Kingstonbasketballteams twice staved off elimination were unable to take the final step as each ended the season just one win from the Class 3A state tournament.
TheLadyRedskinsgotthe offense untracked in posting a 65-44 victory over Heritage Hall and 50-35 against Lindsay but were stifled for the second time in just over a week by fifth-ranked Community Christian in a 46-29 loss.
Coach Bobby McAdoo’s boys belted Heritage Hall, 72-55, and surprised eighthrated Jones, 51-29, before bowing with 54-34 defeat at the hands of 10th ranked Mount St. Mary.
Girls Despite trailing 1813 after the first quarter against Heritage Hall, the Lady Redskins rode the hot hand of Emily Belletini to the lead which they never relinquished to eliminate the Lady Chargers.
Belletini poured in 14 points, including a pair of three pointers, in the second stanza alone to stake Kingston to a 33-25 halftime lead. She poured in another nine in the third period on the way to a game-high 33 points as the Lady Redskins continued to pull away. They finished it off in the final quarter, sinking a perfect 12 of 12 at the charity stripe.
Avery Ludrick and Joley Heydon each reached double figures as well with 11 and 10 points respectively. Jaci Herndon tacked on five points, Cassidy Walker had four and Jayda Foster added two.
Clutchfreethrowshooting down the stretch proved to be vital against Lindsay as well, with the Lady Redskins connectingon13of14chances in the final stanza to thwart any hopes of a Lindsay comeback.
Belletini once again led the charge with 16 points as Ludrick contributed 14 and Foster posted 10. The Lady Redskins also picked up six pointsfromHerndonandfour by Heydon.
Kingston could never solve the defensive puzzle of Community Christian once again in the finale as the Lady Redskins finished the year with a 20-9 record.
Boys
Facing Heritage Hall in their first elimination contest, Kingston jumped out in front 16-12 after one period but it was four second quarter treys that helped the Redskins begin to assert themselves.
Hayden Seeney had two of the three pointers and notched eight points in that quarter alone to push the Redskins to a 34-21 edge at halftime.
The Redskins extended themarginto48-34attheend of three quarters and then worked the ball extensively to senior center Reid Cason in the final stanza with the big man delivering 11 points to hold off the Chargers.
Casonwrappedupwith22 points as did Brock Rumer, who canned a pair of treys and eight of 10 at the charity stripe. Seeney tallied 13 as Lander Burkhalter notched seven, Hudson Everhart had six and Sam Walker ended with two.
Against Jones, the Redskins took control from the outset while stifling the Longhorns thanks to the size of Cason in the middle as he poured in 20 points.
Walker pumped in seven, Burkhalterscoredsix,Seeney tossed in five, Rumer and Blane Henry notched four with Kase McAdams adding two.
Mount St. Mary was a differentstoryhoweverasthe Redskins were never able to getinatotaloffensiverhythm while ending the year with a 17-12 record.