With go-to player – 6-foot-9 center Zach Banner – on the bench with foul trouble for much of the game, a pair of undersized guards lifted Lakes High.

Dequam Walls and Phillip Winston hit clutch shots in key moments of the 3A boys basketball sub-district loser-out contest Saturday afternoon, leading Lakes to a 78-65 win over Enumclaw and keeping the defending state champion’s season alive.

“Dequam Walls kept us in the game,” Lakes coach JoJo Rodriguez said, “and Phillip Winston brought us home.”

Ninth-ranked Lakes owned a double-digit lead for most of the second half, but when leading scorer Banner fouled out with six minutes to play, Enumclaw made a run at the Lancers.
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Editor’s note: We’re publishing our league-by-league basketball previews this week. We’ll run one or two previews each day this week.

SPSL 3A BOYS BASKETBALL PREVIEW CAPSULES

CRYSTAL BALL
1. Lakes (25-3)
2. Decatur (17-9)
3. Auburn Mountainview (9-13)
4. Enumclaw (7-13)
5. Bonney Lake (7-14)
6. Peninsula (3-18)
*2010-11 records

STARTING FIVE
F Nate Guy 6-6 Sr. Lakes
Has developed into one of the best players in the South Sound, if not state

C Zach Banner 6-9 Sr. Lakes
Biggest big man in the state can gobble up boards, pile up put-backs

W Marion Beauchamp 6-3 Sr. Auburn Mountainview
First-team all-league player averaged 14.3 points. 7 rebounds per game

G Dom Hunter 6-0 Sr. Decatur
Someone must pick up scoring slack for Gators, Hunter is talented enough

G Andrew Holloway 6-2 Sr. Lakes
Point guard is at his best in the biggest games, which Lakes will have many of

FASTBREAK
Defending state champion Lakes intends on keeping the state trophy on campus, and with three starters back, plus the return of capable role players and talented newcomers, the Lancers could do exactly that. Read more »

Home state play-in games in early November are starting to become the norm around Peninsula High School.

The seventh-ranked Seahawks assured themselves of another one – their third in the past four seasons – after routing Decatur, 48-3, at Roy Anderson Field in Purdy.

It appears after Peninsula finishes up the regular season next week at Enumclaw, a likely playoff game against Mount Si, the KingCo 3A’s third seed, will happen in the 10th week.

“That is huge for us,” Peninsula coach Ross Filkins said “We love playing at Roy Anderson Field. It will be big for our seniors to play there one more time. We were locked on that tonight.”
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Lakes played nearly flawless football against Decatur in the first half Saturday night.

The Lancers ran 20 offensive plays and eight went for touchdowns. By the time the SPSL 3A contest at Federal Way Memorial Stadium was over, second-ranked Lakes had thumped the Gators 61-0.

But Lakes senior Ma’ne Manaea said the blowout was not the Lancers’ best effort.

Huh?

“This is the second-best we’ve played this year,” the University of Colorado-bound senior said.

Manaea, a receiver and defensive back, pointed to Lakes’ 57-7 drubbing of Capital in Week 3 as the Lancers’ gold-standard so far in the 2011 season. Lakes coach Dave Miller said the win over Decatur was comparable to that victory.
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Thanks to Todd Milles for doing these preview capsules, while I was out of the office earlier this week.

SPSL NORTH
No. 7 Kentlake (5-0 overall, 5-0 league) at Kentwood (4-1, 3-1), 7 p.m. Friday at French Field

Lowdown: Tempo could be a defining aspect to this titanic, intra-city matchup. The no-huddle Falcons want to play fast; the bigger and more physical Conquerors want it controlled. Kentwood must pay attention to Kentlake’s do-everything WR Austin Pernell (871 all-purpose yards, eight total TDs), who has scored on a kickoff return, an interception, a reception and a rushing attempt. If Kentlake can snap its seven-game skid in the series tonight, it will have the inside track to its first outright SPSL North title in school history.
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South Puget Sound League athletic directors will have to wait to hear a “point of clarification” from Federal Way officials about possible use of an ineligible player on the Eagles’ boys basketball team in its state championship 2008-09 season.

Federal Way athletic director Miguel Perez will not address the SPSL athletic directors at its monthly meeting Thursday morning at Sumner High School. Federal Way had asked to be placed on the agenda, but an independent investigation ordered by the school district has not been completed and Perez asked Rick Wells, president of the SPSL athletic directors, to instead it on the agenda for the Nov. 19 meeting.

“Federal Way wants to wait for their outside investigation to be complete before they give their point of clarification,” said Curtis principal David Hammond, who is the president of the SPSL principals.

Diane Turner, chief communications officer of the Federal Way School District, said the third-party investigator finished his interviews on Monday, but still has material to review.

“I do not have a firm date on when the attorney’s investigation will be complete,” she said.

One of two things will happen when Federal Way does address SPSL athletic directors, Hammond said. The league will accept the findings of Federal Way and the independent investigation, or it will ask the West Central District or the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association to appoint a fact-finder to look into the matter.

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SPSL 3A
Peninsula (4-1, 3-1) at Bonney Lake (4-1, 3-1), 7 p.m. today at Sunset Chev Stadium
The lowdown: The Seahawks and Panthers have each been tripped up once this season – Lakes beat both teams – but outside of their losses to the Lancers, Peninsula and Bonney Lake have been absolutely dominant. The Seahawks haven’t allowed more than a touchdown, while the Panthers’ have won each contest by at least 20 points. Peninsula QB JR Grosshans is tearing up opposing defenses, having thrown for 754 yards and 7 TDs and rushed for 414 yards and 8 TDs. His Panthers’ counterpart, QB Cole Schuler, is equally effective. Schuler leads the SPSL 3A in passing with 806 yards and 8 TDs. Peninsula is riding after throttling rival Gig Harbor, 38-7, in the Fish Bowl. If the Seahawks are overconfident, Bonney Lake will make them pay. Both teams still must face Enumclaw, but the winner of this contest will take the inside track on securing the league’s No. 2 seed, which guarantees a home game in the preliminary round of the state playoffs.
The News Tribune pick: Peninsula has a little more firepower than the Panthers.
Peninsula 26, Bonney Lake 24

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Because it’s never too early to look forward to basketball season, I’ve rounded up a few tournament schedules. There are some very intriguing matchups and I’ve picked my favorites.

Boys – Squalicum vs. Vashon
Here’s a matchup of the defending state champions in 2A and 1A. Some people say the Storm are the best team in the state, regardless of classification. I don’t know if I’d go that far, but the Bellingham school is in my top five. Vashon is led by California-bound center Jon Gage.

Boys – Jackson vs. Beamer
Timberwolves guard Brett Kingma, who’s wanted by Washington and Gonzaga, takes on the Titans and forward Kevin Davis, who averaged 16.3 points, 15.3 rebounds and 4.1 blocked shots per game last season.

Boys – Rainier Beach vs. Decatur
What’s not to like here? These two programs have been at the top of their classification in recent years and both return some talented players.

Boys – Federal Way vs. Jefferson (Ore.)
Washington’s 4A champion meets Oregon’s 5A champion in the King Holiday Hoopfest. Wonder what outfit Jerome Collins will breakout for this much-anticipated game?

Boys – Kentridge vs. Kentwood
OK, so we see these teams play every season. Twice. But you’ve got to believe that Gary Bell and the Chargers will want to take down Joshua Smith and the Conquerors at the ShoWare Center.

Girls – Auburn Riverside vs. Kennedy Catholic
Can the Ravens stay competitive with a third coach in three seasons? Defending 3A state champion Kennedy Catholic is just the team to put them to the test.

Click below for the full listings.

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