The Bainbridge Spartans boys basketball team pulled out an overtime thriller, 64-58, against California-based Palm Springs High School, in their season opener at home Dec. 3.
The Spartans finished 19-8 in the 2024-25 season after falling to the Franklin Pierce Cardinals in the 2A state tournament. Will Ferris stepped down as head coach after the season, and former Bainbridge head coach Scott Orness was hired to take his place in May after resigning from the North Kitsap Vikings boys’ head coaching position. Orness previously coached the Spartans for 11 years, including a run to the 3A state title game in 2007. He also had a dominant tenure at NK, including a 2A state championship in 2020.
“This is the first game back here after 1o years, saw a lot of old timers in the stands,” Orness said. “But yeah, it was nice to get a win.”
“We got to continue to work on our defense,” the coach added. “We just got a long ways to go, especially with team defense.”
Bainbridge set the tone of the game early, scoring six unanswered points, with bigs Kaden Thielman, Will Rohrbacher, and Lane McFadden controlling the offensive tempo by generating scoring opportunities in the paint.
Bainbridge led 18-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Rohrbacher kicked off the scoring for the Spartans at the beginning of the second quarter with a three-pointer. The Spartans continued to assert their dominance, scoring on almost every opportunity they got and jumping out to a 26-9 lead with four minutes remaining in the half.
Ryan Rohrbacher hit a three-pointer with three minutes remaining in the second, giving the Spartans a 20-point lead. The Spartans led 31-16 at halftime. Thielmann led Bainbridge with 10, hitting on five out of his eight field goals.
Palm Springs came out with a full-court press on Bainbridge in the second half, allowing them to go on a 7-0 scoring run. Palm Springs then went on another scoring run, drawing their deficit to six with less than two minutes remaining in the third quarter. Ryan Rohrbacher hit another three, adding to his total and ending Palm Springs’ run. Bainbridge led 43-36 at the end of three.
McFadden pushed the envelope for Bainbridge, giving them a 51-49 lead in the fourth quarter after converting a contested layup. Thielman added a driving layup, getting the Spartans’ lead back to two possessions. But Palm Springs ended up tying the game late to force overtime.
Palm Springs took their first lead of the game at 57-55 in overtime after Thielman committed a shooting foul. Nonetheless, Will Rohrbacher generated a three-point play, giving Bainbridge a 60-58 lead with 1:03 remaining in the game.
Spartan guard Haden Fink sank two free throws after being fouled and Thielman put in a contested layup, giving the Spartans a 64-58 lead with 12 seconds remaining in overtime. Thielman ended the game with 16 points.
“I mean, we got on a pretty hot start,” Spartan Will Rohrbacher said. “I would say, you know, second half we need to lock in a bit better and keep that momentum.”
