Bremerton boys basketball stuns Mark Morris in state tournament opener
Bremerton's first trip to the boys basketball state championships in 14 years won't go down as a one-and-done experience.
Trailing by 10 points during the third quarter of Wednesday's Class 2A opening-round game against No. 6 Mark Morris at the Yakima Valley SunDome, No. 11 Bremerton staged a slow and steady comeback to pull off a 51-47 victory. Freshman Jalen Davis scored a game-high 28 points and senior Trenton Bulmer knocked down three free throws and had a crucial steal late to allow the Knights to score the upset win.
It was the Knights' first triumph in state tournament play in 25 years.
"Resiliency and togetherness," said Bremerton head coach Miah Davis, who was still in high school the last time the Knights won a game at state. Davis, the team's senior point guard in 1999, led Bremerton to a fifth-place trophy in 3A that year.
Bremerton (19-6) will face No. 4 Renton in the quarterfinal round Thursday at 3:45 p.m. The Knights and Redhawks met already this postseason with Renton prevailing in overtime, 68-65, in the semifinals of the West Central/Sea-King Bi-District tournament.
The last time Bremerton appeared in the state championships was 2010 when the Knights competed as a 3A school at the Tacoma Dome, dropping games to Rainier Beach and North Central. Now they'll play at least two more games in Yakima and can clinch a top-eight trophy with another victory.
More: Matchups for Washington state basketball tournaments that open Feb. 28
Jalen Davis, son of the head coach, helped ignite the Knights' rally against Mark Morris by connecting on a pair of 3-pointers late in the third quarter. Bremerton trailed 41-39 entering the fourth and grabbed its first lead of the game with 2:13 remaining on a corner 3-pointer by Davis.
After Bulmer made three of four free throws to give Bremerton a 51-47 advantage with 11 seconds remaining, Bremerton's defense made one final stand to secure the victory.
"We have been believing in ourselves from the first day of practice," Miah Davis said. "We told ourselves we would hang out hat on defense."
Jalen Davis, who averaged 27.5 points during the regular season, finished 9 of 19 from the field and 4 of 8 from 3-point range. He added seven rebounds. Bulmer scored eight of his 12 points from the foul line. A key for the Knights, who didn't bring the tallest team to Yakima: they won the rebounding edge, 35-27.
Mark Morris, which won the Greater St. Helens League 2A title during the regular season, went scoreless for nearly five minutes to end the game. The Monarchs (18-8) finished their season on a two-game losing skid after falling to North Kitsap in last week's regional round. Senior Braydon Olson led the team with 26 points.
The Bremerton loss signaled the end of Mark Morris head coach Billy Bakamus' career. He announced earlier this winter that he'd be retiring after 42 seasons in the sport, including 32 with the Monarchs.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Bremerton boys basketball stuns Mark Morris in state tournament opener
