Sun Staff -  Jan 13th, 1996

Sun Staff

The Bremerton Knights didn't go home after their come-from-behind 60-55 Olympic League win at Bainbridge Friday night.

Instead, they spent the night in the Bremerton High gym, practicing for their Tuesday showdown with first-place Central Kitsap.

"CK is playing so well," Bremerton coach Larry Gallagher said, "what are you going to do? We got to practice."

Of course, after winning six in a row, Gallagher is probably having little trouble keeping his Knights on the court.

Senior guard Jeff Gallagher canned six free throws in the final two minutes to spark a 9-0 game-ending run as the Knights positioned themselves for a run at the Olympic League title with a road win over the Spartans.

The Knights, 4-1 in OL play and 8-3 overall, are tied with Port Angeles for the league's second slot and stand just one game behind frontrunner Central Kitsap.

Gallagher (22 points) and Everett Williams (18) combined for two-thirds of Bremerton's offense, with Gallagher connecting on all eight of his free throw attempts in the fourth quarter to ice it.

"I've got to give Gallagher a lot of credit," said Bainbridge coach Mack Atkinson, whose team falls to 1-4 in league games and 2-9 overall. "We gave him a chance to miss, and he didn't miss."

"They kept fouling Jeff and Jeff kept putting them in," said Gallagher of his son's fourth-quarter shooting.

Bremerton rolled to an early 20-10 lead and was ahead 34-27 at halftime, largely because the Spartans turned the ball over 12 times in the first two periods.

But the Spartans stormed back and took a 55-51 lead with 2:27 to play when Greg Spooner hit a 10-foot jumper.

Two free throws by Gallagher made it 55-53 and, with 2:03 left, Williams tied the game with a steal and layin. Williams' free throw with :45 remaining gave Bremerton a 56-55 lead and Gallagher sealed the win by going 4-of-4 from the line.

"We told our kids we played (Bremerton) tougher than any of the other teams on their winning streak," said Atkinson.

Tad Schwager paced Bainbridge with 13 points. The Spartans visit Olympic Tuesday.

And, as for that all nighter in the Bremerton gym? Well, the Knights probably played a little hoop but, more likely, they spent as much time eating pizza.

"It's not all practice," Gallagher laughed. "It's a planned team function."

OLYMPIC LEAGUE

* Olympic 59, at North Kitsap 45 — Ervin McDermott led a long-distance shooting attack that led the Trojans to their third league win in five tries. McDermott nailed six 3-pointers and topped the night's scoring with 22 points. Olympic hit 10 threes on the night.

The Trojans pulled away in the second quarter when they hit five threes, three of them by McDermott. Trailing by two after one period, the Trojans led at halftime 31-23 and continued to build on that in the third quarter.

"We just have not been able to be consistent," said NK coach Jim Harney, who has a young team. "This is our jayvee team of last year (which was coached by Les Eathorne, now Olympic's head coach.)."

North fell to 1-4 and 5-6.

* At Port Townsend 46, Sequim 41 — Craig Knapp hit both ends of a one-and-one with :20 remaining to defuse a late Redskin rally as the Wolves held on to keep improving Port Townsend winless in Olympic League play.

Trailing 43-35 with less than one minute to play, the Redskins pulled to within a basket of tying the game when wing Ethan Rodgers converted three consecutive Sequim turnovers into six points.

But, with :20 left, Knapp was able to hold onto the ball long enough to be fouled, and sealed the win by sinking two free throws.

The victory lifts Sequim to 2-3 in OL play and 5-6 overall while Port Townsend continues to struggle in its first season in the league, falling to 0-5 and 3-8 overall.

Sequim visits North Kitsap and Port Townsend is at Port Angeles Tuesday.

NISQUALLY LEAGUE

* At Steilacoom 60, Chimacum 49 — The Cowboys trimmed a 17-point deficit to eight points in the fourth quarter but could get no closer as the first-place Sentinels remained undefeated in Nisqually League play.

"We played really hard, really well," Chimacum coach Dave Porter said. "It's the best game we played all season. — we just ran out of gas at the end."

Jim Dunn had a game-high 19 points to pace the Cowboys, who are now 1-4 in league play and 2-10 overall. Chimacum visits Charles Wright for a Nisqually League contest Tuesday.

PIERCE COUNTY LEAGUE

* North Mason 38, at Peninsula 37 — North Mason, despite connecting on just three field goals in the second half, got its first win over Peninsula in the last three years.

"It's a good win for us because (Peninsula) is an established program and we beat them on the road," said Bulldog coach Brian Roper, whose team improves to 6-2 in PCL play and 8-2 overall.

Up by two with 30 seconds left, Peninsula fouled Bulldog point guard Gabe Cagwin, who hit both ends of the ensuing 1-and-1 attempt. Peninsula's Dave Jones followed with a trey with six seconds left, but the clock ran out before the Seahawks could regain possession.

North Mason survived a poor shooting peformance, netting just 14 of 37 shots.

Josh Madsen led North Mason with 12 points.

"Cagwin did a good job handling the ball, and I thought that was a real key," said Roper, whose team visits White River Tuesday.

"For three years Gig Harbor, Peninsula and White River have been at the top of the league," said Roper. "I view it as a breakthrough that we were able to beat one of those teams."

NARROWS LEAGUE

* South Kitsap 60, at Lincoln 44 — The Wolves have suffered some tough losses this season, but this wasn't one of them. They whipped a young Abe team to improve to 4-4 in league and 5-5 overall.

Jason Preuit led the Wolves with 15 points and Jason Harting added 14 points and 10 rebounds.

South hosts Stadium on Wednesday.