Junior wing scores 24 points and grabs 21 rebounds.
Brittany Gray wasn’t sure of how much she had really done out on the court.
But after taking a glance at the stat sheet and her line in Bainbridge’s 78-47 win over Eastside Catholic – 24 points, 21 rebounds, four assists, four steals, nearly perfect from the field and the free throw line – she was modest about it all, almost a little embarrassed.
She also gave the credit for her strong play to her teammates.
“I feel a lot more comfortable because I feel it’s more of a team effort this year,” she said. “We all contribute evenly and we all work hard.”
“I think it’s a lot more fun this year.”
The 24 points give her 946 for her Spartan career, putting her a point behind former junior varsity coach Kim Beemer for ninth overall on the school’s scoring list.
Gray, the sister of ex-Spartan star Steven Gray, currently sits at fifth in 3A scoring this season with 18.7 points a game.
But the Spartans had some trouble shaking the Crusaders at first.
It was tied at 11 going late in the first quarter before Gray scored and Emily Farrar put one in off the glass at the buzzer to give the Spartans a lead.
Bainbridge kept the lead for most of the second at double digits with Farrar scoring six points, Gray dropping in four and Anna Wood converting on a three point play with a nice move in the paint.
But Eastside wouldn’t go away, as they went on a quick 6-0 run to close the gap to five before Claire Thomas scored before halftime.
“We didn’t play very well in the first half,” head coach Penny Gienger said. “They were calling all these ticky-tack fouls and it was putting them at the foul line.”
In the third quarter, the Crusaders went on a 9-4 run to open the period and close the Spartans’ lead to just three points.
But that was as close as they got, as Wood knocked down two free throws, then Farrar hit a big three pointer to give Bainbridge some space.
After that, it was all Spartans, as Gray scored nine in the period by converting a three-point play and later, scoring all three times on consecutive Bainbridge possessions.
Jessie Vincent added five points as part of a 19-4 run to give the Spartans an 18-point lead going into the fourth.
That was all Bainbridge needed as Claire Thomas scored seven points in the quarter while Gray added five to turn the game into a rout.
“(In the) second half I thought we did a lot better,” Gienger said. “We scored a lot of points (but) we still made bad mistakes. Whether we should fast break or if we (shouldn’t), we miss layins…
“But in the second half I thought we looked at least we were in control.”
The win not only keeps them a game behind Lakeside for second place in the Mountain Division, it snaps a two game losing streak, as the Spartans lost to Seattle Prep and Meadowdale after the break.
Against the Panthers, Bainbridge scored a season low 37 points.
Against the Mavericks, Gray and Meadowdale star Eryn Jones had big nights (Gray outscored her 27-24) but the Mavs ran away with it in the end.
“We’re really trying to work on our defense more and trying to do some different things,” Gienger said. “I would like to slow some teams down.
“We’re just as good a team as Meadowdale,” she continued. “If we can slow (teams like them) down a little bit then we have a chance to win.”
Gray agreed.
“We need to work on our defense more because we’re getting yelled at for that,” she said. “We need to close out and we need to talk more because we don’t talk on the court that much to each other.”
Bainbridge played Holy Names yesterday.
They’ll host Cleveland next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
The boys basketball team also defeated Eastside Catholic 51-35 on Tuesday to keep them a game behind Seattle Prep for second place.
Mike Walsh led the way with 21 points.
Bainbridge took on arch-rival and Mountain Division leader O’Dea yesterday.
They’ll play Cleveland next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Grapplers take down Lions
It’s always dangerous living on the edge.
But Mason Remy was able to make the moves he needed to win a tight match in Bainbridge’s 39-24 win over Lakeside Thursday night.
Facing off against Matthew Raine at 189 pounds, Remy found himself down 9-4 going into the third period before he scored on an escape, a nearfall and a reversal quickly to tie the score.
Raine scored a point on an escape, but Remy made a nice move near the edge of the circle to score a takedown and a two-point nearfall.
Raine quicky scored a reversal before both wrestlers were declared out of bounds with 12 seconds left.
But Remy scored a critical point on an escape thanks to a new rule this season that if one person who is in the down position goes out of bounds, the person that’s on top can show the referee the neutral signal to keep both wrestlers upright rather than do an optional start.
The junior kept Raine from scoring a takedown for the tie and overtime.
Remy said he was able to score by taking advantage of his opponent’s fatigue.
“I saw I was losing by six points and I saw he was breathing really hard so I thought I could do some throws,” he said. “I made one, but then I lost one and he got on top of me (near the end for the reversal.)
“It wasn’t my best wrestling.”
Remy said he’s improved thanks to offseason workouts and the time he spent with the Cadet team of Team Washington, a club team that travels.
He also qualified for Nationals in freestyle and Greco-Roman and attended a camp as well.
“I got some pretty good experience there but freestyle and Greco have a lot different rules than high school wrestling,” he said. “But the weightlifting and the twice a week freestyle practice (over the summer) really helped a lot.”
Head coach Dan Pippinger also feels that Remy has improved and has a chance to go far in the postseason.
“Anytime you can wrestle six minutes, you gotta pick something up from it,” he said. “Sometimes you get those fast matches and you can’t learn anything from it.
“It’s that mental thing, too – you come through six minutes and you’re exhausted at the end of it but you’ve put everything into it and you’ve come out on top.”
Also coming out on top were Vlad Rakhimzyanov, who won via pinfall over Yokeca Goff in 2:59.
Mathew Ritualo and Corey Touchette also won by pinfall.
Eli Narte, Keith Robert and Jethro Cotton won by forfeit.
The team also took in 160 pounds of food for their Wrestling Against Hunger night – 40 pounds more than last year’s total.
The Spartans host the 26th annual Island Invitational today at Paski Gymnasium.
Along with Bainbridge, Mercer Island, Bishop Blanchet, Meadowdale, Forks, Curtis, Kingston, Klahowya, North Mason, Nathan Hale, Edmonds-Woodway and Sequim arrive to do battle for the title.
“We gotta raise our level up for Saturday,” Pippinger said. “There’s going to be a lot of good competition.”
The tournament starts at 9:30 a.m. and goes all day.
The Spartans travel to Ingraham next Tuesday.
Swimmers lose to Lions
The Bainbridge swim team kept it close, but lost their first dual meet of the season to Lakeside by the score of 88.5-81.5.
Several swimmers scored state or district qualifying times at the meet.
The 200 medley relay team of Austin Hallett, Cheyne Clark, David Ortyn and Kevin Brooks scored a state time of 1:45.15.
Ortyn scored a state time in the 100 butterfly with his mark of 55.73 while Hallett had a state time of 48.06 in the 100 freestyle.
Clark had a district time of 24.64 in the 50 freestyle along with Lee Baldwin, who posted a time of 25.67.
Brooks had a district time of 54.18 in the 100 free along with Cooper Ashley.
Quinn Cullen had a district time of 1:06.66 in the 100 backstroke.
The Spartans held its last home meet of the season yesterday against Seattle Prep.
They take part in the Kentridge Invite today at the King County Aquatic Center.
