Kentridge outmuscles Federal Way, 62-48

KENT -- This time, the Kentridge Chargers were the team with the size advantage.

After losing a close game to a bigger and stronger Kentwood team last Friday, the Chargers picked on the smaller and faster Federal Way Eagles on Tuesday for a 62-48 win at Kentridge High School.

Kentridge (11-3, 5-2) and Federal Way (8-2, 5-2) are tied in the SPSL 4A North Division, one game behind Decatur and Kentwood.

"They just outmuscled us," Federal Way coach Jerome Collins said. "They're a physical ball club and they really jumped on top of us. I thought they manhandled us and took advantage of us inside."

Renado Parker led all scorers with 24 points, enough to make him the all-time scoring leader at Kentridge. He passed 1990 graduate Anthony Williams' mark of 1,246 with an emphatic slam to start the fourth quarter. While the record was nice for Parker, he said there were more important things he had on his mind.

"It's not something I ever thought about before," Parker said. "I saw the records but I didn't think about breaking them."

Asked what he did think about, the 6-foot-5 forward had a quick one-word answer that hit home harder than any of his four dunks on the night.

"Winning," he said.

Beating the Eagles was far from a guarantee at the start of Tuesday's game.

Despite not having starting point guard Isiah Umipig due to an ankle injury, Federal Way came out with a swarming full-court defense that limited the Chargers' offensive effectiveness.

Kentridge held a 14-12 lead after the first quarter, thanks in large part to senior Chris Washington's eight points and four rebounds and his and Parker's ability to help break the press.

"Our big guys have been through a lot and they handled the ball well," Chargers coach Dave Jamison said. "We don't have a lot of other choices."

But they do.

Kentridge's Isaac Green was strong off the bench in the second quarter to help the Chargers pull away to a 37-26 halftime lead. He had just two points in the quarter, but his four rebounds, two steals and one assist came at all the right times.

Both teams stalled to start the second half, but it was Kentridge, behind solid rebounding, that pulled away.

"We just like to rebound," Washington said. "Usually teams that are faster than us -- we just use our body size. This was a good win for us."

The Chargers pulled down 36 rebounds to just 16 for Federal Way. Parker had 12 boards, while Washington and Brandon Turner had six apiece.

"Our size was the difference," Parker said. "We're real confident now. After those first two losses we kind of hung our head, but the same thing happened last year. We kept playing hard and now we're right there."

Andre Barrington led the Eagles with 12 points, while Jeff Forbes moved from the two-guard to the point and chipped in nine.

"We were just out of sync all night," Collins said.