“Saturday was a landmark day for the new Bainbridge High School gymnasium.It was somewhat less so for the Spartan girls’ basketball team, the squad that inaugurated the new facility that night.It was a long day of official ceremonial duties for the team’s members, who were already far afield from their usual go-to-school, take-the-bus-or-take-it-easy Tuesday and Friday game routine.And after the hoopla of the afternoon’s gym-celebration ceremonies, attended by a host of local luminaries, the girls still had to take to an unfamiliar court – against an opponent a cut above the usual potpourri of Olympic League pushovers.“It didn’t seem like a game day, until it was too late,” Spartan senior Kim Beemer said.The defending state 3A champions still had enough left in reserve, however, to muscle past Port Townsend, 52-38.The Spartans trailed early, 6-5, but broke away for a 13-point halftime lead. The Redskins, however, keyed by one of the league’s better point guards in Leanne Felts, managed to hang close till the final minutes.“I don’t know if it was all the excitement of the day, but there just wasn’t any fire,” Bainbridge coach Penny Gienger said. “I was real mad about it until I watched the tape of the game – but then I saw that we did technically okay.”Alexis Kimball led the Spartans in scoring with 13 points. Beemer added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and, for the record, scored the first varsity point in the new gym with a free throw.Bainbridge hosts the Nunawading Specters, a traveling Australian team, today at 7 p.m.Bainbridge JV 49, Port Townsend 13: Laura Hornung scored 14 points – including, technically, the first-ever basket in the new gym’s history – and pulled down 10 rebounds.Laura Bartunek added eight points and 10 rebounds for the Spartans, and Tiffany Steele came off the bench to register 10 boards.Lid slams shut on boys’ squadJeff Eller couldn’t stomach the thought of seeing the game film from his Bainbridge boys’ basketball team’s 48-40 loss to Port Townsend Friday night.One can’t blame him for not wanting to relive the puzzling and painful loss, in which the Spartans let go of a double-digit lead and on their way to a 48-40 loss.Bainbridge fell to 3-3 in Olympic League play and 5-3 overall, pending last night’s home contest againt Central Kitsap.“It’s not like we didn’t play well, it’s not like we didn’t get good looks at the basket or have our chances,” Eller, Bainbridge’s head coach, said.“If you had told me we were going to hold them to 48 points and commit just eight turnovers, I would have liked our chances.”The turnaound began with barely a minute remaining in the first half. PT’s Greg Caldwell, missing in action to that point, suddenly shook free in defender Drew Stenesen’s absence for four 3-point shots just before the buzzer to bring his Redskins back to a one-point deficit.Stenesen, who led Bainbridge with 15 points – all in the first half – missed key stretches of the second half with foul trouble.The Spartans tried to compensate for the 6-3 senior post’s absence by opening up their outside shooting game – with disastrous results. The numbers:• The Spartans shot just 1-for -18 in the third quarter, and scored a mere two points.• Guards Nick Thompson and Mike Botefuhr combined for just 5-of-33 shooting, including 3-of-18 from 3-point range.• Overall, 15-of-62 shooting (24 percent).“The really strange part of this is that we’re only committing half as many turnovers as we did last year,” Eller observed.Bainbridge next hosts the Southern Cross Sharks from Australia Saturday at the Woodward gym.Port Townsend JV 43, Bainbridge 40: Henry Guterson scored a team-high 13 points but missed two free throws and a jump shot in the game’s final minute.”