EAST BREMERTON — A Jan. 15 matchup with crosstown rival Bremerton was a must-win game for the Trojans as well as a chance to make up for a subpar performance the last time these two teams met.
Olympic (5-3, 9-7) made good on its opportunity as Brandon Barron’s career-high 30 points lifted the Trojans to a 78-55 over the Knights.
Barron was an efficient 11-for-12 from the floor and hit all six of his free throw attempts as he slashed his way to the basket with success time and time again.
“He’s successful when he’s putting the ball on the floor and getting to the rim,” Olympic head coach Jon O’Connor said. “I think he did a really good job of that tonight and that opens up everybody else.”
The Trojans met Bremerton (3-5, 6-9) for the first time on Dec. 7 when it was still early in the season. The young Knights team has been a bit of a surprise season and certainly caught Olympic napping early in a 52-49 win. Bremerton led that game 33-15 at halftime and held on for the upset, giving the Trojans an early setback.
“We watched that game yesterday in film,” O’Connor said. “I certainly made it clear. Sometimes you have to watch yourself and when we watched that game yesterday, I saw a lot of eyebrows raised.”
Tuesday night’s game was the complete opposite. Barron hit his first four field goals for 10 points in the first quarter and 6-6 post Caleb Morgan added 7 as Olympic dominated at both ends of the court. After just eight minutes, the Trojans had a 21-7 lead and they never let up. Morgan finished the game with 19.
“The first time we played them, we slept on them a little bit,” Barron said. “We didn’t come out like we wanted to and I felt like we had a really good start this time. We came out with intensity.”
Freshman guard D’Angelo Moore led Bremerton with 19 points as his team picked up their scoring pace considerably in the second half. Kimo Retome hit four 3-pointers in the game, including three in the fourth quarter, and finished with 14. But by the time the Knights got going, the deficit was too much to overcome.
The win gives them a little cushion in the Olympic League standings. As of press time, the Trojans had a two-game advantage over Bremerton and were tied for third in the standings with Sequim at 5-3. It is likely that these three teams will contest for the final two playoff spots.
Olympic 78, Bremerton 55
Brem 7 10 19 19 — 55
Oly 21 15 24 18 — 78
Bremerton (55) — Moore 19, K. Retome 14, Laguana 7, Wilson 5, Peterson 3, Taylor 3, M. Retome 2, Tapangco 2.
Olympic (78) — Barron 30, Morgan 18, Talarico 12, Brehmer 9, White 4, Kinsfather 2, McInnis 2, Hanson 1.
— Mark Krulish is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at mkrulish@soundpublishing.com. Follow him on Twitter @MKrulishKDN.
