- video by Jim P.

WA Boys B preparing for playoffs, everyone gets time at Chico

 

SILVERDALE, Wash. – The final week of the Kitsap Co. Boys A Basketball regular season got underway Monday (Mar. 12) night and the Division One #2 team, the Warren Ave (WA) Knights (5-3), were at Central Kitsap Middle School to take on the Division One #1 team, the Chico Boys B Red (9-0).

 

With no chance of dislodging Chico out of the Division One #1 playoff berth Warren Ave head coach Ryan Christian approached the game from an alternative perspective. First, to fine-tune the team’s offensive. Second, make defense adjustments for the upcoming playoffs, And third, equalize the player’s season playing time as much as possible.

 

Starting next Monday (Mar. 19), the Pee Wee Playoffs is a single elimination tournament and each team will focus on advancing to the next level.  As such, the top players on each team will get the bulk of the playing minutes.

 

Throughout Monday’s contest it was evident Coach Christian was sticking to his pre-game plan.

 

In the 40-to-16 loss, Warren Ave scored a measly nine points in the 1^st half. Then, almost doubled their offensive production in the final period, to 17 points.

 

On the other end of the court, Chico put 25 points on the scoreboard in the opening period. After the break, the Knights racketed up their defense and held the home team to just 15 points in the 2^nd half.  

 

And, playing time for each Warren Ave’s player averaged 14 minutes per game.

 

From observing the game and analyzing the season stats, the following can be deduced about the WA Boys A team heading into the playoffs.

 

The team’s top six players are: Jmiah Smith, Oliver Christian, Trenton Bulmer, Dillion Lovestedt, Madden Benson, and Chance Enyeart.

 

Christian and Bulmer share the majority of the point guard duties, with Smith filling in as needed. Bulmer leads the team with 13 assists and Christian follows with twelve.

 

Smith is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 11.1 points per game (ppg). The team’s tallest and most athletic player, he can score from long-range, mid-range, and from the blocks. In the second half season, Coach Christian has been utilizing Smith offensively at the low blocks, which has significantly increased his scoring and rebounding production. Three times since late February, Smith has had double-double games - ten or more points and ten or more rebounds.

 

Bulmer, the team’s most offensive-minded player, averages 8.8 ppg. Like Smith, he is equally adept at scoring from long or mid-range. He has also spent the most time at the free throw line, shooting an okay (by Pee Wee standards) 34% (11/32) from the charity strip.

 

Lovestedt, Benson, and Enyeart are the team’s ‘big men’. Both Lovestedt and Benson average 6 or more rebounds per game (rpg). Enyeart's minutes have increased in the second half of the season and he has raised his rebounding tally to 3.9 rpg. In Monday’s game, Enyeart recorded 5 points and 4 offensive rebounds in only 9 minutes of action.

 

Benson is the most athletic of the three big men and will get out and run with the guards.

 

Collectively, the team pulls down 55% of their offensive rebounds, which gives them an additional 25 shots per game.

 

Defensively, the Knight are tough.  Bulmer leads the team in steals (26), followed by Smith (23) and Christian (19). Better than 17% of Warren Ave’s possession are generated off steals.

 

Enyeart is the team’s leading shot blocker, with 8 rejections this season.

 

If they fall behind, don’t count the Knights out. They don’t give up. In two of their five wins, they trailed in the final minute and found a way to win.

 

The Pee Wee Boys B Division Two teams don’t know it yet but they are going to have their hands full when they play this WA Boys B team.

 

This is a talented pack of 6^th graders, who demand your attention. They will be heard from over-and-over again in the years to come in Bremerton basketball circles.