the Conquerors on three separate occasions in the first quarter, and trailed only 18-16 after the first period.

Kentwood and 6-foot-9, UCLA-bound center Josh Smith, took over from there. Smith, who led all scorers with 23, helped the Conquerors to a 40-30 halftime advantage. Kentwood stretched that lead out to 20 points by the end of the third quarter, taking a 59-39 lead.

Michael Russo led Wolves with 21 points, but was the only Eastlake player in double figures. Conner Iraola and Dillon Pericin had seven apiece.

Every player on the Kentwood roster scored. Tre Tyler and Jason Boyce scored 13 and 12, respectively. The Conquerors move on to face Wilson in the state semifinals. Eastlake plays Walla Walla in a loser-out game at 3:30 p.m., tomorrow. The winner of that game moves on to face the Gonzaga Prep-Decatur winner in the fourth-seventh place game at 1:30 p.m., Saturday.