A near capacity crowd watched

Bremerton advanced to District

Semi-finals with a convicing win

over Washington

Davis led the Knights with 43 points and 11 rebounds

but three others also scored in double-digits.

George Edgar

(Sports Writer)

The Bremerton Knights began the post season against a Washington Patriots team that came out firing at will and from all over the court, and seemingly couldn’t miss.

But playoffs games aren’t won in the first quarter. From the second quarter on, the Knights defense slowly but surely kept the Patriots down and eventually put them down in a 97-66 shootout at Eathorne Gym to advance in the Class 2A West Central District tournament.

Bremerton (20-2) will host Franklin Pierce on Thursday at 8 p.m. in a West Central District semifinal. The Cardinals defeated Fife 68-50 in their district playoff game.

The game started out with Washington, from the 2A SPSL, opening fire, as they were shooting and making three-pointers seemingly from the other side of the Manette Bridge. The Knights led 25-24 at the end of the first quarter, as coach Miah Davis settled down the troops.

“It’s the playoffs,” coach Davis said. “This is what everybody gears up for. You’re gonna get everyone’s best when you have that ‘B’ on your chest. We have this analogy, we wear them out. You can’t beat a team in the first couple of minutes of the game, not even the first quarter. Sometimes, it takes the whole 32 minutes.”

Terrin Brown-Carter made four 3-pointers on his way to a team high 28 points, and Traeh Lowe nailed six 3’s as part of his 25 points.

But that was all the offense the Patriots (11-10) could get, as the rest of the team couldn’t support them.

The Knights defense made it treacherous for the Patriots to venture into the paint, as they began to wear them down. The Patriots kept firing from long range but made fewer shots as the night wore on, and the Knights began to pull away.

“We were making shots, and they were making big shots,” said Jalen Davis. “We talked about it at halftime, getting them off the three point line. In the second half, we switched the press, and that’s when the steals happened. That’s when the crowd got loud and that what built the momentum.”

The sequence that broke the Patriots came midway in the third quarter. Bremerton was up 60-47, when Aaron Matthews made back to back steals under the basket when the Patriots tried to inbound the ball, followed by a basket by Jalen Davis off another turnover that made it 66-47 in less than 40 seconds, with over three minutes remaining in the period.

The plays set off a frenzy in the crowd, as they roared their approval of the Knights’ surge.

“We have this good support from the crowd,” said coach Davis. “That’s how we’ve been playing all year. We’re showing people who haven’t seen us what we’re capable of.”

Jalen Davis showed what he was capable of, scoring a game high 43 points on 14 of 19 shooting, and grabbed eight rebounds and dished out six assists, with an assistant coach from the University of Washington in attendance.

And unlike the Patriots, he got support from his teammates. Enoch Taylor had 14 points, seven rebounds, and five assists; Aaron Matthews 12 points, including those back to back steals and baskets; and Junior Davis-McWhorter 11 points and five assists.

Defensively, Bremerton outrebounded the Patriots 40-19, and sophomore center Jay Beahan swatted away three Washington shots.

Washington - 24 12 19 11 - 66

Bremerton - 25 21 31 20 - 97

J. Davis - 43 pts 11 reb 7 ast 3 stl 3 to

E. Taylor - 14 pts 7 reb 6 ast 3 stl 1 to

A. Matthews - 12 pts 7 reb 6 ast 3 st 1 to

J. McWhorter - 11 pts 3 reb 5 ast 2 to

M. Lomuda - 7 pts 4 reb

J. Beahan - 6 pts 3 reb 2 ast 1 stl 3 blk

K. Hunter - 3 pts 4 reb 1 to

T. Medina - 1 pt 1 blk

George Edgar

(Sports Writer)

edgar7892@yahoo.com