“Early in the second quarter, with the Spartan girls’ basketball team playing well against 4A power South Kitsap, the unthinkable happened: Alexis Kimball went down with a serious knee injury.We played the rest of the second quarter in a state of shock, said coach Penny Gienger of the Friday mishap. Then at halftime, we settled down and fought like mad the rest of the way.But it wasn’t quite enough as the Wolves, leading 30-26 at the half, held off the Spartans to win 68-63. It was a winnable game, but neither team really played defense, Gienger added. Still, I couldn’t ask more of my players. They all busted their butts and dug deep.What was heartening to Gienger was that even in Kimball’s absence, the team scored well. Emily Pierce – with Kimball gone now the team’s only senior – led all scorers with 18, while freshman Alice Russell stepped up with 13, junior Laura Hornung had 12, and freshman Morgan Zajonc chipped in with nine.Equally heartening is that this week features two away games, Klahowya last night and Sequim on Friday, that should allow Gienger to distribute minutes liberally among a variety of players. We have quality kids on the team and they’ll find a way to make it work, she said. They know how to win. It’s a matter of finding a different strategy, so we can find score and rebound.Kimball underwent an MRI to determine the extent of the injury on Monday. Boys fumble away chances, fall by 2A game-long inability to control the ball proved costly as the boys’ basketball team lost 67-65 to the visiting Peninsula Seahawks on Friday. The Spartans turned the ball over 25 times, the final one coming with less than 30 seconds left as they trailed by a point. Peninsula sank the front half of an ensuing one-and-one and though the Spartans rebounded the missed second free throw, couldn’t get a good look at the basket as a desperation 3-pointer just before the buzzer was well off.As a group, we’re still struggling, coach Jeff Eller said. We just didn’t take good care of the ball.On the other hand, he noted that the team played better than we did against White River. We came out with purpose.Peninsula took advantage of cold Spartan shooting to open a 15-6 lead at the start of the game, but an Adam Brenneman three-pointer and Teddy Picha putback narrowed the gap to 15-11 at the end of the first quarter. Zach Whedbee gave the Spartans a 17-15 lead at 5:09 with a three-point play as Peninsula went nearly six minutes of the second quarter without scoring a field goal. But the Spartans couldn’t take advantage of the situation as turnovers kept them from putting the game away and their halftime margin was just 27-25.The third quarter heated up as the teams traded baskets with the Spartans scoring frequently on layins and short jumpers. In the final minute, a Brenneman layin, Mike Botefuhr’s jumper and Henry Guterson’s buzzer-beating trey opened the margin to 51-45. But the Seahawks refused to fold, and there were several lead changes with neither team leading by more than three. Picha’s third putback of the night gave the Spartans a 65-64 lead with 1:05 to go. But Peninsula regained the lead for good with a third-chance basket and tight defensive pressure forced the fatal 25th turnover.Whedbee led the team with 18 points, Nick Thompson added 13, while Brenneman had 11 and Picha 10. Bainbridge sank 25 of 38 two-pointers, but was just three of 18 from three-point range. Peninsula grabbed nearly all those errant treys en route to a 43-26 edge in rebounds. Though team fouls were a virtually even, Peninsula notched 11 more points from the charity stripe – 17 of 25 to the Spartans’ six of 11. Whedbee had four free throws, a co-team-high six rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and two steals in the Spartans’ most impressive line of the evening. Chris Mandell gave the team quality minutes, Eller said, while Teddy Picha had a solid effort. And Adam Brenneman played with more confidence.Following last evening’s Olympic League season opener against Klahowya, the team plays Sequim at home this Friday.Peninsula JVs 45, Bainbridge JVs 34 – Peninsula broke open what had been a tight game with a late scoring flurry. The Seahawks led at halftime 16-13. My guys really improved over the opening game against White River, said coach Adam Ward. Peninsula had a 7-0 run to start the game and we held them to nine the rest of the first half.Kevin Hebner led Spartan scorers with eight points, while Spencer Evans added seven and pulled down 18 rebounds. “