Bainbridge and Bremerton have two of the best teams in the Olympic League, and both had long winning streaks going, but only the Knights showed up at their home game Jan. 28 as the Spartans were blown out 75-42.
Bainbridge had an 11-game winning streak while Bremerton had won seven in a row. The Knights improved to 10-1 in league play, 12-3 overall, while BHS fell to 8-3, 13-4 overall.
Knight coach Jeremiah Davis said his team wanted to avenge its earlier-season loss at BHS. “We just looked at our deficiencies when we did play” the Spartans, Davis said. “We tried to harness on those the last couple days of practice and get locked in.”
Both teams came out firing on offense with Bainbridge’s Luke Johnson putting in the first basket. The teams traded leads up until they were both at 13 apiece with four minutes remaining in the quarter. Bainbridge senior Charlie Hill had eight points and Bremerton freshman guard Jaydon Turner scored seven in the period as the home team led after the first 19-17.
Bremerton started to run away with it in the second quarter, forcing Spartan turnovers and turning them into fastbreak points. The Knight defense clamped down, too, holding the visitors to five points to take a 39-22 halftime lead.
“I think this time we rushed a little bit,” Spartan coach Will Ferris said. “And then defensively, they [Bremerton] picked it up.”
Bremerton came out in the third period with a full-court press and jumped out to a 25-point lead when Jalen Davis converted a layup after getting fouled, producing a three-point play with three minutes to go in the third. Turner and Davis converted highly contested shots and layups to put the Knights up after three periods 57-35.
A fastbreak score from Bremerton sophomore Enoch Taylor kicked off the fourth quarter. The Knights continued on a 10-2 run before Ferris called a timeout. But the Knights continued to pour it on, outscoring Bainbridge 14-2 four minutes into the period. The Knights continued to generate fastbreak points off turnovers to amass a 39-point lead with a minute left.
“It was just important to solidify, you know, us trying to carry out the season at number one” in the Olympic League, Davis said. “We looked at our banners in our locker room and said, ‘Hey, you guys could solidify yourself being up there when you walk in.”