The Bainbridge High girls varsity basketball team found themselves outpaced in the second half of Wednesday night’s home game against the visiting Rainier Beach Vikings, having hung just tough enough for the first two quarters.

Finishing on the wrong end of a 48-28 final score, the Spartans at first clung tight on the heels of the pace-setting Vikings, ending the first quarter actually ahead 15-14.

Outscored initially in the second, the island team came back hard and were leading 20-17 with just 1:39 remaining in the half.

They entered the third, however, down 21-20 — and they would stay behind for the rest of the night.

The third quarter ended with the Spartans trailing 37-22, and though the fourth saw some sporadic bursts of momentum it was never enough to stave off the punishment inflicted by the rampaging Vikings.

The loss at home brought the island squad’s overall season record to 5-9 (2-9 in conference).

Though the Spartans managed to hang tight throughout the first half, the Vikings quickly pulled away in the second. It was, BHS Head Coach Henry Guterson said, a combination of both fatigue among the island players and the visitors finally finding their groove.

“I think it’s always a mix of the two,” he said. “Certainly our shots weren’t falling in the second half like they were in the first half. We weren’t getting as good of looks in the second half.

“It’s always easier to make outside shots in the first half when your legs are fresher,” he added. “But give Rainier Beach a lot of credit. Their pressure defense got to us and they’re a tough team.”

It was the struggling Spartans’ second consecutive home game after having played five in a row on the road and was a welcome change of pace, Guterson said. As four of the team’s final five regular season games are slated to be at home, he said the squad was looking forward to an easier schedule — if perhaps not easier opponents.

“The away games aren’t easy for us, for sure,” Guterson said. “It’s certainly nice playing games at home.

“For us in the Metro League, taking the ferry boat over every time is tough,” he explained. “Whenever teams come here, when I talk to the coaches, every time the first thing they say is, ‘Oh, that ferry boat. You do that every time?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, we do it every time!’”

Though the first part of the season had been “loaded with top 10 teams,” the coach said the final five games boasted some quality opponents as well, though they are admittedly more closely ranked with Bainbridge in the standings. The Spartans are slated still to face Chief Sealth (4-6 in conference), Nathan Hale (1-8), Holy Names (4-5), Ingraham (2-8) and Eastside Catholic (4-6) in the regular season.

Rainier Beach (5-3) was always going to be an uphill battle for the BHS team, but Guterson said he had a chat with his Spartans ahead of time and attempted to put things in perspective.

“Always compete,” he told the girls. “Playing Rainier Beach, who’s eighth in state, at home is not going to be the biggest challenge you face in life. You got to be able to compete no matter who you’re playing. And if you can’t get up for a game against Rainier Beach, if you can’t come out and give it all you got, then I don’t know. But we’ve got to be able to do that.”

Sports are, he said, first and foremost, a method of testing oneself.

“It’s basketball,” he said. “It should be fun. It should be energetic. It should be something you love doing, no matter who you’re playing.”

The BHS team will next play at home, against Chief Sealth, at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20.