Bremerton destroys NK 91-22, ends lengthy losing streak to Vikings

By Elisha Meyer Kitsap News Group • December 7, 2024 1:30 am
Elisha Meyer/Kitsap News Group Bremerton sophomore Junior Davis-McWhorter gets inside the arc in a first quarter drive versus the North Kitsap Vikings.
Elisha Meyer/Kitsap News Group Bremerton sophomore Junior Davis-McWhorter gets inside the arc in a first quarter drive versus the North Kitsap Vikings.

A changing of the guard may be underway in the 2A Olympic League.

Nine months and five days after falling to Lynden by a single point in the WIAA 2A basketball semifinals, Bremerton took its home court Dec. 6 for a league debut against a North Kitsap program that had routinely trampled the Knights in recent years, including their most recent encounter in the state third-place game.

It was over before the band arrived, the Knights coming out firing on all cylinders to smoke the Vikings 91-22, ending a lengthy losing streak in the rivalry that began in 2015 and spoiling the league coaching debut of North Kitsap’s Shaa Humphery.

It’s Bremerton coach Jeremiah Davis’ first win over the Vikings since he took the job and the most lopsided victory in the series in recent memory. “The most satisfying part is that (my guys) are listening and trusting each other. We talk a lot about trust being built, and you can see it in how they walk and talk together and practice.”

The Knights, facing a Vikings’ squad depleted of last year’s shooting stars and no longer under the direction of Scott Orness, got out ahead 12-0 in an opening quarter run and an eventual 17-point first quarter advantage behind sophomore stud Jalen Davis’ 11-point quarter. The onslaught was on in the next eight minutes, Bremerton scoring another 26 to North Kitsap’s four points in the final minute of the half.

The lead at 53-14, the outcome was all but inevitable. The game finishing on a running clock, Jalen Davis would wrap up his performance with 25 points, sophomore Enoch Taylor tallied 18 points and senior Frank Allen worked for 15 points on the night.

Beyond the point tallies and the hype of finally topping the Vikings, the victory marks the beginning of what many within Bremerton basketball hope to be a title-contending season.

“We talked about going into the season like this, leaving that bitter taste in your mouth,” coach Davis said, talking about last season’s loss to Lynden. “The saliva has got to be drooling right now, ‘cause you want to get back to that spot.”