Gallagher’s second reign starts with win

The Bremerton Knights began their second era with coach Larry Gallagher at the reins with a resounding 87-37 win over Klahowya Tuesday night at Bremerton High School.

Senior forward Anthony Lewis scored the game’s first points on an assist from fellow senior Armand Boddie to put the Knights up 2-0 with 7:10 in the first quarter.

Klahowya would not score its first points of the game until the 4:10 mark of the first quarter when Alex Alexander dropped in a free throw to stop a 12-0 Bremerton run.

The Knights responded to that with a 13-4 run to close out the quarter on a three pointer by senior Lee Durdahl to make the score 25-5, as Bremerton outshot the Eagles 15-5.

Bremerton never let up in the second quarter as the Knights continually pressured the Eagles’ ballhandlers up and down the court, creating 18 first half turnovers and nabbing six steals of their own.

Gallagher said he was pleased with his team’s effort during its home opener.

“We have to focus and establish that we’re a basketball team and we will play as a basketball team,” Gallagher said.

The players came to play and did all the things they had been working on in practice, he said.

“We put the ball in the hands of our players and let them make decisions,” he said. “I think they’d just as soon make a good pass as to score.”

The Knights opened the quarter on a 5-0 run and never looked back as they left the Eagles with a 40-point deficit at the half.

Ulysses Williams electrified the crowd with back-to-back lay-ups after some clever thievery of his own in less than 45 seconds. He finished with 10 points.

Anthony Lewis led the Knights at the half with 10 points and five rebounds. Lewis finished with 12 points.

The intermission failed to slow down Bremerton’s offense as the Knights outscored the Eagles 37-27 in the second half as the starters sat out the fourth quarter.

Throughout the game, the Knights played at a frantic pace and never allowed Klahowya to get in any type of offensive rythmn.

The Knights next host Mount Tahoma at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

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