Sports
Boys Hoops: Kangs Continue Summer Dominance, Juanita Plays Strong
The Lake Washington boys basketball team won the Kang Klassic for its third tournament title in June, while Juanita continued its strong summer play.
The boys basketball team underperformed in 2010-2011, finishing short of the state tournament, despite a strong roster. If its play during the month of June is any indication, the Kangs may be one of the state's stronger 3A teams in 2011-2012.
Lake Washington won the Kang Klassic on Sunday, it's third tournament win of the month. The Kangs have also taken titles in the Woodinville and Roosevelt tournament titles.
“Last year, we were expected to do a little better than we did. However, we were still a little immature," Lake Washington head coach Barry Johnson said. "Our kids are maturing a lot.”
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The Kangs continued their recent hot streak in pool play, winning all three of its games to advance as the tournament's No. 2 overall seed. Lake Washington defeated Newport and Mercer Island on the final day of the tournament, before getting past Roosevelt in the championship game.
Lake Washington is returning a solid trio of incoming seniors in 6-11 center Darius Nelson-Henry, 6-1 guard Matt Staudacher and 6-6 forward Guy Lynott, all big contributors on the 2010-2011 squad that finished 16-11. But Johnson said the surprise catalyst for his team's success has been a group of incoming sophomores.
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“Our four young guys that came in, they play really hard, they’re hard-nosed guys," Johnson said. "We have a couple of hard-nosed seniors and now they see the younger guys out there working their tails off, it kind of makes the effort level rise.”
also had an encouraging showing in the tournament. The Rebels are coming off a 4-16 season, but appear more capable of a winning season for the first time in three seasons. The Rebels' weekend was highlighted by a 57-46 win over Burlington-Edison in which Juanita controlled the game with an opening 22-2 run.
“This group is really learning about themselves," Juanita head coach Derek Witt said. "We’re talking about a group that has not had a lot of success in the past. This is the most talented they’ve ever been and they’re learning how to deal with that.”