The Spartans splished and splashed, swam and shot their way to a brisk, graceful 16-6 win against the visitors from Newport Tuesday, Oct. 9 at the Bainbridge Aquatic Center.
It was the latest victory in a so-far stellar season for the Bainbridge High varsity boys water polo team, nudging their overall season record to 9-1.
They have lost just one match in Washington (to Curtis High School), and one match in Oregon, as part of a tournament bracket (to Newberg).
Tuesday’s match may have looked like an easy win from the stands, Spartan Head Coach Kristin Gellert said, but it takes a lot of work — and a bit of luck — to make things appear that way.
“I wouldn’t say they’d every say anything was effortless, but they are so strong and so smart and know each other so well that it does tend to look fluid,” she said. “They’re trusting each other, they’re supportive of each other. It’s all team ball, there’s no one person who’s going to try to win the game by themselves and that’s why they’re doing so well.”
On Tuesday, the Spartans scored first, almost immediately, and stayed ahead through the night.
BHS goals were scored by Sam Chapman, Harrison Villella, Max Eyrich, Gabe Nathan, Marshall Whittlesey, Thomas Defawe, Jack Bullock, Oskar Bannister and Sky Baird.
Overall, the coach said she had nothing major to critique from the Newport match.
“It’s great, it’s really exciting,” she said. “They played awesome. They’re starting to really look for each other, which is what we talk about a lot.”
At this, about the mid-point of the Spartan season, Gellert said the island squad was right on track to get it totally together in time for postseason playoffs.
“There are still a ton of things to fine tune, but we’ve got time for that,” she said. “I think where we are in the season is exactly where we want to be.”
The match against Newport marked the last time the Spartans will play at home for a while. They hit the road Thursday to play Gig Harbor, then were slated to play in a tournament at Curtis High over the weekend.
One more away match, against Wilson, is scheduled before the island squad returns home to host Puyallup at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18.
“[Wilson is] at the top of their bracket in Division 2,” Gellert said. “So it’ll be interesting to see where they match up, because they’ll probably make it into State.”
Two more home conference matches round out the regular season schedule, both of which the coach said will likely be critical bellwethers for how the team can expect to play in the postseason.
The final home match of the year, Senior Night, is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, with the Spartans hosting Bellevue.
