The visiting Vikings laughed first, last and best in Friday night’s girls varsity basketball showdown, exactly the same manner in which they racked up enough points to cinch a decisive victory over the Bainbridge Spartans.
The final score saw the squad from Rainier Beach ahead 55-31.
The Vikings scored first and would outscore the Spartans in ever quarter except the fourth.
In the first, they sprinted ahead to an intimidating lead (16-5). It was a run which continued unabated in the second (20-8).
Down 36-13 going into the third, the Spartans scrambled to come up with a response to Beach’s steady gains. They were faster on the court, they were more aggressive beneath the net and they led 43-15 with about 4:30 left in the quarter.
Still, the last few minutes of the third saw a bit of a fire light under the Bainbridge squad, and the game entered the fourth quarter with them having scrambled and fought their way up to a decidedly better, if still not great, situation —down 49-22.
It was in this final fracas that the BHS team brought it in full and managed to outscore the visitors and keep their scoring efforts in check (9-5).
It was not enough to turn the tide, but Spartan Head Coach Nicole Hebner said the team left nothing on the court.
Playing like they did in the fourth, she said, it was possible, given more time in a game, that the BHS squad could have pulled off a real comeback.
“Anything’s possible,” she said. “We also had some things that [we] probably could have done better during the game.
“We played real hard,” Hebner added. “Effort’s something that we’ve been trying to focus on here so we went out there and really competed and I’m proud of the way that we played.”
Perennial points principal Taylor Tye led the Spartan scoring efforts with 12 points.
Kiera Havill put up six, Katie Usellis managed five and Paulina Bredy chipped in four.
The loss at home was the girls team’s third Friday night home court defeat in as many weeks, bringing their overall season record to 3-10 (2-8 in conference).
Hebner said that the biggest issues facing the team on the court Friday night were the possessions that slipped away.
“Turnovers have plagued us every year,” she said. “We have to be in control when we play. If we can work hard, and we try as hard as we can, we’re just going to get better and better.”
There are five regular season games remaining on the Spartan schedule after the Rainier Beach contest.
Bainbridge is ranked in sixth place in the Metro Mountain standings. Bishop Blanchet boasts the top spot with a flawless season record of 16-0. Lakeside sits at second (9-4 overall), Seattle Preparatory at third (8-8), Holy Names Academy at fourth (7-7) and Eastside Catholic at fifth (4-5).
