The state-ranked Kingston basketball teams geared up for the Class 3A state playoffs by winning five of six games in Lake Country Conference action last week.
Coach Chad Rumer’s 15th ranked girls squad won all three of its outings, stopping Byng(61-27),Dickson(59-28) and Sulphur (62-38) to run their record to 15-8 on the year while riding a six-game winning streak.
Kingston’s 11th rated boysmeanwhiletoppedByng (63-51) before falling to 10th rankedDickson(57-49).They bounced back to close the week by beating Sulphur (52-38).
The Redskins will be at home Friday for the district playoffs against Marietta as well as hosting the opening round of regional play the following week.
Girls
Kingston got off to a blazing startagainstByng,racing to a 24-6 first quarter edge behind eight from Cassidy Walker. They pushed the margin to 38-14 at intermission and never looked back from there.
Walker topped three double figure scorers with 14 as Avery Ludrick notched 13 and Destry Davis added 12. Dextry Bowerman was just shy of that tally, notching nine points.
Another rapid open got the Lady Redskins on top against Dickson, building a 17-6 first quarter lead. That margin was 29-16 at the half and ballooned to 51-19 at the end of three periods as they coasted the rest of the way.
Walker spurred a balanced charge with 16 points. Bowermanscored10,Keeton Hatley had nine as Davis, Ludrick, Taylie Wiebener and Dilynn Weeks all tossed in six points.
While it wasn’t as strong a start facing Sulphur, Kingston really kicked the offense in gear during a 24-6 second stanza blitz and never looked back during a surge of 12 three pointers.
Bowermanwasthebiggest catalyst of the trey fest, sinking six of the long bombs to tally a season-high 24 points.
Wiebener canned three of the treys on the way to 11 points, Hatley chipped in six and Ludrick scored five.
Boys
Jack Hinsley pumped in eight points in the first frame in staking the Redskins to a 15-12 lead against Byng, which they never relinquished.
It was 26-19 at the half before a 24-point third quarter eruptionincreasedtheKingston lead to double digits with Blane Henry singlehandedly notching 10 in the frame.
Hinsley topped four double figure scorers with 20 for the Redskins. Brock Rumer posted 13, Henry had 12 and Hayden Seeney scored 10.
In the Dickson showdown, Kingston dug a 19-8 first period deficit from which they could never quite recover. Henry scored seven points in the best offensive frame of the night but it only helped narrow the gap to 28-24 at intermission.
Hinsley and Rumer were the lone double-digit scorers in the game with 13 and 12 points respectively. Henry tallied nine.
TheSulphurmatchupwas a tight neck-and-neck affair through one stanza as the Bulldogs held a narrow 1817 advantage. That’s when Kingston turned up the defense dramatically, yielding only nine points over the next two periods combined.
Coach Taggart Lockhart’s club exploded for 16 points in the second to take control.
Rumer and Seeney produced 12 points apiece with Henry notching seven and Hinsley adding six to go along with five points each from Reid Patterson, Lander Burkhalter and Parks Ratzlaff.