A strong start was insufficient advantage for the Bainbridge High School varsity boys basketball team Tuesday, Dec. 18, and they found themselves quickly outpaced by the visiting Seattle Prep Panthers.

The final score saw the guests up, 78-53.

Dropping the Spartans’ overall record to 3-6, the loss continued the semi-slump the team seems to be mired in so far this season.

The Spartan showing against SP was, “not one of our best performances,” BHS Head Coach Steve Haizlip admitted.

“We played a solid first 14 minutes. It was a tied game and then we let them go on a 12-0 run,” he said.

“One of our biggest things has been the runs. To end quarters has been our [problem], I’m trying to figure out a way to make that stop.”

Strong at the start, BHS was first on the board — but not alone for long.

The Panthers put up some points, edging ahead to 4-2 with 6:30 left in the first quarter.

Things evened up 4-all moments later, though the buzzer found the Panthers ahead again, 15-12.

The second quarter saw the guests pull ahead initially, but the Spartans rebounded quickly and played some of their best basketball of the night. They evened things up 24-all with about 2:30 left, but ended the half on the wrong side of a 36-24 game.

The second half was hard on the island squad, with the Panthers’ proving aggressive and accurate. Midway through the final quarter saw the guests ahead 63-48, a situation that would only grow worse for the Spartans in the game’s last moments.

Still, the night was not without some positive performances.

Spartan senior Jackson Taylor led the team’s scoring efforts, putting up 14 points against the Panthers.

Fellow senior Merritt McMahon managed nine points, and Nate LaPlaca, Spencer Nicholas and Andrew Ward each scored six points.

Even so, responding appropriately to a more aggressive opponent, Haizlip said, has thus far been the young team’s Achilles’ heel.

“I don’t know if we respond the right way, and that’s going to happen with a young team,” he said. “When teams go on runs instead of buckling down, we want to go back into the corner versus, ‘Hey, let’s stop this.’”

Hesitant, reactive play, and a half measure effort on defense, as opposed to simply being outplayed, stole the victory away from the Spartans, the coach said.

“We were kind of going half on defense; we were not committed,” he said. “So, when you’re not committed with an offense like that it’s going to be a problem.

“They’re very disciplined,” Haizlip said of the Panthers. “I knew they were very good shooters, they like to pick and roll,” he added. “I thought we defended it well in the first 14 minutes. After that, we were very hesitant.

“I think we played on our heels for the rest of the night; very reactive.”

The Spartans remained at home to finish out the week, and will host Franklin at 8:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21.

They next play at home at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 29 against Kingston, a non-league game.