Bainbridge benefited from a blistering third quarter to tame the Wildcats 51-50 in a boys basketball thriller earlier this week in West Seattle.

BHS trailed 16-9 after the first quarter, and the Wildcats outscored the cold-shooting Spartans 10-9 in the second.

Bainbridge shot poorly in the first half, and hit just 8-of-23 shots.

“We caught fire in the third quarter, going 8/10 from the field and taking the lead,” said Spartan Coach Scott Orness.

West Seattle battled back with a 16-point fourth quarter to take a three-point lead.

Bainbridge closed the gap to one point with 30 seconds left in the game.

“We called a set and Nick Edens hit a 15-footer to put us up by one,” Orness said.

West Seattle had one last shot at the basket, but the attempt missed the mark and Bainbridge escaped with the win.

Edens was the game’s high scorer and finished with 16 points. He also had 12 rebounds and three blocks.

“This was a great game for my young team,” Orness said. “We dug ourselves into a hole in the first half but they responded by digging deep and understanding that everything starts from playing great D and rebounding.”

“Our intensity on defense led to transition buckets,” he added. “Trent [Schulte] and Blake [Swanson] did a fabulous job pushing the ball and finding their teammates who were running the floor well.”

Joey Blacker added 15 points in the Spartan win. Oskar Dieterich finished with 10 points, and Swanson added five. Schulte contributed three, and Greg Shea added two.

Back-to-back games proved problematic for Bainbridge, however.

The Spartans fell to Nathan Hale, 60-56, in another close Metro matchup Tuesday at home.

The Spartans led 27-22 at the half, but the Raiders rebounded during a sluggish third quarter for the Spartans.

Nathan Hale outscored BHS 22-12 in the half for a 44-39 lead going into the fourth and held on to win.

Edens again paced the Spartans and finished with 16 points.

Swanson added 14, and Blacker and Dieterich had nine points each.

Schulte contributed four, and Shea and Riley Irish added two points each.

The loss moved the Spartans to 4-6 in the Metro League (9-6 overall) and tied for second in Metro-Sound with Chief Sealth heading into Friday’s matchup at home against O’Dea.

The Fighting Irish are currently 6-5 in the Metro (7-8 overall).