It was a sorrowful Senior Night for the Bainbridge High varsity girls basketball team Friday, Feb. 3 as they suffered a 56-44 loss against the visiting Eastside Catholic Crusaders during their last game of the regular season.
The Spartans finished the year with an overall record of 8-11 (5-10 in conference) and ranked 11th in the Metro.
Friday’s contest also marked Senior Night, and the squad’s uppermost upperclassmen were recognized: Makaila Deen, Taylor Tye and Kiera Havill.
The team’s top trio, BHS Head Coach Henry Guterson said, would always have a special place in his memory as they were exemplary leaders during his own first year at the helm.
“A really great senior class,” he said. “Really great kids, always positive, fun to be around and good basketball players — and really nice to their teammates.
“One of my worries was how are these seniors and freshman going to mesh, and it’s been no issue whatsoever.”
Against the Crusaders, BHS leapt out in front first and continued to lead throughout much of the first quarter. The score sat 8-8 with about a minute left and was still tied, 10-10, at the start of the second.
The Crusaders pulled ahead with about five minutes left in the half, 18-14, and stayed ahead. The quarter concluded with the visitors up, 21-18.
The third saw more of the same. While Bainbridge was far from standing still, they were simply unable to mount a suitable response to the Crusader’s constant pressing.
The fourth began with the Spartans behind 39-27, a deficit they did not surmount, despite a comparatively high-scoring quarter.
Feisty frosh Olivia Wikstrom led the Spartan scoring efforts against EC, finishing the night with 20 points.
Tye was a close second, racking up 15. Marianne Milander managed 10, Kendall Havill put up nine, Grace Carson added eight and both Mia Peeples and Kiera Havill scored six.
The Spartans’ final home game was much like the rest of their schedule, Guterson said, an uphill battle.
“I would describe Eastside as having no weaknesses,” he said.
“They’re not like a really special athletic team but they are really solid in shooting, ball handling, rebounding, they just don’t have any true weakness that you can kind of take advantage of and pick apart with a scouting report. Tough team to scout because it’s hard to know, there’s no big gaping obvious ways you can play them, real well-rounded.”
An away game Tuesday, Feb. 7 against Holy Names was the Spartans’ next showing, their first of the postseason — and also potentially their last in the loser-out league tournament qualifier bracket.
The BHS girls were previously bested by HNA 46-32 on Jan. 27.
