NK boys team collapses against Knights

POULSBO — North Kitsap’s boys’ basketball team has hit several bumps in the road this year. But Friday night was more like a three-car pileup.

POULSBO — North Kitsap’s boys’ basketball team has hit several bumps in the road this year.

But Friday night was more like a three-car pileup.

After stringing together three strong quarters — during which the Vikings outscored the surging Bremerton Knights in every frame — North Kitsap collapsed in the fourth, wilting under Bremerton’s pressure and scoring only a pair of points, both on Jerrod Gonzales free throws.

The Vikings had entered the fourth with a 13-point lead. When it ended, they had a been handed a three-point loss, and had a lot of questions to answer.

Head coach Bob Fronk, who had seen similar Viking leads dissolve, most notably against Port Angeles, said the team must learn to play strong in the fourth quarter, and fast.

“I can’t fault the effort,” he said. “But the game is four quarters long, not three. If every game was three quarters long we’d be undefeated.”

Fronk said, “We’ve got to have guys step up in crunch time with confidence. Guys seem to disappear during crunch time.”

The fourth-quarter collapse, which saw the Vikings miss the front end of two 1-and-1s as well as every other field goal, was preceded by one of North Kitsap’s strongest efforts in recent games.

North charged out in the first quarter and grabbed a 16-9 lead behind eight points by center Bryan Haupt.

The Vikings also worked hard to contained Bremerton’s feared sophomore, 6’8” Marvin Williams, who shot only 5-of-16 from the field in the game.

North built the lead as the game continued, helped by a strong effort from starter Reid Ammann. Ammann scored seven points, but made his strongest contribution on the boards, where he grabbed eight.

The Knights stayed close throughout most of the game behind the efforts of Joe Bollinger, who had 14 points in the game, and Noah Garguile, who had 12.

But throughout the first three quarters, Bremerton stayed quiet.

In the fourth quarter, they shouted.

The Knights came out trapping and pressing, and at the same time their defense was taking over, their offense finally began to click.

Williams drove into the lane, floated a jumper, then watched it swish through the hoop and quieted the North Kitsap crowd.

Kellen Alley drove to the hoop and muscled a shot up and in.

And after North Kitsap took a time out with six minutes left in the quarter, it did little to stop Bremerton’s momentum, as a Noah Garguile jumper cut the lead, which had once been 13, to seven.

After the timeout, the Vikings mustered some energy — Haupt blocked the Knights’ Bollinger twice in one sequence — but no points. Twice they missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and every shot was missed.

But the Knights kept charging. A pair of Williams free throws cut it to five. A Bollinger three-pointer bounced twice on the rim then fell through, cutting the lead to one.

The Vikings briefly extended the lead when Gonzales drove, was fouled, and buried both free throws.

But Bremerton charged ahead. Williams passed to a cutting Kellen Alley for a bucket and the lead; Garguile charged his way to the hoop to extend it; and the final shot of the night for North Kitsap — a halfcourt heave by Ammann — couldn’t save North Kitsap.

The Vikings (9-8, 4-5 league) were also victimized by the rebounding margin: Bremerton pulled down 46, the Viking grabbed 28.

Bremerton (9-7, 4-4 league) head coach Casey Lindborgh said, “We’ve lost our share of close games. It’s nice to win one.”

Bremerton (51) Marvin Williams 15, Joe Bollinger 14, Noah Garguile 12, Kellen Alley 8, Michael Stitt 2.

North Kitsap (48) Bryan Haupt 18, Jerrod Gonzales 15, Reid Ammann 7, Josh Mathews 4, Thomas Jordan 4).

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