Defense evened the series

for Varsity Knights against

visiting Black Hills

George Edgar

(Sports Reporter)

Defense was the name of the game for the Bremerton Knights, defense that was taught to coach Miah Davis by the opposing coach of Saturday night’s game.

Using the defense taught to them by former Bremerton coach Larry Gallagher, now an assistant to his son Jeff Gallagher at Black Hills, the Knights used that defense to swarm all over and disrupt the visiting Wolves’ offense en route to a 64-52 non-league win at the Eathorne Gym.

“We try to be a stifling defense that’s the Bremerton creed, defense first offense second,” Davis said. “On top of that, we still have work to be done. There was a lot of reaching; we have to learn how to contain and guard our yard. Play good defense without fouling. We can’t have that against good teams going into the second quarter.”

D'Shawn Harvison

Spearheading the defensive charge was D’Shawn Harvison, who got the start in place of Kanye Taylor against Black Hills. Though there wasn’t much on the stat sheet – Hardison had four points and four rebounds – his defense caused the Wolves’ problems as they brought the ball up court.

“He hasn’t played since Pee Wees,” Davis said of Harvison, “but I’ve always known he’s a hard worker and very intelligent. Just seeing him during tryouts I told our coaches, ‘He can play defense.’ He’s athletic, he can rebound, and he’s physical. Al those attributes, and he’s a great kid too.”

“I just went out there and played my best,” Harvison said. “It’s really our coach. Without them, I wouldn’t be here.”

Though he has played since Pee Wees, Harvison didn’t play last season due to breaking his fist.

Another defender who gave the Wolves problems was Jhunior Aquino. The Knights’ guard went up against the Wolves’ point guard and was practically in the opponent’s face while defending him.

“He’s probably our most physical defender,” Davis said. “When Jhunior’s out there, I have to tell him to back up a little bit, because he wants to be in the fight, which I love. He’s a great person to start the game to impede that physicality on them.”

Their defensive stance came from Davis’ time when he played for Gallagher, who coached Bremerton 1990 to 2001. Gallagher is now an assistant to his son Jeff, a 1996 Bremerton graduate and the head coach of the Wolves. Black Hills lost their third straight game, falling to 5-4 on the season.

“I learned about defense from Gallagher,” Davis said. “We were talking before the game, I told him we start practice off the press every day. That kind of mentality helped me be the player that I am, and the coach that I am.”

Their defense helped Bremerton out to a 17-6 first quarter lead. The Knights were never really threatened by the Wolves, leading by twenty points at one point during the third quarter.

Taylor led the Knights with 19 points and eight rebounds, coming off the bench after sitting out the first quarter. Ruppe Wilson added 12 points and was also a force on defense, getting four steals.

The Knights resume Olympic League play on Wednesday when they host Port Angeles in a make up game that was postponed from earlier this season.