It was close. It was very close, right up until the end.

The Bainbridge High varsity boys basketball team lost their game at home Friday, Jan. 3 to the visiting team from Rainier Beach with a final score of 72-65.

“You never know,” said Spartan Head Coach Scott Orness. “The first thing you got to do, as we talked about in the locker room, is you’ve got to believe. You’ve got to believe that you can compete and play with these guys, and I was a little worried about that in the first four minutes of the game. Then our guys settled down, and I truly believe that they believe now that they can compete against anybody in the state.”

The matchup was highly competitive with points earned on both sides in rapid succession throughout. The Spartans trailed the entire game, but only just barely, and several times came within a single basket of taking the lead.

Ground was lost and regained on the scoreboard continually, with lightning-fast scoring from both teams.

“The guys worked hard together,” Orness said. “They stuck to the game plan; we forced Rainier Beach to shoot the ball outside. We gave up a few too many easy buckets in the fourth quarter, and we missed some nice easy ones there too. But overall I was very proud of my guys and the heart and the effort that they showed out on the court.”

The loss at home pushed the team’s overall season record to 6-3.

“I think this game showed that we’ve got some players who can go deep throughout the game,” Orness said.