Bremerton easily dispatched

Franklin Pierce to advance to
District finals again Bainbridge

Knights showout with four double-digit

and two double-double performances

George Edgar

(Sports Writer)

The Bremerton Knights will face a familiar foe in Saturday’s Class 2A West Central District title game at Eathorne Gym.

Before their game with the Franklin Pierce Cardinals, the Knights and their fans watched The Bainbridge Spartans knock off the Clover Park Timberwolves 63-50 in their semifinal matchup. Then the Knights made the district title game an all-Olympic League affair as they routed the Cardinals 83-54 in the nightcap at Eathorne Gym.

It will be the third matchup between the two this season. In the first game on December 16, the Knights throttled the Spartans 71-42 behind Jalen Davis’ 28 points. In the second matchup, on January 27 in Jalen Davis’ first action after an injury earlier in the month, the Knights routed the Spartans 84-41, though Bainbridge was missing two of their starters due to illness.

The third time between Bremerton (22-2) and Bainbridge (16-5) will be in front of a full house at Eathorne Gym on Saturday night at 7 p.m. With two league foes playing for a district title, it will show that the Olympic League is really a basketball conference that is to be taken seriously.

“I’m proud that they won,” coach Miah Davis said of Bainbridge. “It’s good representation of how good our league is. Or league is getting better. That’s one of the reasons that I vouched for a few teams in district. I hate playing them in a game like this, but I love the fact that we both have the opportunity to be in the big dance.”

Jalen Davis led the Knights with 27 points and ten assists, as he got his teammates involved against the Spartans. None more so than sophomore Jay Beahan, as the six-foot eight center had 16 points, with 10 points coming in the third quarter.

Beahan’s grandmother is usually present at the gym to watch him play but she was unable to attend Thursday night’s game.

Jay Beahan

“She was put into hospice care, but I wanted to put on a show for her,” Beahan said. “We just started to take over on defense and turned it into offense.”

Beahan missed a dunk early in the game, but threw down in the third quarter, when Davis or Aaron Matthews found him underneath the Cardinals basket.

His ten points in the third quarter, mostly from two handed jams over the Cardinals, helped the Knights pull away, taking a 77-49 lead at the end of the quarter.

“People don’t understand what’s going on internally,” said coach Davis. “We had to build our foundation; now it’s the time to get more individual work in. We made more time for that knowing that our foundation is set. The result is what you see in his hard work and dedication.”

Junior Davis-McWhorter had 19 points and Aaron Matthews added 12 points and dished out ten assists.

Franklin Pierce - 11 14 14 15 - 54

Bremerton - 17 29 31 6 - 83

J. Davis - 27 pts 4 reb 10 ast 3 stl 1 to 1 chg

J. McWhorter - 19 pts 2 reb 3 ast 2 stl 1 blk 1 to

J. Beahan - 16 pts 7 reb 2 ast 2 stl 2 blk

A. Matthews - 12 pts 5 reb 11 ast 4 stl

E. Taylor - 7 pts 6 reb 2 ast 4 stl

George Edgar

(Sports Writer)

edgar7892@yahoo.com