| - video by Jim P. |
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WA Boys AA Gold can't buy a basket in the 2nd half, drop second game to Silverdale 1 |
SILVERDALE, Wash. – The picture at the top of Kitsap Peninsula Pee Wee Boys AA standings became a little clearer Monday night (Feb. 12th) when the Warren Ave (WA) Boys AA Gold Knights lost to the Silverdale Boys AA 1 Spartans for the second time this season. The 45-to-52 loss, at Ridgetop Middle School, dropped the Gold Knight into 5th place.
Prior to the game, the Spartans 1 (4-2) had defeated the Gold Knights (3-2) - 53-to-43 - at Mountain View Middle School on Jan. 24th and then lost to #1 WA Boys AA Blue Knights (6-0) – 50-to-42 – at Ridgetop on Jan. 29th. Silverdale 1 got its second blemish, on road, at the hands of #2 Chico Boys Red on Feb. 5th.
In the earlier contest Monday night at Ridgetop, WA Boys AA Blue had an easy night, defeating then #2 Silverdale 2 (4-2) 68-to-46. The lose dropped Spartans 2 into a two-way tie for 3rd place with club rival Silverdale 1.
At the opening tip everything clicked for WA Boys AA Gold, who jumped to a quick 12-to-3 lead.
But the Spartans didn’t panic and whittled the deficit down to just three points (13-to-10) by the 11:37 mark of the 1st half.
Getting little from his bench, Knights head coach Jeremy Sump got his starters back onto the floor and the two teams battled back and forth for the remaining 11 minutes of the half, to a 27-to-27 deadlock at the intermission.
Starting the 2nd half it was easy to see that the magic Warren Ave had opened the game with had evaporated. The ball refused to go through the basket, especially from three-point range. Every shot turned into a battle for the offensive rebound, which produced yet another unsuccessful shot attempt.
The Knight weren’t taking bad shots. The basket just didn’t like the ball and wouldn’t permit it to go through.
Warren Ave’s tenacity on the boards kept them in the game, as they retrieved 43% of their missed shots.
With 13:44 remaining in the contest, the Knights tied the score for the last time, at 37 all. From then on it was all Silverdale.
Warren Ave’s shooting woes are evident in the fact that guard Miles Gurske converted the Knights first three-pointer of the 2nd half with 1:15 remaining in the game. On the night, Warren Ave shot .157 (3/19) from behind the arc.
All is not lost for the Gold Knights in their quest for a 2018 Pee Wee Boys AA championship. The season just crossed the halfway mark.
WA Boys AA Gold has #3 Silverdale 2 on the schedule next Wednesday (Feb 21st). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm at Mountain View Middle School. The following week (Mar. 1st), the Knights travel to Central Kitsap Middle to face #2 Chico Red. Then they suit up for the highly anticipated WA Boys AA Blue versus WA Boys AA Gold game. The contest is scheduled for Mar. 7th at MV Middle School, with tip-off at 7:00 pm.
