KINGSTON — The Cavaliers’ school colors of red and black can be seen everywhere inside the school’s gym.
But on Thursday versus Kingston’s rivals Poulsbo, those colors were noticeably absent from one place — under the hoop.
There, it was all Panther blue.
Poulsbo’s Jordan Coover led all scorers with 23 points as visiting PJH knocked off the Cavaliers 46-31, in what was a choppy, fairly one-sided game that was atypical of contests between the North End rivals.
“This wasn’t a typical Kingston-Poulsbo game,” said Cavaliers’ coach Tony Chisholm. “It was a flat game, not our typical high energy-type games.”
But Poulsbo was able to do the dirty work to stay ahead of Kingston throughout the contest, utilizing post play to score most of its points.
“Getting the ball inside, we put ourselves in positions to be successful,” said Poulsbo coach Clary Carlsen.
Carlsen praised Coover’s efforts in the game but said that the Panther post player — like the other posts on Poulsbo’s team — should expect to get the ball often, given the strategy PJH is implementing.
“I want the ball to go through the post,” Carlsen said. “And whenever you try to funnel the ball through the post, (Coover and the other posts) are going to get some points out of it.”
It was Coover’s highest scoring game of the season, beating his previous best of 18, which he scored in the home-opener against Central Kitsap.
For the Cavs, it was that inside play that Kingston could not control.
“Coover, (Taylor) Hoffer, (Kyle) McCown,” Chisholm said. “We could not control those three players.”
And the scorebook backs up Chisholm’s claim: the three Panther posts scored 33 of Poulsbo’s 46 total points.
“Their perimeter didn’t hurt us at all,” Chisholm said. “It was all inside with their power and strength and they controlled the boards.”
Poulsbo led by 5 points when the first quarter ended, sinking a few perimeter shots and playing tough pressure defense. In the second, the Cavs’ Jack Clearman scored two consecutive buckets and it looked as if Kingston had the momentum to come back. But a wild hook-shot thrown up from beyond the three-point line by the Panthers’ McCown at the end of the first half put Poulsbo up 22-13 going into the locker room.
Poulsbo padded its lead in the third and fourth quarters, behind the efforts of Coover and the Panther posts. Kingston looked to have a handle on the Poulsbo perimeter but couldn’t box out for rebounds, giving their cross-North end rivals second and third chances of the boards.
Kingston is 1-2 on the season, following their opening win versus Oak Bay Junior High School, 57-34 Nov. 23, and a lost at Marcus Whitman, 61-54 Nov. 30, as well as Thursday’s loss to Poulsbo. The Cavs next host Cedar Heights at 3 p.m. Dec. 7.
Poulsbo moves to 2-1 on the year following a Nov. 27 loss to CK, 57-52, a Nov. 30 win at Oak Bay, 47-27 and its Thursday win versus Kingston. The Panthers will host Sedgwick at 3 p.m. Dec. 7.
