Girl hoopsters make big comeback, but drop heartbreaker to Panthers for their third loss at home.
Posted at 11:37 p.m.
The second ranked Bainbridge boys basketball team overcame a physical defense and got a much-needed boost from Rudy Sharar off the bench to defeat Seattle Prep 61-41 in front of a big, noisy crowd at Paski Gymnasium Friday night.
It’s their first win over the Panthers since Feb. 7, 2003 when now C-team coach Henry Guterson hit a buzzer beater on Senior Night to defeat Prep, then ranked second in the state.
The Spartans struggled at first with the Panthers’ tough man-to-man defense as they scored just nine points in the first quarter, their lowest total in a single quarter of the season so far.
But Prep kept clanking their foul shots while Sharar hit a three at the end of the first to keep things close.
The two teams traded the lead in the second, but Steven Gray scored a bucket and Sharar hit another big three to keep Bainbridge up by one going into the break.
It was all Spartans after that, as they went on a 14-1 run to open the third quarter to put them up for good.
Gray finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Sharar had 14 points.
Coby Gibler had 10 points and three blocks while Austin Wood had 10 points and six rebounds.
For the girls team, they struggled with Prep’s size and were behind for most of the game.
In the fourth quarter, they went on a 16-6 run bolstered by free throws — they made 11 of 14 shots at the charity stripe — to pull within three.
After a turnover by Prep, Emily Farrar got the ball, stepped back and hit a three pointer to tie the game with 10 seconds left.
But Bainbridge didn’t have a foul to give, which allowed Prep guard Yasmin Fuller to race down the court and score the game winner.
Brittany Gray finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Farrar had 13 points and Lindsay Bratonia had 12 points.
The boys’ game was filmed by Comcast and will be available as a Video On Demand under their “Varsity Sports” section in Local Sports. Games are available 36 to 48 hours after their conclusion.
Both teams play at Eastside Catholic on Tuesday.
