Davis’ hot start leads Bremerton back to state quarterfinals
Published 1:30 am Monday, March 2, 2026
The No. 1 seed Bremerton Knights have secured a spot in the 2A state quarterfinals after an opening-round win over No. 8 seed Renton 75-57 Feb. 28 at the University of Puget Sound.
Junior guard Jalen Davis led the way with 34 points in the game, 28 of which were scored in the first half. The Knights are headed back to the Yakima SunDome to defend last year’s state championship. They will play the winner of No. 15 seed Foster and No. 7 seed Grandview at 5:30 p.m. March 5.
“Tonight we felt pretty good overall, [it was] a really good win as a team, especially defensively,” Davis said.
The Knights found themselves down early after some offensive miscues, trailing Renton 10-5 two minutes into the first quarter.
Nonetheless, Bremerton quickly found its way with Davis and company forcing the ball into the paint as well as executing well from beyond the arc, hitting seven three-pointers in the first half as a whole.
Davis put in a contested layup and then hit a mid-range jumper, getting Bremerton’s lead out to 13. The Knights led 48-37 at halftime.
Bremerton remained hot coming out of halftime, keeping their foot on the gas pedal with a few Davis and Aaron Matthews fastbreak scores and eventually getting themselves out to a 20-point lead.
But Renton began to creep their way back in, forcing turnovers via a full-court press and capitalizing on missed Knights shots. The Knights held on to a 63-49 lead at the end of three quarters.
Knight Enoch Taylor scored a contested teardrop shot, providing the Knights’ only score until Junior Davis-McWhorter hit a three-pointer with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
Other Kitsap scores
Also in 2A state boys action, No. 10 seed Bainbridge was eliminated after losing to No. 15 Foster 72-48 Feb. 28.
In 2A girls, No. 15 seed Kingston was also eliminated after falling to No. 10 seed Mark Morris 68-42 Feb. 28.
In 1B girls, No. 6 seed Crosspoint Christian lost its opening round game to No. 3 seed Waterville-Mansfield 73-67 Feb. 28. Since the Wildcats clinched a high seed, it was not an elimination game, so they will now play No. 11 seed Liberty Christian at 3:45 p.m. March 4 at Numerica Veterans Arena in Spokane.
