By Terry Mosher
Editor, Sports Paper
The Olympic League winless Klahowya Eagles give it the old college try Friday night at their Eagles’ Nest, but in the end it was not nearly enough to stop the league leading Bremerton Knights.
Leading 20-16 after one furious quarter, the Eagles slowly slipped away as the Knights began to find their groove, using superior speed and quickness to take a 37-28 halftime lead and then pull away in the second half to an 88-61 victory.
The win pushed the Knights to 10-0 in the OL (12-2 overall) and dropped the Eagles to 0-9 and 1-11 with their 10th straight defeat.
Bremerton coach Darren Bowden was not too happy with his team in the early going as the spunky Eagles played like they were leading the OL and not the talented Knights. He was stomping along the sidelines yelling for his kids to get with it, clearly upset.
“For three and half quarters,” Bowden said he was angry. “They just didn’t have the intensity. Hard to play teams when you don’t have that intensity, no matter who you are and what your record is. You have to come out and play hard with intensity from start to finish.”
Dustin Brewer came off the bench to score five points, which was matched by six-foot-four Mitchell Knuckey, as the Eagles stormed in front in the opening quarter. Then Tarez Mason, a 5-10 super-quick senior guard, came off the Knights’ bench to up the temp, scoring seven of his 20 points in the second quarter. That got the Knights motivated and with Marquis Gurske, Skyler Lewis and Terrick Sims controlling the boards the game turned around.
The Knights outscored the Eagles 51-33 in the second half by stealing the ball on the dribble and the pass (the Eagles had 20 turnovers) and going coast-to-coast for easy layins.
High-scoring six-foot-two senior Deonte Dixon poured in 14 of his game high 24 points in the fourth quarter to put the explanation mark on the victory. He might have had more points but missed-fired on three dunks.
“I think some of our guys were taking them (the Eagles) for granted,” Bowden said. “And you can’t do that. You can’t do that against anybody. But they battled back and got it done, and I’m pleased about that.”
Skyler Lewis, a six-foot-three forward, continued to impress for the Knights. He added 19 points and nine rebounds. Gurske led the Knights with 10 boards, and Sims added another nine.
Even though the Knights pulled away, the Eagles fought hard. Connor Schnuit drilled four of his five threes in the second half to lead the Eagles with 17 points. Brewer added three more threes and finished with 14 points. Knuckey scored 12 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
The Eagles were missing Jerry Landram (sick) and Jacob Gotchall (at a baseball showcase in Phoenix), but Ryan Gotchell held up his family end by scoring 10 points while pushing the ball in the paint against the aggressive Knights.
“They played great,” said Bowden of the Eagles. “When you are in that position you have nothing to lose. That will actually motivate you to play harder. I think a lot of teams are gunning for us. It forces these guys to play hard.”
Klahowya coach Jim Horan, who has dumped the System he started the season with for a more conventional offensive attack, was proud of his kids for giving it their best shot, especially with two prime players out in Landram and Jacob Gotchall.
“We battle as hard as we could,” Horan said. “We got a little momentum. It was good. But it’s hard replicate that quickness in practice, and they are so fast. Just the speed of the game is a lot more than what we are used to. So there is a level of adjustment there, and by the time you adjust it’s too late.”
The Eagles will face another tough task on Tuesday when they try to crack the OL win column in a game at North Kitsap. The Knights try to stay unbeaten with a home game Tuesday against North Mason.
Bremerton 88, Klahowya 61
Bremerton 16 21 26 25 ‑88
Klahowya 20 8 17 16 – 81
Bremerton (88) – Casey Winderl 3, Marquis Gurske 11, Deonte Dixon 24, Skyler Lewis 19, Terrick Sims 2, Tarez Mason 20, Wayne Ayers 2, Donovan Cole, Beau West 2, Hudson Kolb 2, Calvin Cardwell 3, Tavontay Carter.
Klahowya (61) – Ryan Gotchall 10, Mitchell Knuckey 12, Connor Schnuit 17, Ricky Holguin, Nate Hough, Dustin Brewer 14, Payton Ryen 4, Austin Wischhoefer 4, Kendall Kitts, Michael Mosher.