Kennedy’s Courtney Strait called Friday night’s 62-59 home upset of No. 9 Washington “a complete team effort.”

She may have been the only one in the Cougar gym to see it that way.

“Too much Courtney Strait,” said Warrior Coach Frank Howell.  “She just kept her knocking her shots down.”

Especially from the free throw line, where the silky smooth senior hit 20 of 24 for the night.

And with the game itself on the line as Washington staged a furious fourth-quarter comeback, it was the calm and cool Strait who mostly handled the ball.

“Courtney is probably the best free throw shooter in the state,” said Kennedy Coach Dennis Roloff.  “That’s who we wanted up there. She had a wonderful game.”

She set the tone right from the start, hitting a 3-pointer, a driving lay-up and five straight from the charity stripe as the Cougars (4-5, 3-5) jumped out to a surprising 12-3 lead.  There were also two steals and a couple or rebounds in the mix during the first four minute surge.

The Warriors (5-3, 5-3) seemed shell-shocked, throwing the ball away and heaving up prayer shots.

Strait had 21 of her game-high 34 by halftime and could have had more if not for the selfless style of play where looks for teammates first.

Kennedy was up 35-19 at the midway point.

And the second half started no better for the Warriors.  They were listless, put the Strait on the line with flat-footed fouls and still couldn’t buy a basket.

The Cougars had their biggest at 48-29 as the fourth quarter opened.

But the Warriors roared back.

Flashy Tasha Roundtree popped in two straight 3-point bombs which seemed to fire up the rest of the team. They reeled off 10 straight points and cut the lead to 51-45 with four minutes remaining.

Roloff, who was back on the bench after having a baseball-sized abscess near his colon removed in an emergency surgery earlier this week, was beside himself.

“We’ve got a lot of inexperienced players,” he said. “And they started making some stupid passes.”

The lead was back to eight with a minute to go on a layup by steady Cougar senior Kaylese Johnson.

Then the inexplicable happened. Strait missed two of four free throws and even threw the ball away.

The Warriors’ Jazz Royster, who with Roundtree led Washington with 11 points apiece, made two clutch tip-ins.  But her open 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the rim.

“The girls didn’t quit,” said Howell. “It was tough to come back But they got more aggressive and just started to play without out-thinking themselves.”

Afterward, Roloff was relieved.

“It’s a good thing we had a 19-point lead,” he said.  “But this is a big win for us. We’ve been close every game this year.

“It’s good to win one of them.”

WASHINGTON (59): Herb 1 0-0 2, Foreman 3 1-1 8, Bjornsen 1 0-2 3, Kramer 3 1-2 7, Royster 5 1-2 11, Roundtree 4 1-2 11, Franklin 2 1-2 6, Hobbs 4 0-0 9, Klaus 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 5-11 59.

KENNEDY (62): Meier 2 2-2 6, Strait 6 20-24 34, Simmons 1 0-0 3, Johnson 1 0-4 2, Holmes 1 2-4 4, Hendrickson 0 1-2 1, Botkin 5 2-3 12, Davis 0 0-0 0, Wagner 0 0-0 0, Zinser 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 27-39 62.

Halftime - Kennedy 35, Washington 19. 3-point goals - Washington 6 (Roundtree 2, Foreman 1, Bjornsen 1, Franklin 1, Hobbs 1), Kennedy 3 (Strait 2, Simmons 1). Fouled out - Herb, Foreman.