“Reflecting on the previous evening’s 67-61 win over Olympic, Spartan boys’ basketball coach Jeff Eller expressed a definite minority opinion Wednesday.It’s almost a shame to go on vacation now, Eller said, as the team headed into the holiday break away from school. We’re playing more and more as a team, he said. But the kids deserve a break. It’ll give them a chance to focus and come back for a great second half of the season. After a 1-3 start, the team is now 4-4 overall (4-2 league) with two straight wins.Eller felt two statistics were particularly significant in the tight game where both teams shot 49 percent and turned the ball over 12 times: The Spartans had 12 offensive rebounds to eight for Olympic, and dished out 20 assists to just 10 for the Trojans.I’m really impressed with how we worked the ball around, he said. And we played well against their full-court pressure. About the only thing he didn’t like was the Spartans’ soft defense early, as Olympic scored 15 points in the first five minutes.At that point, the Spartans used a Teddy Picha putback and Nick Thompson trey and free throw to pull within one at 17-16, before Olympic scored a short jumper to take a 19-16 lead at the end of the quarter on eight of nine shooting.After a quick Olympic hoop, Adam Brenneman’s trey began an 11-point Spartan run that ended with Picha’s layin on a pass from Travis Guterson. After Olympic scored a three-pointer, Guterson ignited a seven-point run with a feed to Brenneman, then scored a layin and drained a three-pointer to put the Spartans up 34-24. But Olympic had a late jumper and three-pointer at the buzzer to shave the lead to 34-29.Olympic closed to within three points with a minute left in the third quarter, but Henry Guterson’s three-pointer 30 seconds later made the score 53-47 as the quarter ended.Zach Whedbee’s drive opened a 55-48 edge early in the fourth quarter, but the Spartans went two and a half minutes without a point as Olympic regained the lead at 56-55.Picha then took an inbounds pass, stormed down the court and laid the ball in to put the Spartans ahead for good, 57-56. After a missed Olympic shot, Mike Botefuhr escaped a double-team in backcourt and fed Brenneman for an easy deuce.Then Picha used his size advantage to back in against an Olympic defender for a layin that brought the Olympic coach off the bench screaming for a foul. With Olympic suddenly cold, Thompson grabbed an offensive rebound on the Spartans’ next possession and fed Picha with a minute and a half remaining for a 63-56 lead. Olympic ended their drought with a trey, but Botefuhr hit a free throw to push the lead to 64-59. An Olympic hoop cut the lead to three before Thompson sank both ends of a one-and-one with 18 seconds left to restore the five-point edge at 66-61. Olympic’s last gasp was a three-point effort from the corner that caromed off the side of the backboard and Picha sank a free throw to round out the scoring.He finished with 20 points and seven boards, both team highs. Whedbee added 15 and six rebounds. Both shot well from the field, Whedbee going seven for 10 and Picha eight for 12. Thompson had seven assists and Botefuhr added five in addition to blocking three shots.The Spartans return to action in the BHS Holiday Invitational Tournament Dec. 29, as they play R.A. Long of Longview.Olympic JVs 45, Bainbridge JVs 44 – Freshman Schuyler Boone scored 15 points to lead the Spartans in what coach Adam Ward termed a tough game to lose, as Bainbridge missed a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer.The Spartans squandered an 18-6 lead at the end of the first quarter to trail at halftime, 24-23 and from that point the teams played evenly.Ward had only eight players available, due to vacations and illness. We didn’t have a lot of legs at the end, he said. But we played hard. The shots just weren’t dropping. And we missed some free throws down the stretch.The team enters the holiday break with a 3-5 record and returns to action Dec. 29, in the JV division of the BHS Holiday Invitational Tournament.Girls’ win marked by rough playThe Spartan girls’ basketball team won its fifth game in a row and remained in first place in the Olympic League, with a 62-34 triumph at Olympic on Tuesday that one observer noted was more akin to streetball or tackle basketball.Two Trojans fouled out as both sides made numerous trips to the free throw line. The Spartans jumped out to an 18-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, led 29-16 at the half, and put the game out of reach by outscoring Olympic 16-7 in the third quarter.Emily Pierce and Alice Russell each scored 14 to share high-point honors. Fab Rezayat chipped in with a dozen, including 10 of 10 free throws, and Christine Schwager added 10. Morgan Zajonc and Lee Maloney each had five, and Carlie Miller’s two rounded out Bainbridge scoring.Pierce had eight rebounds, seven steals and two assists despite being double-teamed for much of the game. Rezayat penetrated frequently toward the basket and dished off for several assists as she set teammates up for easy inside shots.The team’s next action is Dec. 29 in the White River tournament. The host Hornets were ranked No. 3 in the state until a weekend loss to top-ranked West Valley of Yakima. The other two teams, Cascade of Everett and Enumclaw, are 4A. Already depleted by the loss of Alexis Kimball for the season (knee) and top reserve Laura Hornung for two-four weeks (broken thumb), the Spartans will also be without starting guard Fab Rezayat for the tournament. “