These Knights don’t just depend on offense, despite having one of the most dynamic scorers in KingCo 4A.

Instead, the Newport girls basketball team relies on its defense – they know if the offense isn’t there, they can always depend on their ability to stop the opposing team from scoring.

So on Friday night, when Skyline threatened to break down the big lead Newport had put up, the Knights buckled down in the fourth quarter, using their scrappy defense to hold the Spartans to just four points in a 55-41 victory in Bellevue.

Newport, ranked No. 3 in 4A, led just 42-37 entering the final frame, but allowed Skyline to score just four more times – each basket coming from the free throw line.

“Our defense carries us,” said Newport senior Betsy Kingma, who led all scorers with 24 points. “We’ve had some offensive breakdowns, but we know our defense is always going to be there.”

Each time the Knights (7-0, 4-0 KingCo 4A) looked to pull away, the resilient Spartans made a small run to keep it close. They outscored Newport 12-9 in the second quarter to pull within eight points at the half, with Karissa Fortier dropping in six points.

But the Knights defense and Kingma in particular held Fortier, Skyline’s leading scorer, to just two more points in the game.

“For whatever Betsy did on offense, she was great on Kassie on defense and that was the key for us,” said Newport coach Travis Whitaker. “She can take a game over and Betsy didn’t let her do that.”

The Spartans (3-3, 1-3), already playing without 5-foot-10 junior wing Michelle Brentl, who left just seconds into the game with an apparent knee injury, struggled to find consistent offense the rest of the game. Senior post Amy Ziegler scored eight points along with Fortier to lead Skyline.

Newport began the game with a 10-point run to lead 18-10 at the end of the first quarter. Kingma had six steals to go with her 24 points and senior Randi Boseman added 13 points and three steals. Caitlin Bennett had seven points for Newport.

“The chemistry in this group is just unbelievable,” said Kingma, a Seattle Pacific University commit. “We know each other so well on and off the court, there’s definitely a sense of dependability between us.”