The Spartan boys took one out of two contests over the weekend at Paski Gymnasium, but you can bet they are wishing the victory had come in the game that really counted.

Friday night, after a strong start against the visiting league foe Bishop Blanchet Braves, the Bainbridge boys bowed to an impressive pressure defense in the second half and fell 44-27.

The two halves were like a tale of two contests. Bainbridge took an early 4-2 lead on a bucket by Mark Korsak on a nice feed from Zac Townsend.

Some hot three-point shooting by Blanchet in the final two minutes of the period gave the visitors a 10-8 lead.

The second quarter was more of the same with tough defense on both sides of the court. The Braves pulled out to a 13-10 lead, but a Grant Leslie basket for Bainbridge narrowed the gap to 13-12.

With the seconds ticking away, Townsend made a quick steal and passed to a streaking Korsak to give Bainbridge a 14-13 lead that the home team took into the halftime locker room.

Blanchet hit the court as a team on a mission with an in-your-face pressure defense and hot shooting on the offensive end.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Braves had outscored the Spartans 31-13 in the half.

John Bruns led Bainbridge in the loss with 11 points, including three treys. Also for the Spartans, Korsak had 7 points, Leslie 4, Andrew Chavanu 2, Theo Miller 2, and Zac Townsend 1.

In Saturday evening’s non-league makeup contest against Franklin Pierce, one might say the Spartans had something to prove to their fans.

And the Bainbridge boys did just that, at the expense of the visiting Franklin Pierce Cardinals, 59-41.

The Spartans flashed out to a 9-0 lead before the Cardinals knew what hit them.

And, after Franklin Pierce appeared to be making a run at Bainbridge with the lead cut to 13-7 midway through the second quarter, Spartans Miller and Townsend said “we don’t think so.”

Miller intercepted a Cardinal pass on the near sideline, passed to Townsend, took the return feed from Townsend, and jammed home a crowd-pleasing dunk while being fouled by Franklin Pierce’s Corey Young.

Miller’s free throw put the Spartan lead up to 16-7, and the local hardwood boys never looked back.

Schuyler Boone, the senior post who seemed still hindered by an ankle injury during the Blanchet contest, left no doubt that he was ready to play Saturday evening, finishing up with 10 points. He scored five of the team’s nine first quarter points, and earned some crowd noise of his own on an ally-oop hoop off a nice lob from Townsend.

Korsak was uncharacteristically quiet in the first half with just one basket, but the senior guard erupted for 23 second-half points — leading the Spartans with 25 for the game.

Also scoring for Bainbridge, Miller had 9 points, Leslie added 7, Lance Trueb 4, Cole Zwicker 3 and Andrew Chavanu 1.

Bainbridge will host Lakeside Friday night with a 6:15 p.m. varsity start.

Girls still on top in Metro League

The Bainbridge Spartan girls remained on top of their Metro League division with a 50-41 victory over the visiting Bishop Blanchet Braves Friday night.

With the Spartans rolling out to a quick 19-9 first quarter lead, 31-13 at the half, the Braves gained some ground in the second half.

Bainbridge coach Penny Gienger said the Spartans made some adjustments coming off a disappointing loss at Cleveland earlier in the week.

“For the most part, I think our girls played a good game,” Gienger said.

The Bainbridge-Blanchet battle earlier in the season came down to the Spartans winning a nailbiter in the end.

Bainbridge was led by 17 points from senior Morgan Zajonc. Allie Picha added 11, Haley Wiggins 8, Alice Russell 6, Tiana Gallagher 2, Toren Johnson 2, Angela Keller 2, and Jacquie Menalia 2.

Although it may not have shown it on the final scoreboard, Bainbridge was hampered by a wrist injury suffered by Russell during the Cleveland game.

Gienger said the senior post fell back and caught herself with her left hand, and sprained the wrist. Russell had the wrist taped for Friday night’s contest, and Gienger said she was still pretty sore.

Tonight, Bainbridge is at Holy Names — a team that upset Lakeside for a second time this season on Friday night.

Lakeside comes to town this Friday, 8 p.m. tipoff. The defending state champion Lions represent one of the two Spartan losses this season.

“I think my girls really are ready (for Lakeside),” Gienger said. “The last time we played them, we felt we did not play very well. The same with Cleveland — we weren’t playing our games.

“We’re looking forward to Friday night.”