Div. I championship game tonight;

Div. II winner decided Thursday

by Mark Butcher

Sports Writer

Pairings for the Bremerton Park & Rec Men’s Fall League Championships have been determined and will be played out Wednesday (Nov. 14) and Thursday (Nov. 15) evening in the Bremerton Brick Palace.

Tip-off for the Div. I open game will be Wednesday at 6 p.m., between #3 Unguardable (3-2) and #4 Admirals Rec (3-2). The championship game will follow at 7:05 p.m., with #1 O.R.N. (5-0) putting their undefeated record on the line against #2 Heavy Hitters (3-2). And, the late game (8:10 p.m.) will feature #5 Casey’s Underdogs (1-4) versus Suquamish Tribe (0-5).

“Both divisions were very competitive this Fall,” said Park & Rec Sports Coordinator Scott Evans, “especially Div. I. After five games there was a three-way tie for second place and all three teams had beaten each other. I had to use the point differential procedure to determine who would play O.R.N. in the championship game.”

Heavy Hitters ended up getting the #2 Championship game spot because first they beat Admirals Rec by 17 points (82-to-65) opening night (Oct. 10). Then they lost to Unguardable last week (Nov. 7) by 10 points (75-to-65). Subtracting their 17-point win from their 10-point loss and they ended up with a +7 points differential.

Unguardable, on the other hand, started out winning their first two games, only to lose their third contest to Admirals Rec 63-to-56 (-11) on Oct. 25^th. Then, they surprised everyone with a 75-to-65 (+10) victory over Heavy Hitters two weeks later (Nov. 7). With the 11-point loss and 10-point victory, Unguardable ended up with a -1-point differential.

Admirals Rec ended up the loser in the three-way point differential process. Their 11-point (67-to-56) win over Unguardable (Oct. 25) was not enough to make up for the opening night 17-point loss to Heavy Hitters. Their -6 point differential was the lowest of the three second-place teams.

It is expected that Wednesday’s Fall League Championship game will be worth the price of admission. Bremerton Park & Rec does not change to watch men’s league games. Expect both O.R.N., U.S.S. Nimitz (CVN 68) sailors, and Heavy Hitters, a collection of Bremerton, Central Kitsap, and Olympic High alumni, to have their full compliment of players suited up, ready to play.

In their Week 2 match-up (Oct. 17), O.R.N. jumped to a quick 28-to-13 lead early in the 1^st half, behind the three-point shooting of Dwayne Hamiel. But Heavy Hitters’ captain Patrick Lewis rallied his team, who proceeded to close the gap to within 6 (31-to-25) by the mid-game break and then outplayed O.R.N. (34-to-33) in the second half. What they were unable to accomplish was slow down Hamiel. His game-high 27-points staved off Heavy Hitters comeback and gave O.R.N. the 64-to-59 win.

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#3 Casey’s Bail Co. (3-2) versus #4 McClouds (2-3) warm the gym up at 6 p.m. Thursday night for Div. II pairings. #1 Boat Shed (4-1) will compete against #2 All-State (3-2) for the championship tee-shirts at 7:05 p.m. Then, #5 Honey Badgers (2-3) and #6 Sound Life Church (1-4) will close out the evening, starting at 8:10 p.m.

The Div. II Championship game is a rematch of the Nov. 1^st game that Boat Shed lost on the final shot of the game to All-State, 65-to-63. That night, experienced Bremerton alumnus Ulysses Williams IV (2006) battled young Bremerton alumnus Atyus Smith (2016), with Williams scoring a game-high 26 points to Smith’s 22 points. Williams’ team, All-State, prevailed because of stronger team support, as two additional players – Ken Riley (11) and Nathan Perry (10) - scored in double-figures. Only one other player, Jake Reynolds (10), besides Smith, put double-figure points in the scorebook that night for Boat Shed.

The questions to be answered Thursday night is whether the young Bremerton alumni on Boat Shed, seven total, learned anything from the older Bremerton alumni playing for All-State.

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