KINGSTON — After time expired last Tuesday in the battle of the North Kitsap junior high schools, Poulsbo coach Clary Carlsen approached Cavs coach Tony Chisholm.
“I thought you had me,” Carlsen said, looking at a 40-39 score board in favor of the Panthers.
On the final possession of the game, Cavs point guard Steven Kirk threw a pass which just missed the outstretched fingers of forward Dietrich Rios — and secured Poulsbo’s win. Hence Carlsen’s rationale for stating that Poulsbo (2-6) had nearly been “had.”
Regardless of how close it was, Poulsbo emerged with its second victory over Kingston (3-5) in the two games the teams have played this season. Poulsbo’s only wins on the season have come against its North End rivals.
To Carlsen, the wins justify the means.
“There’s nobody I’d rather beat than Tony (Chisholm),” Carlsen said. “Because he’s a good coach.”
The teams traded leads back and forth throughout the first half. The Panthers relied on a high percentage of shots made, particularly from James May, who scored a game-high 16 points and Mychal Harris and Chris Johnston, who combined for 13. Kingston used ball movement to find Rios and Kris Tefft inside. Rios scored 10 on the day to lead the Cavs and Tefft added 7.
“We moved the ball around and were very patient,” Chisholm said. “We stuck to our guns today — it was the best game we’ve played all year.”
Poulsbo was up 27-22 at the half-way mark and increased its lead in the third by forcing a few Kingston turnovers.
But Kingston would slowly creep back into the game with pointguard Kirk, who had 8 points on the day, moving the ball around the offense and waiting for the right moments to strike.
“Our game plan was to stay patient,” Chisholm said. “(Steven) Kirk did a great job of keeping everybody in control.”
With stops on defense, whether it was a turnover, one of Brian Cleaver’s five rebounds on the day, or a steal, Kingston gave itself a full possession with 20 seconds remaining. Unfortunately for the Cavs, it proved unsuccessful.
“I told the kids, ‘We’ll have opportunities at the end,’ and we did,” Chisholm said.
Carlsen said he has been frustrated throughout the year by his team’s ineffectiveness at the end of games.
“With the exception of one team, we’ve been out in front in the fourth quarter,” he said. “We’ve struggled to finish games. We get ahead of ourselves and force the issue.”
“Our team is only a couple of mistakes away from a 6-2 or 7-1 season,” he added.
