Bainbridge survives late push by Olympic

The Bainbridge Spartans girls basketball team survived an upset bid by Olympic at home Jan. 10 by defeating the Trojans 36-31.

Although the Spartans won, it was their second-lowest scoring performance of the season.

“We start off strong and get undisciplined when we are satisfied with what the score looks like,” coach Zach Burnham said. “We are learning how to be a disciplined team and finish a full game and not one quarter.”

Bainbridge came out with a hot start taking a 13-0 lead. Elsa Cajune scored six of her 10 points within the first few minutes.

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Olympic’s Kylee Murphy was the only Trojan to score as Bainbridge took a 16-2 lead into the second period.

But Bainbridge allowed Olympic to creep back into the game.

“It’s lack of consistency,” Burnham said. “We are a talented team and work so hard in practice. The practice should be the hard part but we make the games harder than they need to be.”

Bainbridge shot less than 20% from the field after the first quarter, scoring eight field goals and two free throws for the rest of the game. Olympic cut the lead to 10 at halftime, as Murphy and Gabriella Ressler scored three points each.

Olympic cut the margin to 36-29 with two minutes left in the game, but Bainbridge’s defense stepped up when its offense fell flat.

“The height helps,” Burnham said. “Maia (Greiwe) is down there at six foot…Ghadir (Ramadan) is a workhorse and Sierra (Berry) comes off the bench and boxes out.”

Olympic’s Mailli Bode scored a couple of free throws to slim the lead to five with 30 seconds left. Olympic began to intentionally foul Bainbridge to send them to the line.

Olympic had one last chance with eight seconds left. However, Bode missed her free throw attempt, and the Spartans recovered the rebound and ran out the clock.

“I heard a stat the other day that we hold defenses to an average of 38 points per game,” Burnham said. “We haven’t had that since the 1999 state championships team. I tell them that this is the result of working hard.”

Bella Ramirez led the Spartans in scoring with 12 points while Murphy led the Trojans with five.

Angelina Godinez-Gonzalez looks to spark Olympic’s offense.

Angelina Godinez-Gonzalez looks to spark Olympic’s offense.