With one flick of his arms, Tom Elliot made a throw-in look like an alley-oop pass.

And Jimmy Baggett didn’t hesitate, swiftly heading the ball in the goal to help Bainbridge salvage a 1-1 tie with Lakeside Tuesday in its last home game of the regular season and keep it atop the Metro League Mountain Division.

The tie goes along with a 4-1 win over Eastside Catholic last Friday and a 3-0 win over Seattle Prep on Thursday, thanks to goals from Kyle Scoble in the 16th minute, Max Aussendorf in the 42nd minute and Baggett in the 58th minute.

Alex Oeschli started in goal and got the shutout.

The two wins and the tie puts the Spartans in the playoffs and even closer to their first-ever Mountain Division title.

The Spartans need a win against basement dweller O’Dea next Tuesday and a Lakeside loss or tie to take home the division title and earn the top spot into the league playoffs.

It didn’t look as if Bainbridge would make it out of Tuesday’s game with its winning streak intact, as Lakeside’s Alex Pascualy got a pass from Louis Schott and got the ball past a charging Logan Connor for the score at the 32nd minute.

But in the 44th minute, Baggett, who also plays guard for the basketball team, got a throw-in from Elliot deep in Lion territory and managed to get his head on the ball in a crowd of players.

He sent it off the right post, but hit it well enough to ricochet off the post and past the diving goalkeeper for the score.

“That was a nice goal,” Baggett said. “I was happy with that one.

“He’s got a massive throw-in,” head coach George Vukic said of Elliot’s pass. “You take advantage of whatever you have. If you can throw it in like that, you’re going to take your chance.”

There were some scoring opportunities by both teams.

Sam McAllister made a nice pass to another Bainbridge player for the header, but it went high over the goal, while a Lakeside player had a direct shot but kicked it straight to Conner.

While a win would have been great, Baggett said they have some breathing room to afford a tie.

“I think it was good for us to have to come from behind (and) see what we’re made of,” he said.

Vukic said he was happy that the team could overcome a slow start and finish strong.

“During your season you have your inevitable flat day where the engine is not running as clean as before, then the opponent brings that out of you – they come out a little more committed and it catches you psychologically off guard,” he said. “The nice thing about it is that we went down a goal and climbed out – slowly and very surely climbed out and turned this game around.

“In a game that was not your best against a very strong team, you did not lose,” Vukic continued. “Those are good things.

“When you meet a team like this, they take advantage of every little mistake. They make you pay, or at least scare you.”

While Baggett said having the playoff spot sewn up is important, Vukic said they still have a goal of finishing the season undefeated and winning the division title.

“We don’t think we should lose any games,” he said. “Our feeling is we want to win (the) Metro (title) and if we don’t win Metro, then we’ll be disappointed.

“The (Lakeside) coach told us before the game that we’re the team to beat, and we feel that Metro is ours to win.”

Vukic said having a lineup that varies across grades is great, but also having nine seniors make key contributions has been very vital to the team’s success this season.

“There are certain kids who bring intangibles at that age,” he said. “Johnny (Baggett) brings his cool and calm and brains to the (defense.) That’s a vast intangible that you can’t teach. You can’t coach it.

“Dana (Olsen) brings an intensity (to the field) that you can’t bring out of people, it’s got to be born (within them),” Vukic continued. “You do need that stuff. You can’t just have good athletes that listen to you.”

But for Vukic and the team, ultimately it’s about enjoying what they do, and they are having a ball right now.

“Some of the games (that have been) played, the soccer has been so beautiful,” he said. “Some of the ideas going to goal” have been brilliant.

“A lot of what went on has been remarkable. That’s what makes soccer so fun.”