Bainbridge girls go 1-2 at 2A state tournament

The No. 8 seed Bainbridge Spartans struggled to get anything going in their final game of the season, losing 59-28 March 7 to No. 4 seed W.F. West in a loser-out game at the 2A state girls basketball tournament at the Yakima SunDome.

The Spartans needed a win to stay in contention for fourth place at state after suffering a 63-37 loss to No. 2 seed Ellensburg in the state quarterfinals March 6.

Despite playing through an injury she suffered in Bainbridge’s win against Woodland March 5, senior Bella Ramirez continued to assert her dominance on the court, fighting for rebounds and giving the Spartans its first lead of the game at 6-5 at the 4:28 mark with a mid-range jumper.

The game remained close with both teams generating turnovers and drawing fouls. But the Spartans failed to score for the remaining four minutes in the period.

The Bainbridge offense continued to struggle entering the second until sophomore Anna Rowe hit a three-pointer, shrinking the Bearcat lead to 10 at the 6:37 mark. Rowe’s score proved to be the only bright spot of the Spartan offense as the quarter went on, with Bainbridge committing multiple turnovers. The Bearcats outscored the Spartans 17-2 in the quarter, making the score 32-9 at halftime.

The Spartan offense continued to struggle entering the second half, largely in part due to their turnovers caused by the full-court press they were facing. Bainbridge couldn’t score for the first four minutes of the quarter while the Bearcats added 12 more points.

The fourth quarter saw much of the same, so the Spartans played their backups to get them state experience.

Quarterfinal loss

Turnovers also proved to be the Spartans’ downfall against Ellensburg.

Bainbridge immediately encountered a full-court press. The Spartans committed many turnovers within the first four minutes leading to easy fastbreak points by the Bulldogs, as they jumped out to a 14-4 lead with 3:26 left in the first. Bainbridge coach Zach Burnham called a timeout at the 2:06 mark after six additional points. Ramirez was able to spark the offense after sinking two free throws and making a mid-range shot, but BHS trailed 22-9 at the end of the quarter.

The Bainbridge offense began to find some life in the beginning of the second quarter after Ramirez and Rowe jumpstarted an 8-0 run for the Spartans, accounting for four points each and cutting the lead to 26-17 at the 4:28 mark in the period.

Bainbridge’s defense also stepped up, limiting the Bulldogs to only seven total points for a majority of the quarter, but BHS still trailed 33-17 at halftime.

“Our plan [going in] was to zone to attempt to stop the three-point shooting,” Burnham said.“We started out the game down 20-4 in a zone and switching to man is where we closed the gap very quickly.”

Hannah Bounketh hit a 3-pointer and Rowe a layup, to reduce the margin to 40-26 with 4:23 remaining in the third. But more turnovers allowed the Bulldogs to get their biggest lead at the end of the third 52-26.

Bainbridge continued to struggle to generate offensive and defensive rebounds in the fourth quarter as Ellensburg cruised to victory.

“I feel like we can really hang and beat the good teams if we just limit the turnovers,” Burnham said.

Second round win

Overtime did not faze the Spartans as Bainbridge beat No. 9 seed Woodland 44-40 March 6 in the second round at state.

“(We) came into the game with the mentality that we have played on the big stage before with the strength of schedule we have had,” Burnham said. “Composure was great and when Bella went down with leg cramps multiple times, the team stepped up without her for multiple minutes.”

Despite the three-point shots not falling, Bainbridge managed to get many scoring opportunities from inside the paint to fall and controlled Woodland’s offense, limiting the Beavers to only one point by the 3:00 mark in the first. The Spartans led 13-6 at the end of that quarter.

Rowe blocked a Beaver layup within the first minute of the second period, maintaining the momentum the Spartans found in the first and setting a tone defensively. The first four minutes of the second featured many turnovers from both squads, and the Spartan offense went scoreless until Ramirez was able to put in a driving layup.

Woodland went on a 10-2 run beginning at the 4:00 mark in the second, making the score 16-15 with 2:55 remaining in the first half, giving the Beavers their first lead of the game. Ramirez was able to put in a buzzer-beater layup at the end of the half, keeping the Spartans’ deficit to one 20-19.

The Spartans came out in the second half with a full-court press, allowing them to take back the lead with five minutes remaining in the third. But Woodland was able to jump out to its largest lead of the game with 1:54 remaining in the third, 31-24, largely due to the Spartans missing a majority of their shots.

Rowe kicked off the scoring for both squads to begin the fourth, putting in two driving layups to draw the Spartans to within one. Spartan Sierra Berry was able to put in a layup on the following possession and drew a foul, generating a three-point play to tie the game at 33-33 with 5:30 remaining in the game.

The Beavers were able to tie the game at 38-38 after a Ramirez turnover with 30 seconds left in the game, sending the contest into overtime.

Rowe scored the first points for either squad, putting in a layup at the 2:53 mark. Burnham called a timeout with 45 seconds remaining to talk with his team, the game tied at 40-40. Rowe quickly scored another contested layup, putting the Spartans up 42-40 with 19 seconds remaining, ultimately sealing the victory.

“Anna came off the bench and had her best overall game of the season,” Burnham said of the Spartan senior who scored 12 points. “The dome did not faze her.”