Those looking for drama were disappointed Tuesday night as the Bainbridge High boys water polo team breezed through the visitors from South Kitsap High to an easy 21-1 victory.
It was the island team’s fourth straight win of the year, earning them a stellar 4-0 overall record.
Bainbridge jumped out in front early and stayed steadily ahead throughout the whole match Tuesday, with the Wolves struggling to just barely avoid a shutout.
The Bainbridge team has cruised with seeming ease to big wins in every outing so far this year.
“They are looking so good,” Spartan Head Coach Kristin Gellert said of the undefeated team.
“The winning is great and the winning by a lot is great, but the way they look as a team is phenomenal. And their individual awareness on defense is looking so good.”
The Spartan scoring machine was led Tuesday by Miles Hogger, who finished the night with seven goals to his credit.
Sam Kapel put up five goals. Sam Chapman, Harrison Shinohara and Tristan Maass each managed two and Sky Baird, Sam Liebling and Max Eyrich each chipped in one.
The Bainbridge boys maintained possession of the ball for, “probably 95 percent of that game,” Gellert said Tuesday night, a stat much more important to her than the actual score.
“I’m so impressed with these guys,” she said. “That was just them anticipating on defense and then looking to take the ball.”
There is a danger, the coach admitted, to being too good too soon.
Though the Spartans aren’t letting their egos in the way just yet, Gellert said she hopes that the upcoming Oregon tournament and a match against Gig Harbor, also a team with an impressive reputation, will put things in perspective.
“That’ll be our toughest in-league competition,” she said of the Tides. “I think it will be a great reality check for us.
“I don’t think these guys are getting big heads at all,” she added. “They’re pretty modest guys and they know that the way that the season is right now isn’t necessarily how it will continue.”
There is a measurable leap in the quality of the teams the Spartans will face in the postseason, the coach said. It’s a fact which keeps the island boys working hard despite their early season success.
“I have my ideas and I always explain to the guys that I’m pushing them hard because I know where they could be — and I’m so proud of where they are now,” Gellert said.
“But I see where they are now and their potential and they know that they can go so much further.”
