Kentwood stops Wilson, 57-44 | 4A Boys Semifinals

TACOMA — Joshua Smith is an imposing figure at 6-foot-9, 290 pounds. But he's really just a big teddy bear.

After Kentwood beat Wilson, 57-44, Friday night to get back into the Class 4A state championship game for the first time since 2005, the Conquerors' 6-foot-9, 290-pound center showed how soft his heart is.

"This is really how every kid wants to end their senior year," said Smith, who had 20 points and 11 rebounds against Wilson. "I told them (Wilson players) to keep their heads up. They had a great season. Even though we won, we kind of felt bad for them."

Smith, the nation's No. 1-rated high school center, left the court high-fiving a long line of Wilson fans on the way to the locker room.

He was hardly the only reason Kentwood (19-10) moved into tonight's state title game against Jackson (23-4) at 7 p.m. in the Tacoma Dome.

Kentwood's supporting cast played big while Smith was saddled with early foul trouble, not allowing Wilson (20-9) to take advantage of his absence.

The Conquerors, who also got 12 points from Alec Wilson, shot 55 percent (22 of 40) from the field as a team with four three-pointers.

"It's not just one guy," Smith said.

The championship game will pit two teams that rely largely on one person — Smith for Kentwood and hot-shooting guard Brett Kingma of Jackson.

"I think Jackson is a very good team," Kentwood coach Michael Angelidis said. "They're very deserving to get there. They're not a one-man team. They didn't get this far with one player."

So who guards Kingma?

"I want him," junior guard Mikell Everette said. "I want to stick him."

Kentwood led 26-17 at halftime despite only five points from Smith.

He picked up his second foul late in the first quarter and was benched with Wilson leading 10-9.

But by the time he returned, Kentwood was leading 19-17 and he managed to avoid another foul until the game's final minutes.

Smith returned to the court in typical dominating form in the second half.

Smith scored 11 points in the third quarter as the Conquerors played the lob game, resulting in easy layups. Kentwood outscored Wilson 21-12 in the quarter to blow the game open.

Wilson, the West Central District's No. 6 seed, was making its first state semifinal appearance since 1998.

"We lost ourselves," Wilson coach Dave Alwert said. "We lost the discipline to stay focused with our game plan for four straight quarters."

Mikey Hope led Wilson with 15 points and Jibreel Stevens added 14 points, including two three-pointers.

"It was a battle," said Kyle Peart, Wilson's 6-6 post. "I thought we contained him (Smith) in the first half. In the second half, I don't know what happened."

Now Smith goes against a Jackson team that will have a size disadvantage against Smith like everyone else.

"Every game for us is a good matchup," Smith said. "We want to play 32 minutes of basketball and let it all out on the floor."

WILSON — Perris Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Demetrius Smith 1-6 2-6 4, Phoenix Waters 0-0 0-0 0, Mikey Hope 6-16 2-2 15, Jibreel Stevens 6-17 0-0 14, Steven Schultz 1-1 0-0 2, Dugan Lawton 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Dam 3-3 0-0 7, Xavier Cooper 1-3 0-0 2, Kyle Peart 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 18-48 4-9 44.

KENTWOOD - Alec Wilson 5-6 0-0 12, Mikell Everette 1-4 2-2 5, Max Manthou 1-1 0-0 2, Isaiah Malvar 2-3 0-0 4, Austin Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Jones 0-0 1-2 1, Jason Boyce 3-4 0-0 6, Skyler Genger 1-2 0-0 3, Paul Brennan 0-2 0-0 0, Joe Kramer 0-1 0-0 0, Tre Tyler 2-7 0-0 4, Joshua Smith 7-10 6-6 20. Totals 22-40 9-10 57.

Three-point shooting - Wilson 4-13 (Stevens 2-6); Kentwood 4-10 (Wilson 2-3). Rebounds — Wilson 21 (Dam 4); Kentwood 33 (Smith 11). Assists — Wilson 3 (Dam 2); Kentwood 15 (Smith 4). Steals — Wilson 4 (Smith 2, Stevens 2); Kentwood 2 (Wilson 1, Brennan 1). Blocked shots - Wilson 0; Kentwood 6 (Smith 3).