By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Kennedy Catholic finished fifth in the state Class 3A boys basketball tournament with a 92-64 loss to the Garfield Bulldogs in the third place game Saturday.

Garfield had been ranked No. 1 going into the tournament at the Tacoma Dome, while the Lancers were unranked but stunned Bellevue in their tournament opener and only loss to O'Dea by one point in the semifinals Friday.

"It was a great season," said Kennedy head coach Don Hoffman. "I'm proud of our players. I was pleased with our huge wins over Foss (in the West Central District tournament) and Shadle Park (in the state regionals). And getting Bellevue here, it just couldn't have been better."

The Lancers were a surprise to even make the final eight at the Tacoma Dome -- let alone finish fifth in the state -- after coming in sixth in the district tournament to take the final regional berth.

They had to travel to Spokane for regionals and face a No. 1 seed in Shadle Park, but won.

"That's the way high school basketball is," Hoffman said. "Anything can happen, especially with regionals since it's a one-game thing. You have to play well and take advantage."

Against Garfield the Lancers took their only lead very early before falling behind.

Alphonso Anderson of the Bulldogs buried a basket for a 2-0 lead at 7 minutes, 40 seconds to play in the first quarter before Kennedy's James Jolly iced a 3-point shot at 6:44 for a 3-2 lead.

But Garfield slipped ahead on six unanswered points before Matthew Sasonoff of the Lancers ended the string with a putback at 5:18 to make it 8-5.

The Bulldogs answered with a string of seven straight points before Sasonoff swished in a 3-pointer at the 4:13 mark to cut the lead to 15-8.

The game gradually got uglier from there, with Garfield taking a 28-12 advantage by the end of the first quarter then leading 51-29 at halftime and 73-45 at the end of the third quarter.

Sasonoff and Keannu Royster finished with 16 points apiece to lead the Lancers in scoring and Emilio Mancol hit 13. Jolly, a senior, added nine points and six rebounds for second behind the seven boards of Jared Thurber.

"Jolly finished his career at Kennedy with a super game," said Hoffman. "Keannu Royster played his guts out, too."

Simon Harris was next with four points as Matthew Mascias scored three, Daeshaun Wilson two and Anders Hunt one.

Anderson led Garfield with 16 points with the Bulldogs getting six players into double figures.

Jolly is the only Kennedy starter who will graduate, with Andrew Ellingson and Grant Gardner being two other graduating players.

Mancol, Royster, Sasonoff, Trevor Hoffman and Thurber are juniors and Harris, Wilson, Hunt and Mascias are all sophomores.

Coach Hoffman is assisted by Jeff Huling, An Lieu and Don Moore.