4th quarter surge results in back-to-back state titles for Knights

Published 1:30 am Friday, March 6, 2026

The No. 1 seed Bremerton Knights (26-2) accomplished their mission of winning back-to-back state championships, beating undefeated No. 2 seed R.A. Long 45-43 in the boys 2A title game March 7 at the Yakima SunDome.

No boys basketball team in Kitsap County had won two consecutive state titles since East High accomplished that feat in 1973-74. The Knights scored the final seven points of the game to seal the win. Standout junior guard Jalen Davis earned tournament MVP for the second straight year. He led Bremerton with 18 points in the championship game, including some crucial conversions down the stretch.

“This is probably the most emotional I’ve been when it comes to sports,” Bremerton coach Miah Davis said following the win. “You know, basketball is a game of runs. They had their run, and then we had our run, and it’s back and forth, but at the end of the day, we just had to stay disciplined.”

The game was a grind-it-out, low-scoring affair. It marked the third game in three days for both teams.

The Knights dug themselves a hole early in the first quarter, falling down 8-0 before chipping away and making the score 13-6 going into the second quarter. Then Bremerton flipped a switch in the second, going on a 14-0 run. But R.A. Long responded with some made shots of their own, trailing the Knights 25-24 at halftime.

In the third quarter, both teams traded leads, and R.A. Long eventually took a one-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter at 35-34. Bremerton started the fourth slowly, and R.A. increased its lead to 43-38 with just under four minutes to play.

That’s when the script flipped for the Knights.

Following an R.A. Long turnover, Davis got to work, converting a contested layup with under two minutes remaining to cut the lead to three at 43-40. On Bremerton’s next possession, Davis drove to the rim again but was blocked. The Knights got the offensive rebound and kicked it out to guard Junior Davis-McWhorter, who tied the game at 43 with a three-pointer with 48 seconds left.

“We’ve been through a lot of adversity this year, and we showed up every single time,” Davis-McWhorter said.

R.A. Long was called for a moving screen on the following possession, giving the ball back to the Knights with 20 seconds. An R.A. Long foul put Davis at the free-throw line with under five seconds left, and he calmly made both of them, giving Bremerton a two-point lead at 45-43.

“I think in the last two minutes, I kind of talked to myself, and kind of tried to motivate myself,” Jalen Davis said. “I knew the one thing we had to do is (get a) stop on defense.”

The Lumberjacks got off a three-point shot before the buzzer, but it was off-target, hitting the top of the backboard and sealing the state championship for Bremerton.

The Knights now have a new challenge of going for the unprecedented three-peat next season. All five starters will be returning in 2026-27.

“The gyms are packed,” coach Davis said. “You see the growth of what they created.”

Semifinal win

Just when it seemed like Bremerton might come up short in its attempt to repeat as 2A state champions, Jalen Davis came to the rescue when his team needed it most.

In the state semifinals March 6 at the Yakima SunDome, the Knights were trailing No. 11 seed Columbia River by one point in overtime with just over three seconds remaining and the full length of the court to go. Davis caught an over-the-shoulder pass from teammate Aaron Matthews and quickly drove the ball straight to the hoop, scoring a contested layup at the buzzer to win the game 55-54.

“I think just for us, we kind of were comfortable in that situation, because we practiced scenarios…(where) we’re down by this amount of points. I knew the guy (wasn’t) gonna get to me on time, so I went for the layup,” Davis said.

The game was a back-and-forth affair that saw many lead changes. Bremerton only shot 36% from the field, but converted critical baskets down the stretch.

“We played sloppy to start the game,” coach Davis said. “We got to play more sharp and get comfortable.”

The Knights were down 51-48 late in the fourth quarter before Davis converted an and-one layup to tie the game with 15 seconds remaining. Columbia River missed a shot to take the lead with seven seconds left and Knight Enoch Taylor had a chance to win the game with a layup on the other end of the court, but couldn’t get it to fall.

Both teams struggled to score in overtime. Columbia River held a 54-53 lead with 3.6 seconds remaining and had a chance to extend the lead at the free-throw line, but didn’t make either of them. Bremerton got the rebound off the second miss and called a timeout to set up the ensuing game-winning layup by Davis.

“If there’s two good teams (going at it), it’s going to be a battle back and forth,” Jalen Davis said.

Davis finished the game with 27 points and 9 rebounds, while Matthews chipped in 13 points for the Knights.

Quarterfinal win

Bremerton broke away from No. 7 seed Grandview in the second half of its state quarterfinal game at the Yakima SunDome, winning 65-47, a contest in which Davis recorded 2,000 career points.

The standout guard, who earned the 2A state tournament MVP last year in Yakima, is the second all-time leading scorer in West Sound history, only behind Steven Gray of Bainbridge, who finished his high school career with 2,415 points. Gray was a prominent player on Gonzaga from 2007-2011 before playing overseas professionally.

Davis scored 29 points in the quarterfinal game, along with six rebounds and six steals. Taylor also chipped in 17 points for Bremerton.

In the first quarter, Davis kicked off the scoring, generating a quick four-point play on the first possession of the game. The Knights and Greyhounds were neck and neck for the first four minutes of the game, but eventually Grandview took a 10-8 lead after some missed shots and turnovers from Bremerton.

But Taylor managed to take the lead right back for the Knights with a three-point play. Grandview and Bremerton flip-flopped the lead up until the end of the first, with the Greyhounds leading 16-15 at the end of one.

Davis continued his strong showing, scoring his 2,000th career point on a three-pointer in the middle portion of the second quarter. However, Grandview managed to tie the game back up at 23 apiece with four minutes remaining in the half.

The Greyhounds stole the lead from the Knights again off a three-pointer, making the score of the game 26-25 with three minutes remaining, leading to a timeout from Bremerton. The Knights finished the half strong and took a 33-30 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, center Jay Beahan scored the first two buckets for Bremerton with contested layups in the paint, getting the Knights out to their largest lead on the night at six.

Bremerton found themselves entering the bonus with 3:44 remaining in the third, sending Davis and company to the free-throw line. Then Davis-McWhorter converted on a fastbreak layup, getting the Knights’ lead out to 10.

Beahan converted an alley-oop off a pass from Davis with under a minute to go, building momentum for the Knights entering the fourth quarter. Bremerton led 49-34 at the end of three.

Taylor hit another three-pointer to kick off the fourth, getting Bremerton’s lead out to 18. Davis continued to generate and-one opportunities, getting the Knights’ lead out to 22 with five minutes remaining in the game.