Spartans get timely shooting to defeat pesky Hale Friday at home.

Nick Fling got to punctuate his 18th birthday celebration with a dunk Friday night.

Unfortunately, one of the officials was in a giving mood as well, whistling Fling for a technical foul for hanging on the rim.

The call was one of the few low points for Bainbridge as they put forth a much better effort on its home court in defeating Nathan Hale 71-44 in front of a good sized crowd.

“The rim broke – it bent down and I was going to fall, but it started coming back so I had to pull myself up and get my balance,” Fling said. “I was a little surprised at that (call) but better than (getting a technical) in a close game.”

“The one thing you can do is that he swung out and he held on and you can do that to protect yourself, but I think they were right in the call that he did pull himself up on the rim,” head coach Scott Orness said. “If he let go that would have been fine but he pulled himself up at the end.

“At least he didn’t slap the backboard and point at the crowd or something like that,” Orness continued. “It’s his birthday. We’ll forgive him.”

Bainbridge also got a hot start from Mike Walsh, who scored eight points in the paint and provide a strong presence inside.

“Mike really got us going,” Orness said. “He’s going to be that guy that works his tail off and is always consistent. He’s been that way ever since he played summer ball and I think he would have brought that to our team last year but he had the knee injury.

“He’s doing a great job especially since these are his first varsity minutes he’s getting this year and he’s playing like a veteran player.”

But Hale kept hanging around, tying the game at three separate points and briefly taking the lead before Ben Eisenhardt put Bainbridge back on top.

After Russel Richards hit a three, Eisenhardt and Walsh scored inside to put the Spartans back on top.

Ben Schneiderman scored, but Caleb Davis countered with a three to give Bainbridge the lead.

That’s when Eisenhardt stepped up and scored ten straight points, including a dunk off a steal he made and banking in a three at the buzzer.

“Coach just came up to me and said ‘you have your runs sometimes and the way they start is when you move around and play tough D(efense),” he said. “That’s what I stepped up to try to do.

Eisenhardt also said he wasn’t expecting his shot to go in, but “you take what you can get.”

“Ben’s a good shooter,” Fling said. “He’s deceptive.

“I don’t know if banks really count but we’ll take the points,” he joked.

The Spartans continued its hot streak with a 10-0 run to open the third quarter.

Fling scored six points and assisted on two other scores from Walsh.

Then came the dunk and the technical, which the Raiders used to go on a mini-run before Jesse Powell knocked down a three with just two seconds remaining in the third.

The Bainbridge defense did the rest in the fourth, holding Hale to just seven points while Davis knocked down another three and Fling scored five points and made some strong defensive plays.

Eisenhardt finished with 21 points and six rebounds.

Fling had 17 points, seven assists, five blocks and five rebounds while Walsh had 14 points and four rebounds.

“There’s a huge difference in our overall effort,” Orness said. “But we can’t afford to wait for the game to come to us. We have to come out and attack on defense and make what we do come from our defense.”

The Spartans used that defense to defeat Ingraham 76-48 on Tuesday.

Davis had 13 points while Eisenhardt had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Fling had eight points, ten rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Bainbridge plays at West Seattle next Tuesday and at Lakeside next Friday.

The Spartans play at home against Bishop Blanchet Dec. 18 at 7:30 p.m.

Girl hoopsters handle Hale

Emily Farrar can hit from downtown and she can hit from way downtown.

The senior co-captain showed that skill off when made the shot of the night when her desperation shot before the half court line hit nothing but net just before the buzzer sounded at the half.

It helped the Bainbridge girls basketball team win its third game in a row with a 62-47 win over Nathan Hale Friday night.

“I’ll take ‘em all,” head coach Penny Gienger said. “She knew that time was running out so she went out and just threw it up there.”

The shot was part of an uneven night for the Spartans as Hale took the lead first on Teelin Gray’s five points.

But Anna Wood provided a steady presence inside as she scored 11 in the first half.

“I didn’t have her in the first game (against Olympic) and I knew that was hurting us,” Gienger said. “But it really helps give us a presence inside.

“She really is one of the stronger players I’ve ever had and it really helps us out.”

The Spartans held the Raiders to just four points in the third quarter as they solidified its lead.

But Half wouldn’t quit, taking advantage of several defensive mistakes to pull themselves within nine on a 12-0 run.

But Farrar sealed it with six straight points at the line.

“They’re going to figure it out that we need to get back on defense and it’s just a matter of rotation and finding out where’s the ball,” Gienger said. “We’ll get there.”

Farrar had 19 points while Wood had 18 points.

Bainbridge plays at West Seattle next Tuesday, then travel to Lakeside next Thursday.