The Bainbridge Spartans season came to an end Feb. 28, losing to Franklin Pierce in the opening round of the 2A state boys basketball tournament 47-41 at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma.

It was a loser-out game as the Spartans were the No. 12 seed and the Cardinals the No. 13 seed. Bainbridge entered the matchup coming off a 61-48 win against Foss in the district tournament that advanced the team to state.

“I think at the start of the year we might’ve been a little overzealous and think ‘we’re gonna win the state title,’” Bainbridge coach Will Ferris said. “But I think ultimately it was cool to put that out there as a goal.”

The Spartans came out of the gates facing a full-court press from the Cardinals. Neither team scored until the 6:30 mark in the first quarter after senior Luke Johnson was able to put in a layup.

Nonetheless, the Bainbridge offense struggled to get going due to the full-court press, making costly turnovers and giving Franklin-Pierce opportunities to generate a majority of its initial points off of turnovers.

Bainbridge was able to clean up its turnover-prone ways from the first and pump some life into its offense with a score from senior Luca Sheltens, trimming the Cardinals’ lead to four at 15-11 with five minutes remaining in the first half.

The Cardinals led at halftime 23-15. The Spartans’ leading scorer at the break was Sheltens with six. Only three Spartans accounted for points the entire half. Junior Kaden Thielmann and Johnson scored four each.

The Spartans tried to get the three ball going in the third quarter, attempting to rally from a seven-point deficit, but couldn’t get any of its shots to fall. Nonetheless, Sheltens was able to put in another contested layup and generate a three-point play, keeping the game in reach for Bainbridge.

Bainbridge began playing a full-court press defense that only allowed three points with two minutes remaining in the period. Thielmann capped off the third period with an emphatic block, allowing Bainbridge to remain one possession behind Franklin-Pierce at 31-28 going into the final period.

The Spartans began the fourth quarter committing multiple turnovers, allowing the Cardinals to increase its lead to seven. Bainbridge’s leading scorer in Sheltens was able to put in a mid-range jumper, but Franklin-Pierce was able to jump out to its largest lead of the day at 12 after styming Bainbridge on consecutive offensive possessions.

Thielmann was able to cure the Spartans’ fourth quarter drought, making a three-pointer to cut into the Cardinals’ lead of nine. Bainbridge began to press again on defense with two and a half minutes remaining, allowing them to trim Franklin-Pierce’s lead to five with 1:39 remaining. But it was too little too late as the Cardinals eventually ran out the clock to secure the win.

“We have a lot of underclassmen that have gotten some valuable experience,” Ferris said. “They know what it’s like to play the best teams in the state. We didn’t skip steps. We got better every single game [of the season].”

Girls still alive

Meanwhile, the Spartans girls basketball team is still alive despite dropping its opening state game to No. 1 seed Lynden 58-26 March 1 at Mount Vernon High School. Bainbridge played without its leading scorer in senior Bella Ramirez who sat out the game with an injury.

The No. 8 seed Spartans will now play an elimination game against No. 9 seed Woodland in the round of 12 at the Yakima SunDome March 5 at 9 p.m.

Rohrbacher of Bainbridge tries to pass out of a double-team in a 47-41 loss to the Franklin Pierce Cardinals Feb. 28 at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma.