Big men propel Wolves into WCD final

Josh Monagle scored 24 points Tuesday night while Ryan Sweet added 16 as the third-ranked South Kitsap Wolves knocked off Kentwood 66-55 in the semifinals of the West Central/Southwest District Basketball Tournament at Puyallup High School.

The win sends South, 23-1, into the WCD championship game against top-rated Curtis, which beat Prairie 75-65 earlier Tuesday. Curtis is also 23-1 on the year.

The two teams will meet at 6 p.m. Saturday night at Puyallup High School to determine the top two seeds at next week's Class 4A state tournament. Prairie and Kentwood will play at 2 p.m. for the third and fourth seeds out of the WCD.

Monagle and Sweet were tough inside all night for South, out-pointing the guard play of Kentwood's Toussaint Tyler and Austin Boyce, who scored a combined 36 points.

South jumped out to a 17-11 first-quarter lead and held a 34-27 advantage at halftime. The Conquerors stayed close through the third period but a 17-11 fourth-quarter run by South put the game away.

Despite the outcome, both teams are headed to next week's Class 4A state tournament at the Tacoma Dome. Kentwood beat South in the semifinals of last year's state tourney and also defeated the Wolves in the title game of the 2004 tournament. South beat Kentwood in last year's WCD tournament.

South Kitsap 66, Kentwood 55

Score by quarters

Kentwood

South Kitsap 11 16 18 10 - 55

South Kitsap 17 17 15 17 - 66

Kentwood - Toussaint Tyler 21, Austin Boyce 15, Cody Thueringer 13, Curron Singleton 4, Gregory Baker 2, Mark Aurich 0, Jeremy Green 0, Kyle Pearson 0.

South Kitsap - Conner Gehring 2, Tippy Burk 7, LP Neloms 9, Josh Monagle 24, Ryan Sweet 16, Tysasiah Curry 2, Evan Atwater 6, Joe Pisa 0.

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