Big plays help Bainbridge subdue the Vikings, as a tough stretch looms.

POULSBO – In front of a packed house with fans from both sides cheering their teams on, the North Kitsap Vikings did all they could to live up to their fantasies of delivering the upset of the year over their long-time rival in the Bainbridge boys basketball team.

But it took one play from Steven Gray to bring everything back to reality.

The senior guard’s dunk was the catalyst to a 26-10 second quarter en route to a 76-58 victory Friday night at North Kitsap High School.

The Spartans were down in the second quarter and the momentum was all on the Vikings’ side.

But Austin Wood hit a three-pointer, then Nick Fling, flanked by two North Kitsap defenders, dribbled underneath the basket and made a quick pass to Gray who was wide open underneath the rim.

He didn’t hesitate for a second, soaring up for a thunderous two-hand jam that got him, the team and the Spartan fans in attendance fired up.

“I didn’t know what he (Fling) was doing at first, ‘cause he got out in front of me and kept going but then dumped it back and I was like, ‘There’s no one here,’” Gray said of the play. “That’s the most excited I’ve ever gotten for a dunk. It’s dunks and taking a charge that get us (fired up.)”

Fling agreed.

“The crowd got fired up and we got fired up,” he said. “A big play like that switches the game around.”

The Spartans appeared to be on their way to another blowout, as Gray hit a three and Wood scored to open up the game, but Jordan Coover quickly scored five points to tie it up.

The teams went back and forth, as Gray scored 10 points in the period and Caleb Davis hit two three pointers, but North Kitsap took the lead on a pair of Taylor Hoffer free throws near the end of the quarter.

It marked the first time this season that a team has taken the lead on the Spartans after the first quarter of play.

Head coach Scott Orness wasn’t surprised by the high level of play from the Vikings.

“North Kitsap is a very good basketball team,” he said. “Coach (Tony) Chisolm has done a great job of getting the excitement back at North.

“We weren’t doing the things that we should be doing,” Orness continued. “We didn’t attack the basket. Any team that’s consistently great day in and day out attack the basket.”

The Vikings continued their run as they went up 26-20 after a pair of free throws from Hoffer, but then came the dunk by Gray and with it, a 24-4 run to close out the second quarter and put Bainbridge comfortably ahead by 14.

“That second quarter we were really attacking in transition and getting on the glass and getting easy buckets,” Orness said.

The Spartans opened up the third with an 11-0 run – including four points from Wood off a couple of baby skyhooks – that seemed to put the game out of reach.

But the Vikings stayed in it, and cut the lead to 62-48 with 6:50 left in the fourth.

On the next North Kitsap possession, Wood was able to slide into the lane and take the charge, getting the momentum firmly back on their side. He later converted on a three-point play.

“Seeing someone sacrifice their body like that to take a charge like Wood did gets our team just as excited,” Gray said. “Those types of plays really pick up our team.”

The Spartans will need more of those plays as they take part in one of the most anticipated January’s in recent memory.

Bainbridge starts off with Seattle Prep, then have six straight road games, including games against top-ranked teams in O’Dea Jan. 12, 4A South Kitsap at the MLK Tournament at the Key Arena Jan. 13, the defending 4A champs in Franklin at the King Holiday Hoopfest at the Hec Ed Pavilion Jan. 15 and Chief Sealth before returning home to face number one Rainier Beach Jan. 23 in a potential battle of the top two teams in 3A.

Orness said the schedule will be a “dogfight.”

“We’re going to have to match other teams’ intensity when they bring it to us,” he said. “We’ll find out what kind of team we are at the end of January.”

“I’m excited,” Orness continued. “How often does a coach get to have a team like this with the type of players we have?”

Gray, who was getting some preventive work done on his knee after the game (he was flagrantly fouled by a Viking player in the fourth and was in pain, but said he was fine) said the team is excited as well.

“We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” he said. “I think we’re prepared to go into these games and play hard. It’s going to be a good test to see where we’re at.”

Friday’s game was filmed by West Sound TV and will be available for sale and to Comcast customers as a Video On Demand under their “Varsity Sports” section.

The Spartans play the Panthers at 6:15 p.m. on Friday.

Girls get it going against N. Kitsap

POULSBO – The Bainbridge girls basketball team, in the midst of a losing streak, needed something, anything to get them back on track.

Enter their long-time rival North Kitsap.

The Spartans broke out strong and didn’t look back, blowing out the Vikings 66-31 Friday night at North Kitsap High School.

“We were fun to watch tonight,” head coach Penny Gienger said.

Bainbridge was aggressive from the opening tip, forcing steals and pressuring North Kitsap into poor shots and errant passes.

Megan Burris had three steals while Caitlyn Salo made some nice passes to Brittany Gray as she scored eight points en route to a 10-0 run.

“We wanted to jump on them,” Gienger said. “There’s a lot of pride involved, and we wanted to make sure we took care of that. We were ready to play.”

Salo agreed.

“That was big,” she said of their fast start. “The crowd got into it, everyone got into it, including all the players on the bench.”

North Kitsap finally got on the board when they split a pair of free throws and hit a jump shot, but Bainbridge pushed the lead to 14-3 after Salo hit two of three free throws and Gray grabbed her miss and put it back in.

In the second quarter, the Spartans broke it open by spreading the scoring around. Gray had four points, but Emily Farrar hit a three-pointer, while Kirsten Michael scored three points in the quarter and Julia Weese came off the bench to score six points.

“We’re going to try and concentrate to find other people to step it up and score,” Gienger said. “I needed some of my guards taking shots and they came out and started shooting right away. They understand. They’re veteran players. They’ve scored before. They just gotta go out and take the shot.”

Salo said they understand that the offense can’t run through Gray all the time.

“We all have to do our own part,” she said. “We can’t just get it to Brittany every time. That’s what we’ve been trying to do and it’s obviously not working.”

Bainbridge came back out with the balanced attack in the fourth quarter, going on a 14-2 run to close the game out.

Gray had six points while Salo scored four points, two of which came on a steal, Farrar converted two foul shots and Lindsay Bratonia scored.

With the early part of the season done, now comes a harder road to travail league play, including five straight road games and a contest against top-ranked 4A Roosevelt at the MLK tournament.

Salo said that, barring any more unforeseen weather delays, they’ll be ready to go.

“I think we got off to a bad start with the snow days and the make-up games, so we’ve been practicing and practicing,” she said. “Now that we’ve had this big win, we can get ready for the rest of our season.”

Gienger said the team won’t worry about where they have to go to play.

“There’s not any surprises,” she said of the schedule. “We’re going to go out and give it our all and see what happens. That’s all we can do.”

Bainbridge hosts Prep Friday at 8 p.m.