Morgan Zajonc, Allie Picha and Haley Wiggins combined for 43 points and Bainbridge basketball coach Penny Gienger notched her 199th win as the varsity coach as the Spartans plowed over the Ingraham Lady Rams, 68-39, Wednesday night in Paski Gymnasium.
The league victory put the Spartan record at 6-1 in Metro league play, 11-1 overall, going into last night’s contest at Rainier Beach.
Beach is ranked ahead of Bainbridge in the state AAA girls polls, and the highly anticipated game promised to be a classic battle between state powerhouses.
Wednesday night, the stingy Spartan defense and up-tempo breakaway offense overwhelmed the visiting girls from Ingraham.
Bainbridge jumped out to a blistering 24-12 first-quarter lead with the Spartan threesome of Zajonc, Picha and Wiggins filling the net with 7, 5, and 9 points, respectively.
The second quarter proved more of the same for Bainbridge, with the halftime scoreboard showing the Spartans leading 40-20.
If any quarter pattern has shown the Sparts off-tempo this year, it has been the third period. While Bainbridge maintained a comfortable 54-35 lead, the visiting Lady Rams outscored the Spartans 15-14 in the quarter, with Ingraham senior Tanaia Keyes heating up on two three-point buckets near the end of the period.
The Spartan defense and running game took over again in the final period as Bainbridge outscored the Lady Rams 14-4 to close out the game.
Zajonc led all scorers in the contest with 19 points; Picha had 13, and Wiggins added 11.
Alice Russell, who recently announced her decision to play NCAA Division I ball next year for the University of San Diego, added 9 points.
Also for Bainbridge, Angela Keller had 6 points, Tiana Gallagher 3, Toren Johnson 2, Jocelyn Moody 2, Kari Pierce 2, and Kaitlin Bailey 1.
Bainbridge will be at Cleveland next Tuesday, and will host Bishop Blanchet next Friday night. The varsity game on Friday will start at 6:15 p.m. The Jan. 7 Eastside Catholic contest, postponed due to snow, has been rescheduled for Saturday, Jan. 31.
Along with Gienger pulling to within one win of 200 victories in her 13 seasons at the Spartan helm, Russell and Zajonc are moving up in the top-10 for all-time scoring for Bainbridge.
Russell, at 1074 points in her four years of play, is ranked fourth in the top-10 with nine games still remaining. She trails number 3, Britt Themann (1093), 2, Cheron Moyle (1135), and 1, Christina Marshall (1155).
Zajonc is eighth in all-time scoring with 832 points. Between Zajonc and Russell are numbers 7, Kim Beemer (947), 6, Wendy Clark (962), and 5, Vanessa Jones (999).
Boys win 57-50
A balanced scoring attack pushed the Spartan boys past the Ingraham Rams, 57-50, Tuesday night in Paski Gymnasium.
Senior Mark Korsak paced the Bainbridge offensive attack with 15 points, Schuyler Boone had 11, Theo Miller 9, Dan Canfield 6, Grant Leslie 6, Cody Bludorn 4, John Bruns 4, and Zac Townsend finished with 2.
The Spartans outscored the Rams in each quarter – but never by more than two points – in the tight battle. Bainbridge was at Rainier Beach last night and will travel to Cleveland next Tuesday.
The Sparts return home next Friday night to host Bishop Blanchet, with an 8 p.m. varsity start.
The following night, Jan. 24, Bainbridge welcomes Franklin Pierce for a 7 p.m. non-league varsity contest – making up for the snow-postponed Jan. 3 date.
