Though the boys basketball team’s faint playoff hopes ended during the weekend’s games, they nearly upset ninth-ranked Seattle Prep 53-46 on Friday and hung close to fifth-ranked Ballard before falling 72-60 on Saturday.

“The greatest thing about these guys is that they give it their all every night, though our record may not be that respectable,” said coach Scott Orness.

Orness went to Monday’s King Holiday Hoopfest and ran into several of his Metro League coaching peers. “Teams respect you guys now,” they told him.

After a slow start in Friday’s game against Prep, Adam Brenneman’s drive gave the Spartans a 2-0 lead. Following four ties, Bainbridge regained the lead at 11-9 just before the end of the first quarter, as Mike Botefuhr drove the lane and dished off to Teddy Picha for a layin, giving him nine points in the quarter.

A two-and-a-half minute cold spell at the beginning of the second quarter allowed the Panthers to take a 16-11 lead, but Travis Guterson narrowed it to 16-14 at 5:35 and fed Brenneman for a tying layin at the midway point. After a Panther hoop, Botefuhr’s trey put the Spartans back into the lead at 19-18 and Picha’s drive extended the margin to 21-18 with just over two minutes remaining.

But the Panthers went on a 10-0 run to take a 28-21 halftime edge. The final three points came on a trey less than two seconds before the buzzer in the first of several costly Spartan lapses. Panther freshman post Martell Webster had 14 points at that point, as his team shot eight of 13 in the second quarter while the Spartans were just three of 12.

But the Spartan defense shut down the Panthers for much of the third quarter and Spencer Evans’ third hoop of the quarter brought the Spartans to within a point at 30-29 at the 2:50 mark. Webster fell heavily to the court during the play and the game was halted for five minutes.

When play resumed, the Spartans seemed distracted and the Panthers scored two quick hoops on easy layins for a 34-29 lead. Evans narrowed the margin to 34-31, but another buzzer-beating trey put the Panthers up 37-31.

A trey 10 seconds into the final quarter, followed by a steal and foul shot extended Prep’s lead to 41-31. The Spartans ran off seven points in a minute and a half on a pair of Picha baskets and Travis Guterson’s trey to close to within 41-38.

But a Panther trey two minutes later extended their margin to 46-39, and after turning the ball over, the Spartans were slow getting back on defense and a man wide open under the hoop made it 48-39 at 2:40.

But Guterson sank a trey, then a Picha steal and layin cut the margin to 48-44. A pair of Panther free throws restored the six-point margin before Botefuhr’s layin made the score 50-46 with 45 seconds remaining.

After a missed Prep free throw, the Spartans had a chance to cut the margin to two but turned the ball over on an errant pass. Prep made three free throws in the remaining 20 seconds to ice the game.

“This was the best game we played all year,” said Orness. “I’m really proud of the guys.”

Picha had 18 points, Guterson added nine, while Evans had eight, Brenneman six and Botefuhr five.

So close

Ballard came into Saturday’s game with only a loss to top-ranked Rainier Beach – also rated as high as No. 12 nationally – marring their record.

The Beavers took the lead for good 4-2 three minutes into the game, then had two putbacks and a layin off a fast break within a minute of each other to take a 15-6 lead. After Brenneman fed Picha under the hoop, the Beavers ran off two more hoops to take a 19-8 first quarter lead.

The Beavers started slowly in the second quarter, scoring only two free throws in the first four minutes. Botefuhr’s jumper brought Bainbridge to within 21-15 at that point, but subsequent treys by Guterson and Brenneman were offset by a dozen Ballard points as the Beavers took a 33-21 halftime edge.

Ballard led by as much as 45-28 midway through the third quarter before a modest Spartan surge narrowed the score to 49-38 early in the fourth quarter.

Ballard moved out to a 58-40 lead with five minutes remaining, but keyed by four treys – two by Botefuhr and one each by Travis and Henry Guterson – the Spartans closed to within 64-55 with a minute and a half remaining.After that, however, Ballard went eight for eight from the foul line to secure the win.

“Take away the first quarter and we played them even,” said Orness. “We just didn’t come out very strong.”

Picha had 15 points, Botefuhr 14, Henry Guterson 10, Travis Guterson nine, Evans seven and Brenneman five.

The team traveled to O’Dea last night and plays its final home game Friday evening against Cleveland. The team’s five seniors – Botefuhr, Brenneman, Travis Guterson, Picha and Simon Pollack – will be honored before the 7:00 tipoff.

Seattle Prep JVs 52, Bainbridge JVs 44 – Behind 38-30 early in the fourth quarter, the Spartans took a 39-38 lead. “But we committed a flagrant foul – two free throws and possession – then we had two weak defensive efforts for easy hoops,” said coach Keith Kirkwood.

Mark Korsak led the team with 18 points and seven rebounds. Andy Kelly added nine points, while Schuyler Boone had seven boards.

Bainbridge JVs 75, Ballard JVs 70 – “This was the greatest game I’ve ever been involved in as a coach,” Kirkwood said. The Spartans took a 48-47 lead after three quarters against the team that had beaten them by 20 points during their earlier meeting and scored 27 points in the final quarter.

“There was a lot of great, unselfish play that led to a lot of easy layins,” Kirkwood added. “Everybody contributed to the win, even the guys on the bench cheering and being supportive.”