TUMWATER — There’s a lot of connections between the boys basketball programs at Black Hills and Bremerton.
Larry Gallagher coached at Bremerton in the 90s. His son, Jeff Gallagher, graduated from Bremerton and is the current coach at Black Hills. And the coach that roams the sidelines right now for the Knights – Jeremiah Davis – played under the elder Gallagher.
They also play golf together over the summer months.
“I may re-think this whole home-and-home,” the youngest Gallagher joked.
Davis will have plenty to brag about on the course.
Bremerton erupted for 38 points in the second quarter and took full control of Wednesday’s non-league contest to the tune of an 85-44 dismantling of the Wolves in South Thurston County.
The returning Class 2A semifinalists trailed just twice in a comfortable season-opening victory.
“They’re going to be a top team in the state and so we knew it would be tough,” Gallagher said. “That was a continuous thing and we couldn’t get to the locker room quick enough to fix it.”
It was far from a normal night.
From a delayed tip off due to a fire alarm at Black Hills High School, a free throw not attempted until 1 minute, 54 seconds left in the second quarter and a running clock for the majority of the second half, there was plenty of wackiness involved.
The Knights (1-0) were business-like in their offensive output.
They pushed the tempo throughout and generated easy baskets at the rim. Bremerton went 26-of-38 from the field in the opening half and attempted just eight 3-pointers in the process. It shot 17-of-21 in the second quarter alone.
“We work on it a lot,” Gallagher said of Black Hills’ transition defense. “We haven’t given up many transition buckets (in) our first two games. They really emphasize pushing the ball. That is stuff we can’t really go over and rep.”
Black Hills weathered an 8-0 run in the first quarter to trail by six, then a Peyton Faught trifecta made the deficit 23-14 early in the second. That was the closest the Wolves got the remainder of the night.
Junior Davis-McWhorter scored nine straight for Bremerton and before Faught made his second shot from beyond the arc in the frame, it pieced together a 23-2 spree. It led by 33 entering the locker room.
Jalen Davis paced the Knights with a 22-point, 10-rebound double-double while Enoch Taylor chipped in 15. Aaron Matthews added 14 plus the duo of Frank Allen and Davis-McWhorter each registered 12 points. Dallin Anderson scored 10 points.
“We had some great leadership at halftime,” Gallagher said. “Coaches barely said anything. That’s a (really) big positive.”
Black Hills (2-1) was playing its third consecutive game after victories over Yelm and Castle Rock. It made just 17 field goals on the night, a combo of shots that rattled in and out or were a little short.
James Morgan led the Wolves with 13 points and Faught recorded 12 on four 3s. The Morrill brothers of Quinton and Talan were limited to 10 combined points.
Still, this film won’t be flushed out by Gallagher. Rather, it will be embraced before Monday’s contest against Elma.
“We’re going to learn from this because there’s a lot of things we can correct,” he said.
