By Johnny Walker

Correspondent

CENTRAL KITSAP — The Olympic Trojans resolved any question Friday night about whether they had a desire to return to state competition. The team that shared the league 2A title with North Kitsap in 2014-15 and earned sixth place at state was now a relative third place in the league with dwindling opportunities. Every game counted and in 32 minutes, a test of resolve would give the answer.

The Kingston Buccaneers came out strong on their home court in the first quarter, hitting easily from the outside and building a quick lead. But the first quarter 14-9 margin soon stalled against the more aggressive Bremerton team and didn’t come back. At the final buzzer, the Trojans rode home with a 46-61 win that kept their hopes alive at number three in the Olympic 2A League (6-6, 3-2 league), leaving the Buccaneers at fifth (4-6, 1-2).

“Kingston came out hot, fired up and ready to go,” said Olympic Head Coach Devin Huff. “They always shoot the ball well and are well disciplined. We had to change defense on the fly and knock down shots. I’m very proud of our defensive effort. For us to hold Kingston to 46 points was pretty solid.”

But solid didn’t really take hold until after the half, when Kingston was only down by one point, 27-28.

“Coming out of the locker room, we needed to do a better job controlling the tempo and moving the ball up and down the court,” Huff said. “We could have easily said it wasn’t our night but we rebounded better and took care of the ball. That opened up opportunities.”

The opportunities for the Trojans included holding back the Buccaneer offense led by Kingston Junior Andrew Shaw, who racked up 18 total points. In contrast, the Trojans were able improve on rebounds and counter with Juniors Chase Matheny for 18 points, Tyler Yost for 17 and Senior Mikhail Hayes with 11. Kingston’s other top shooters were Juniors Liam Young at 9 and Gavin Veilleux with 7.

“Olympic is a great team. They always have incredibly tough and intense players,” said Kingston Head Coach Ben Wisniewski. “The game got more physical and we didn’t match their intensity. Our aggressiveness went away and we didn’t stay in attack mode. As a result, they were able to make more of their plays in the third and fourth quarter.”

Relative experience in varsity competition may have also been a factor. According to the team rosters, Olympic had eight seniors, three juniors, and only one sophomore listed. Kingston’s bench was younger with two seniors, seven juniors, and two sophomores.

“Losing to Olympic puts us in the hole,” said Wisniewski, “but its nothing we can’t overcome. It isn’t physical conditioning, it is a mentality of keeping the same energy and intensity all the time. We can absolutely get where we need to be in the top of the standings.”

Kingston meets Olympic again Jan. 29 at Olympic High School.

“Kingston has a very good coach and they are disciplined,” Huff said, thinking about the rematch. “He’ll adjust. It will be a dog fight.”