The final home game of the season for the girls varsity basketball ended with cheers and a hard-fought, well-earned win.

It took a frantic fourth quarter scramble and two overtime showdowns to get there, but the Spartans saw it through.

Bainbridge hosted the Ingraham Rams Wednesday night, and though the guests scored first, Bainbridge High quickly took the lead and held it for most of the game.

The Rams put up two barely a minute into the first quarter, and still commanded a 7-4 lead with just under three minutes remaining. Then, BHS evened things up at nine-all with 1:14 left, and began to establish the court control that would lead them through the rest of the contest.

The first quarter ended 11-9 with BHS in front, and they pulled ahead even further in the second (25-18).

At the start of the second half, the Spartans started strong (though, admittedly, successful shooting percentages for both teams never topped 50 percent), but by the start of the fourth the Rams had evened things up 35-all with just over five minutes of game left.

Bainbridge again managed to pull it out, and they struggled their way to a 38-35 late game lead.

Then the Rams got on a run.

The score stood 41-40 Bainbridge with just over a minute to go, but the Rams battered their way back and the game entered what would be the first of two emotionally charged overtimes.

Initially, Bainbridge again took control only to have Ingraham come from behind in the final minutes and grab the lead. It was only a spot-on free throw by senior Spartan Paige Brigham that secured the team another shot by knotting the score at 44-all.

In the second OT, however, Bainbridge gained a decisive lead early on and the Rams were unable to play catch-up.

It was a sweet ending for what will be the team’s final home game of the season. The contest was also Senior Night, and the squad’s three seniors, Brigham, Kayla Buchmeier and Sydney Gibbs, were recognized.

All three had finale-worthy performances, said Spartan Head Coach Nicole Hebner, though Buchmeier did suffer a knee injury late in the first half which may keep her off the court for the team’s last away game Friday.

Brigham led the team in points, with 20. She also went 9-for-12 in free throws.

Spartan superstar Taylor Tye chipped in 15 points, Paulina Bredy contributed five points and Katie Usellis ended the game with four.

Hebner said that she was pleased with the team’s performance, and said the squad never lost faith or composure in the game’s more stressful moments.

“That’s a nice way for the seniors to exit,” Hebner said. “That was a nice way to end, in regards of the ‘thriller’ perspective, it was a nice way to end our home season.”

“It gets a little nerve-wracking, I can’t say otherwise,” she laughed as she recalled the game’s first two frenzied finales. “But, to watch the kids battle and never give up and continue to play and really execute at the end of the game — secure the ball and get the rebounds, those types of things -—that’s the game plan and they did that very well.”

Though the team stands to lose only three senior players, Hebner said anyone would be hard-pressed to find three more influential athletes in any group.

“They’re phenomenal athletes,” she said.

“Paige [Brigham] is just a freak athlete,” Hebner explained of the future U.S. Naval Academy Cadet. “She can do anything you want her to do. If you wanted her to go guard a 6-foot-1 girl, she’s going to do it. She’s going to step up to it.”

Buchmeier is one of the toughest girls ever to play for the Spartans, Hebner said, she and Gibbs, a phenomenal shooter and obvious team leader, will be going on to pursue rowing at a collegiate level, a sport for which both are quite renowned.

The loss of those three, especially Brigham, who notoriously handles most of the Spartans’ offensive ball-handling, will mean big tactical changes for next year’s squad, Hebner said.

The mission in the off-season then, she explained, is to fill the void and seek out and encourage new front-line talent.

The Spartans will play their last league game, on the road against Bishop Blanchet, Friday, Feb. 6.

Having defeated Ingraham, Hebner explained, BHS secured the 11th seed in the Metro tournament next week, though their first opponent remains undecided as yet.

“We’ll either play Roosevelt or Seattle Prep,” she said. “Which is two teams that I think we can beat.”

Regardless of the outcome of that game, Hebner added, the Spartans will not play at home again this season, making the Senior Night win all the more special for the squad.

“End on a win, end on a good note and the kids will remember that. You don’t see double overtime all the time, [it’s] a lot of fun.”