A resounding 64-25 win ended a three-game losing streak Friday, Jan. 18, when the Bainbridge High School varsity girls basketball team bested the visitors from Nathan Hale.
The win upped the Spartan’s overall season record to 7-11 (4-9 in conference). They remain in the bottom spot of the Metro Mountain standings.
It’s been an uneven year for the island team, with three three-game slumps marring a series of single- and two-game wins, not counting a three-game winning streak between Dec. 29 and Jan. 5 that remains a season highlight so far.
Against Nathan Hale, however, there was almost no sign of the struggling squad of previous outings.
It was a performance which, though somewhat expected, was encouraging, said BHS Head Coach Karen Byers.
“We were expecting an easier night, so we came into it wanting to work on some of the things we’d been struggling with, to prepare us for some other teams that we hope to win [against] in the next couple weeks,” she explained.
Mission accomplished.
The Spartans scored first, almost immediately, and never once were in danger of falling behind. They led 24-2 by the end of the first quarter alone, and had extended their advantage to 37-13 by the conclusion of the first half.
They started the final quarter up 59-16, the writing having long been etched on the wall by then.
Byers praised sophomore Anna Kozlosky in particular Friday, saying she’d grown into being a true asset for the team.
“She was really well-rounded,” Byers said. “She passed the ball really well, had a couple assists, great rebounder, caused some turnovers and then hit her shots, so she’s really coming out of her shell and I love that.”
The team in general responded well against NH and executed the adjusted, specified game plan, the coach said.
“We didn’t lose our heads,” she said. “They were calling it really tight, the refs were, and so I was a little nervous when a couple of our players got in foul trouble, how they’d handle that — and they handled it like champs.”
Though it’s too late to save the season record completely, the coach said a strong finish was the team’s current primary goal.
“The big question is: Can we now do this with a higher ranked Metro team?” Byers said.
The number one thing the Spartans need to do so as to make the most of the rest of the season, Byers said, is play as a team.
“If we fall back into playing as individuals, having those one-pass shots, then we won’t do well,” she said.
Only two games remain on the regular season schedule: On the road Friday, Jan. 2 against Ingraham (7-9), and back home for Senior Night at 5:45 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1, to play Eastside Catholic (4-9).
