It was the best of quarters, it was the worst of quarters.

With less than two seconds remaining in the second quarter of Friday’s game against Seattle Prep, Fab Rezayat hit a running five-foot hook shot and was fouled. She sank the free throw as the Spartans closed to within 34-31 of second-ranked Prep, winners of 13 straight after an early one-point loss to top-ranked Rainier Beach.

Trailing by as much as nine points, the Spartans came back to score 20 points in the quarter and Rezayat’s play appeared to provide a huge emotional lift as the teams headed for their respective locker rooms.

But the Spartans came out tentatively to start the second, went nearly five minutes without a point and were outscored 20-4 in the third quarter en route to a 73-47 loss that featured an all-time opponent individual scoring record of 38 points by Joy Hollingsworth, last year’s Metro League Player of the Year.

The Panthers’ point total was just one shy of the all-time opponent team scoring record of 74 set by Central Kitsap in 1975.

Hollingsworth nailed seven of eight from beyond the three-point arc, drove to the hoop, dished off for assists and recorded several steals in dominating the game.

“We just didn’t have an answer for her,” said coach Penny Gienger of the 5-9 senior guard, who’ll play Division 1 ball next year for the University of San Francisco.

After Rezayat opened the scoring 15 seconds into the game with a 10-foot jumper, the teams traded turnovers for two minutes before Prep tied the score at 5:45 on a Hollingsworth drive.

Natalie Berry’s putback at 2:15 gave the Spartans their largest lead at 9-6, but Hollingsworth hit two treys to give Prep the lead at 12-11. A free throw extended the margin to 13-11 at the end of a somewhat ragged first quarter, with both teams turning the ball over six times.

Two minutes into the second quarter, Prep went ahead 20-11, as the Spartan offense consisted of two turnovers and an airball. But the Spartans went on an 8-2 run in the next two minutes to close to within 22-19.

A Lee Maloney putback brought them to within 30-28 with 35 seconds remaining, and after Hollingsworth hit another trey and a free throw, Rezayat provided a big boost with her last-second shooting.

But the Spartans could do nothing for much of the third quarter, turning the ball over four times and missing several shots.

Hollingsworth’s steal, layin and foul put the Panthers up 47-31 before Tiana Gallagher finally got Bainbridge on the board with a jump shot from the foul line with three minutes left. But Prep ran off seven more points before Maloney’s drive narrowed the margin to 54-35 as time ran out.

Alice Russell opened the final quarter with a three-point play, but Prep continued its bombardment, with Hollingsworth scoring three treys and another player draining a fourth just before the game ended.

Russell led the Spartans with 15 points. Rezayat added 11, all in the first half. Maloney had seven, Christine Schwager and Courtney Kimball three each, while Morgan Zajonc, Toren Johnson, Gallagher and Berry all had two.

The team had three season-lows against the Panthers: 19 rebounds, two steals and 16 points in the paint.

“Seattle Prep just overpowered us in the second half,” said coach Penny Gienger. “They’re at a higher level than we are, and it was a struggle to stay with them for the first half.

“But we’ll learn from the game, work on the stuff we need to beat some teams in the Metro tournament.”

Bye, bye Ballard

No one would mistake Ballard for Seattle Prep, and the Spartans had little trouble putting aside the Beavers the following evening for a 63-29 win.

After Ballard sank its first three shots for three successive ties, Zajonc put the Spartans ahead for good at 5:40 at 8-6, and her trey a minute later gave her nine points in the quarter. Rezayat added six more points on two drives to the hoop and a pair of free throws as the Spartans took a 22-13 first quarter lead.

After a slow start in the second quarter, Kimball’s trey, a layin by Gallagher and Rezayat’s short hoop on an inbounds play in just over a minute gave the Spartans a 29-13 edge. Russell scored five points in the final two minutes to put Bainbridge ahead 35-18 at the half.

The Spartans inched further ahead on free throws in the third quarter, then Zajonc’s steal led to a three-point play and six more Spartan points in the final two minutes, climaxed by Russell’s eight-foot jumper just before the buzzer, as Bainbridge took a 52-26 lead.

Tough Spartan defense held Ballard to three points in the final quarter. Johnson fed Schwager for a layin with six seconds remaining for the sole Spartan field goal as the team’s other points came via free throws.

Zajonc had 18 points, Russell added 13, Rezayat and Gallagher eight apiece, Schwager seven, Berry four, Kimball three and Haley Wiggins two.

The Spartans play at Holy Names tonight, then host Cleveland in the regular season’s final home game. The team’s four seniors – Berry, Kimball, Rezayat and Schwager – will be honored prior to the 5:30 tipoff.

Seattle Prep JVs 48, Bainbridge JVs 28 – In a game very similar to the varsity contest, the Spartans trailed just 19-16 at the half but only scored two points in the third quarter.

Emily White and Angela Keller both scored six points.

Ballard JVs 43, Bainbridge JVs 36 – Scoring just 17 points in the first three quarters, the Spartans poured in 19 in the final quarter and closed to within four points with a minute left. “We dug ourselves too big a hole,” Clark said. “They killed us on the press.”

Tucker Huget had a team-high nine points, all in the fourth quarter, while Britt Thomas added eight.

Central Kitsap “C” 37, Bainbridge “C” 28 – “The team played sloppy and without heart,” said coach Kelly Beemer of Wednesday’s game. “Jenni Wolf-Smeeth played almost the entire game and was a great leader.” Wolf-Smeeth had six points; Amanda Szarzynski had nine points and five steals.”

Seattle Prep “C” 56, Bainbridge “C” 16 – “Seattle Prep is an extremely talented and big team,” Beemer said. “We had an excellent first quarter and held them to only 12 points.”

Szarzynski had eight points, six rebounds and two steals, while Marietta Crockett had six points.