3A Bellevue too much

for Knights following

10-day layoff

by George Edgar

(Sports Writer)

On a day where they celebrated the ideals of Martin Luther King, Jr but coming off a period of inactivity, the Bremerton Knights fell 78-51 to the Bellevue Wolverines in the MLK Invitational at Renton High School.

Once again, the Knights were coming off a layoff due to Covid problems within their program. After an eleven day period where they had no games and limited practice time, the Knights came out a tad flat and out of sorts against the Wolverines out of the KingCo Conference, ranked ninth in Class 3A in some polls.

Bellevue came out on fire, using a trapping defense to take Bremerton further out of sorts, jumping out to a 28-6 lead after one quarter. The Knights recovered and played better the rest of the way but was unable to overcome the early deficit.

“Its always tough,” said Bremerton coach Miah Davis about coming off another layoff. “The adjustment from game to not practicing, not knowing if you can practice. The chemistry caught up with us in the second half, but obviously in the first half, we were missing wide open shots, and just getting into the groove of actually playing the game. Lucky, it was a non league game, so it was a good time.”

The Knights had a previous stoppage due to a combination of Covid and snow in December. After that layoff,  they played two games before their next stoppage.

There may be the possibility of the Knights not being able to play this week, only this time to other team’s problems with Covid. The Knights were scheduled to host North Mason on Thursday, and Sequim on Saturday. Bremerton is currently 4-3 overall, 3-0 in Olympic League play.

“Physically, the boys are in shape,” Davis said. “When it comes to mental, the prep, the pre-game, getting into your rhythm for the game, its huge. When you get into the game, it’s a walk into the park. It’s a difficult adjustment, but our second half was better than our first half.”

Kanye Taylor overcame a slow start to lead the Knights with 20 points, and D’Angelo Moore had 16.

“They matched up well, man to man,” Davis said of Bellevue. “It was eye opening. Different league, different athletes, different ideas of the game, allow them to dictate what they want to do. When we make adjustments, we have to be more aware of what we’re doing, adhere, and execute.”

Their game with Bellevue was part of the MLK Invitational, one of six played at Renton High School. The coach of Renton, Rashad Powell, played with Davis in high school all star games, and against each other when Powell played for Idaho, and Davis for the University of the Pacific. Renton invited the Knights to play in the day long celebration, and the two teams played earlier this month with the Redhawks winning 73-70.

The Knights have not played on Martin Luther King Day since Marvin Williams suited up for them.

“It’s a blessing,” Davis said. “Today’s a day of celebration of what he stood for, and for equality, and the fact that we should all be able to live together and slay together under one roof; I call the world ‘one roof.’ Hopefully, everyone understands the meaning of what he stood for, and understands this day is meant to be celebrated. I think this day should be celebrated throughout the United States, sit at home, reflect, go on TV, and understand what his goal was. I think he did a huge thing not only for our culture but humanity as well.”