Four games stand between No. 1 Bainbridge and its first title in 59 years.

After a breakout season ended just one game short of state last year, the Bainbridge boys basketball team knew they had the talent to play with the best in the Metro League, and the state.

But to beat the best, they needed to commit to the repetition of drills and practice with a desire to improve that other teams with more talent may have looked upon as scutwork.

“This group of guys has really put in the time and the hard work” needed to succeed, head coach Scott Orness said. “We’re not the quickest or the highest-jumping team in the league, so we have to have good basketball skills. To have good basketball skills takes a lot of time.

“I think they’ve worked harder than any other team in the state. I’ve been involved in two other programs (Franklin Pierce and Puyallup) – successful programs – and these guys have put in twice the amount of time than the other schools that I’ve been in.”

That time started in virtual solitude at the Gonzaga team camp in Spokane over the summer, playing against other top teams in the state.

There, senior guard Steven Gray said, “you have no one at your games. It’s just an empty gym.”

Since then, the Spartans have earned many fans in taking down opponent after opponent, gaining popularity and culminating in historic wins over O’Dea for their first Metro League Mountain Division title, their first 3A Sea-King District 2 title and a number one ranking in every poll available.

After nine years of failed opportunities, Bainbridge makes their return to the 3A State tournament official tonight when they play North Thurston at 9 p.m. at the Bank of America Arena on the University of Washington campus in Seattle.

The four-night tournament concludes Saturday.

Junior guard Nick Fling said he felt the Spartans would be one of the top teams in the state before the season started.

“We knew we had a lot of great talent, but more importantly, we’ve been working real hard in the offseason,” he said. “That helped a ton. So we’ve been expecting to come out and win and do real well.”

The hard work through the summer and fall leagues paid off when Bainbridge won their first eight games – all by double digit scores – over several Metro League teams and some non-league foes.

The streak included wins over a then- ranked Clover Park team on the road, rival North Kitsap on the road and the Spartans’ first win in four years over Seattle Prep at home.

Gray said the performance at Clover Park was the first to show Bainbridge was a force to be reckoned with.

“That was our first real test of the season,” he said. “We were a little nervous about it. I’m nervous about it because I don’t know about how the team is going to respond to going somewhere. Usually we take the ferry (instead of the freeway).

“After we beat them, we got a lot of confidence.”

The Spartans got another big win over South Kitsap at the King Classic at Key Arena in Seattle, but couldn’t hold onto a lead against Franklin, losing to the top-ranked 4A team at the King Holiday Hoopfest on Martin Luther King Day.

With their chances for a undefeated season ended, Bainbridge rebounded with two wins over top-five teams – an overtime victory over Chief Sealth and a double-digit win over Rainier Beach at home in front of a huge crowd.

It was the second year in a row that the Spartans had beaten the Vikings in season play.

Bainbridge followed that contest with four wins in five days over Cleveland, Lakeside and Bishop Blanchet twice.

But thanks to the schedule that was changed around because of bad weather, the team was mentally and physically drained.

Despite having two days off before the game, they lost at Seattle Prep by one point. It was their first league loss of the season.

But Fling said the heartbreaking defeat was exactly what they needed.

“That really opened our eyes,” he said. “They’re always a good team, but they hadn’t been doing so well. We overlooked them and we just blew it.

“But we came back hard after that.”

The next day, Bainbridge traveled to O’Dea for a makeup game that drew a sellout crowd of fans from both sides to the Irish’s small gym.

They were the lucky few to witness a classic contest, as Gray scored 35 points in a one-point win over the Irish – the first time the Spartans had defeated the Irish on the road, and O’Dea’s first loss at home since Seattle Prep beat them in December 2003.

O’Dea got their rematch five days later, but Bainbridge wouldn’t be denied, defeating the Irish by double digits in front of a crowd of 2,200 in Paski Gymnasium to win the division in what will go down as one of the most memorable sporting events in the island’s history.

Gray still can’t describe what happened that night.

“I can’t remember it and I feel bad,” he said. “I have to go watch it on tape just to really realize. You look at the bleachers and you think, there’s no way there are that many people.”

“It felt like they went up by the windows. You come out here, and fans are everywhere.”

Bainbridge took out Chief Sealth again at home, but lost the Metro League title to Rainier Beach at Seattle Pacific University, a one-point loss that was hard to take.

The Spartans did get some rest before taking on Cleveland in the semifinals of the district tournament and didn’t let the opportunity go by, beating the Eagles by 23 points to earn their first state birth in nearly a decade.

Bainbridge then continued their strong play with a close win over Bellevue, and brought home a district title with a win over O’Dea, making it three wins in a row over the private school.

Now, all that’s left to do is to complete the journey and bring home a state title.

While they’ve got a lot of history to overcome – it’s been nine years since they made the tournament, 17 years since they placed (having finished seventh in 1990) and 59 years since the late Tom Paski led the Spartans to the 1948 B state title – the team isn’t worried about getting caught up in shadowboxing with ghosts, fulfilling fans’ expectations or falling just short of a trophy.

“I think if we go and play 100 percent and if we leave everything out on the court and we don’t hold anything back and we go 0-2, we’ll look at it and say, ‘yeah, it’s disappointing we didn’t win,’ but what more can you do?” Gray said. “What more can you ask from a group of players than to give all they have?

“We love our fans to death, but when it comes down to it, it’s about playing for those 12 guys in the locker room.”

Orness is just glad that people are coming out to show their love for the team.

“I just think it’s exciting the island has jumped on board basketball here,” he said. “I think all that is a real support to our team and how the community is interested and being involved.

“I don’t think it adds any pressure. I think it gives these guys a bigger support network that they know there are a lot of people watching and supporting them.”