The No. 3 seed Bremerton Knights had one goal in mind this year and they made that a reality March 8 by capturing the 2A state title, defeating No. 10 seed Prosser 74-53 at the Yakima SunDome.

Sophomore standout and tournament MVP Jalen Davis led the team to victory with 34 points. It’s the program’s first state championship since East High went back to back in 1973-74. Last year, Bremerton finished fifth at state.

Davis came out with a force, scoring the first 13 points for the Knights in the first quarter. Nonetheless, the Mustangs were able to keep pace with the Knights for a majority of the first, matching scores and generating fastbreak points off of Bremerton misses.

Bremerton led 20-15 after the first quarter.

The Knights generated all of their scoring from the free throw line in the beginning of the second quarter, jumpstarting an 11-1 run. Bremerton’s offense continued to be productive after senior Frank Allen was able to put in a layup, pushing the Knights’ lead to 36-18 with 4:30 remaining in the second.

However, the Mustang offense responded, cutting into the deficit through their own fastbreak scoring and making Bremerton’s lead heading into halftime 43-29.

The Knights picked up where they left off in the beginning of the third quarter, scoring six consecutive points within a minute and a half. Davis was able to put in a bucket while drawing a shooting foul, converting on a three-point play at the 4:05 mark and increasing the Knights’ lead to 20.

Bremerton encountered a full-court press from Prosser in the latter half of the third, allowing the Mustangs to force some Knight turnovers and decrease their deficit to 17 by the end of the quarter, 61-44.

Prosser maintained their full-court press entering the fourth, allowing them to cut Bremerton’s lead to 14 by the 5:17 mark in the period. Nonetheless, freshman center Jay Beahan was able to cure the Knights’ drought, scoring two consecutive buckets in the paint with three minutes remaining in the game.

Allen was able to put in a slam dunk with less than a minute remaining, sealing the state title for the Knights.

Semifinal win

Bremerton avenged last year’s loss in the state semifinals by beating No. 2 seed R.A. Long 62-54 March 7 at the Yakima SunDome to advance to the 2A state championship game.

Davis was ready from the get-go, scoring the first 9 points for the Knights, and establishing a fast-paced start to the offense. Freshman Jaydon Turner scored a driving layup to keep the Knights lead at five, accounting for the only other Bremerton score aside from Davis for the remainder of the first quarter.

The Knight defense also prevented the Lumberjacks from finding quick scores, forcing R.A. Long to take a majority of their shots in the first with the shot clock winding down to zero. Bremerton led 11-8 at the end of the first.

R.A. Long was able to tie the game back up at 11 with 6:30 remaining in the second quarter and eventually took the lead after another successful offensive possession.

Sophomore Junior Davis-McWhorter helped facilitate a scoring run by sinking a three-pointer along with Davis putting in a layup with 4:30 remaining in the quarter, allowing Bremerton to take back the lead at 18-15.

Nonetheless, the Lumberjacks took the lead back again affter sinking another three-pointer with 2:30 remaining, but Davis responded with a bucket to tie the game back up at 22 with less than a minute remaining. Bremerton led 25-24 at half, with only three Knights accounting for points at that point of the game.

Allen kicked off the scoring for the Knights in the third, putting in a contested layup. Turner followed suit, putting in a three-pointer to give the Knights a two-possession lead.

The two teams traded leads throughout the beginning of the third, but it wasn’t until Davis put in a three-pointer at the 3:55 mark that Bremerton got back to a two-possession lead. The Knights jumped out to the largest lead of the day for either squad at six after Davis put in a mid-range jump shot.

The Knights generated more second-chance opportunities through strong offensive rebounding, but could not put R.A. Long away, ending the third with a two-point lead at 42-40.

Davis began getting triple-teamed at the beginning of the fourth quarter as he had already tallied 17 by the 6:23 mark in the period. He ended the game with 19 points.

The two teams began trading leads once again with multiple lead changes occurring with less than four minutes remaining in the game. Allen put the Knights ahead by multiple possessions with three minutes remaining, scoring a contested layup.

R.A. Long started to get in foul trouble, but hit a three-pointer to shrink their deficit to two. But Davis-McWhorter, who also ended the game with 19 points, responded with the shot of his life, a three-pointer to get Bremrton’s lead back up to five with 15 seconds remaining, ultimately sealing the Knights’ victory.

Quarterfinal win

Davis’ 30 point performance led Bremerton to a 57-42 victory over a familiar foe in No. 12 seed Franklin Pierce in the quarterfinals of the 2A state boys basketball tournament March 6 in Yakima.

Both Bremerton and Franklin Pierce started the game by immediately playing full-court press defense on each other, resulting in only two points scored the first 2 1/2 minutes of the game.

Allen was able to put in a driving layup to jumpstart the Knight offense. Bremerton was able to generate turnovers early on as well, producing more scoring opportunities and limiting the Cardinals’ offense.

The Knights led at the end of the first quarter 12-7.

Davis kicked off the scoring for the Knights in the second, putting in two consecutive baskets to give the Knights a seven-point lead with 5:30 remaining in the period.

Sophomore Aaron Matthews managed to hit a three-pointer at the 4:47 mark, giving the Knights their largest lead of the game at 19-10. A large amount of the points Bremerton generated were on fastbreaks, largely due to forced missed shots on the Cardinals. The Knights led at halftime 24-16.

The Cardinals cut into Bremerton’s lead early in the third quarter, drawing to within three points. Nonetheless, Davis managed to hit a three-point jumper to increase the Knights’ lead back to nine at 33-24.

Bremerton was able to extend its lead to double-digits after a Davis fastbreak layup made the score 37-26 with less than a minute remaining in the quarter. Franklin-Pierce tallied its lowest scoring quarter of the game at three points while the Knights tallied 16.

The Cardinals began to cut into Bremerton’s lead again in the beginning of the fourth quarter, shortening the gap to seven points. The comeback was short-lived though after the Knights went on a 7-0 scoring run, pushing their lead back to 13 at 48-35 with 2:39 remaining in the game.

Despite the Cardinals making the game single digits once again with a minute remaining, it proved to be too little too late.

Sophomore standout and tournament MVP Jalen Davis scored 34 points in the championship game.

Bremerton coach Miah Davis cuts down the net following his team’s state title win March 8.

The team poses for a group photo following Bremerton’s first state title in boys basketball since 1974.

Matt Priestman courtesy photo Bremerton sophomore Jalen Davis drives through defenders in a state quarterfinal win against Franklin Pierce in Yakima March 6.