SEATTLE – The Rainier Beach boys varsity basketball team continued their undefeated season after beating the Bainbridge Spartans 86-48 during the SeaKing 3A District Tournament at Ingraham High Tuesday, Feb. 18.

The Spartans played hard, but were unable to outperform the Beach boys and found themselves outscored by more than twice as much in both the first (24-11) and second (27-11) quarters.

Trailing 51-22 at the end of the first half, the deck was clearly stacked against BHS for the remainder of the game.

“We have to have a game plan for every team we play,” said Spartan Head Coach Scott Orness. “We have a lot of different strengths on our team and we always want to match them up the best we can to neutralize our opponent’s strengths.”

“Unfortunately, Beach was firing on all cylinders [that] night and we could not find a weakness,” Orness added. “They are the best Beach team I have seen since my time coaching back at Franklin Pierce when they had Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson.”

The Vikings remain the No. 1-ranked team in the Metro Sound Division with an overall season record of 23-0.

Bainbridge is ranked in second place with an overall record of 14-10.

West Seattle is listed in third place with a 10-13 record for the year.

Leading the Bainbridge offensive effort was junior wing/post Oskar Dieterich, who managed 16 total points and 11 rebounds.

“I was proud of our guys for playing hard until the final buzzer,” Orness said. “At halftime we talked about, ‘What can we get out of a second half vs. Beach?’ The boys responded with playing hard for each other, our high school and our community. [We used] the second half to get better on our offense and our defense.”

Orness also said that the Vikings’ reputation as a tough team went well above even the state level.

“Beach is the No. 2-ranked team in the country right now,” he said. “We competed.”

And they will continue to compete.

“We are still alive,” Orness said. “Us, Prep, Franklin and Mercer Island are fighting for the [No.] 1 spot to state regionals right now. One more loss and we are done.”