It was looking good for the Spartans Friday, with Bainbridge’s fire lit and the team roasting the visiting Eastside Catholic Crusaders as things headed into the second half of the last game of the regular season.
Things started to look much different once the smoke cleared, however.
The ultimate loss, 71-58, left the Bainbridge High varsity boys basketball team with an overall season record of 3-17 (1-14 in league play) and ranked last in the Metro standings.
Friday’s game was neck-and-neck initially. The first quarter ended 15-14 with EC up by one, but Bainbridge came back to play some of their best basketball of the year in the second.
Leading 29-23 with about two minutes left in the half, the Spartans found their groove and went on a run. They entered the third up 35-27.
By the start of the fourth, though, BHS was behind again, 50-43, and the embers started to cool.
Strong starts, the team’s had a few, BHS Head Coach Steve Haizlip said. It’s staying on target for all four quarters that seems to still be eluding the Spartan squad.
“We are so close,” he said. “We’re just trying to be consistent.
“I think the pressure got to us and we went on a little bit of a scoring drought,” he added. “The third quarter’s been one of our biggest downfalls.”
The EC game was also Senior Night, and the team’s impending graduates — Marcus Clyde, Lyle Terry, Brendan Burke, Cole Muran, Daniel Queen and Coltrane Brooks — were recognized.
“I was happy for the seniors,” Haizlip said. “I thought they played a great game — a loose game, good crowd, good energy. They won’t be remembered for losing this game. They’ll be remembered for how they played the game.”
Throughout the team’s sometimes dispiriting season, Haizlip said, the seniors had remained jovial and friendly, never allowing the outcome of any game to affect the way they treated each other.
“It’s a special group,” he said. “They’re a very tight group, which helps when you go through a season where you don’t win as much. It’s a good group.”
A win Friday would have earned the Spartan boys another home game. Instead, the team’s first and only guaranteed postseason outing was Monday, Feb. 6 on the road against Bishop Blanchet, thus beginning their foray into the loser-out league tournament qualifier bracket. The Spartans have not faced Blanchet since Dec. 2, the very first game of the year, when the Braves came out ahead 63-43.
“If we play like [tonight] I’ve no doubt that we can win a couple of games,” the coach said Friday.
“I’ve really, honestly truly believed in these guys ever single game and something good’s about to happen. We deserve it.”
A victory Monday would earn the Spartans a second postseason outing the very next night and a shot at the district tournament.
It’s a long shot, the coach said, but not so long as to be impossible.
“I’ve seen crazy things happen and I’ve had it where I’ve coached and won five games in a row,” Haizlip said. “We can do it. We have the talent. We just got to lock in.
“We’re not laying down and we’re competing every night,” he added. “As a coach that’s all I can ask. It can be challenging to compete every night when you’re not winning and they’re doing it.”
