When North Kitsap played Bremerton earlier this season, the Knights scored an impressive 90 points.
The Vikings didn’t forget that when the two teams played again Jan. 17.
“They put up 90 points on us, and that stuck with every one of my players throughout the year,” NK coach Shaa Humphrey said. “We didn’t want to feel that again, [so] that was our memo going into the night.”
The Vikings played much better defense this time, but still lost 69-63.
“Our whole motto this year has been we gotta win with our defense,” Humphrey said. “We’re not the biggest and not the fastest but we got guys who can guard.”
Both teams played strong defense at the start of the game with neither scoring until the 6-minute mark. The NK full-court press stymied the Knights as the teams traded leads before being tied 15-15 at the end of the first period.
NK went on a 7-0 run to start the second quarter, but Bremerton stormed back, cleaning up their mistakes and cutting the lead to 31-30 at the intermission.
Jaxon Korsak scored over half of the NK points with 19 at the break.
Both teams traded buckets at the beginning of the second half in fast-paced action. It wasn’t until Jonas Funston of NK fouled Bremerton standout sophomore Jalen Davis when there was a break in play.
Korsak continued his scoring ways, hitting a three-pointer to tie the game at 44 apiece with two and a half minutes remaining in the period.
The game remained close with both teams trading leads. A foul on NK junior Cooper Anderson allowed the Knights to take the lead at 63-62 with three minutes remaining in the game.
Bremerton caught fire at the right time, warranting a Viking timeout after the Knights scored six unanswered points. NK senior Jordan Williams fouled out of the game with 15 seconds remaining.
“We were trying to get quick buckets, which we did a good job at doing, but you have to make them,” Humphrey said. “The last two minutes I mean, we’re really winning, and then they go on that little run.”