Spartans rebound in Metro rivalry

BAINBRIDGE -- In front of a boisterous home crowd, Bainbridge continued its regular-season dominance of O'Dea on Friday night with a 54-41 boys' basketball victory, conjuring memories of the four epic games the teams played last year.

Bainbridge won the first three meetings. But the fourth was the big one, in front of a packed house at the University of Washington for the Class 3A state championship, the game in which O'Dea turned on a defense like no Spartans player had seen all season and won 56-31.

The teams have different players this year, especially the Fighting Irish, but emotions were running high as the teams resumed their budding rivalry.

Or did they?

"It's hard for us to build a rivalry in Metro when we're on this side of the Sound," Bainbridge coach Scott Orness said.

"Even last year, playing O'Dea four times didn't really change the way we see them as an opponent. Sure, every time we played them meant something, but really, they're just another tough Metro team. If we have a rival, I'd say it's still North Kitsap."

Still, an estimated 1,500 Bainbridge faithful nearly filled their oversized gym.

"North Kitsap may be our classic rival," said Bainbridge senior Scott Heinemann, "but O'Dea has consistently been a formidable opponent."

"We have to show up strong whenever O'Dea comes here," senior Dylan Tucker said. "The O'Dea fans can really dish it out at home as well."

O'Dea coach Phil Lumpkin said every game O'Dea plays feels like a rivalry.

"There might be some holdover from the state championship," Lumpkin said, "but the teams are different with different kids taking over, so we kind of are starting all over again anyway."

The Irish have enjoyed one of the most successful four-year stretches at the 3A state tournament, winning the state title in 2004 and '05, taking second in '06 and winning again last year.

The Irish are 15-1 at state in the past four years.

O'Dea is obviously in a rebuilding mode, but the same could be said in any of the past four seasons.

The Irish lost 54 points a game when Jamelle McMillan, Chris Banchero, Josh Scott and Kelly Edwards graduated. But graduation wasn't the only roster thinner; also gone are senior Ellis Pressley-Whitman (moved to California to play baseball), junior Christian Colton (transfer to Bellevue) and sophomore Dominic Ballard, who lost his varsity eligibility after transferring to Garfield last summer, then changing his mind and returning to O'Dea.

Orness said both teams basically returned two players each with varsity experience, and figured the difference would be how the "new" kids responded.

"Our kids really competed," Orness said. "This was the first game this year where we played tough all 32 minutes."

Bainbridge senior guard Nick Fling was 8-for-8 from the field and led all scorers with 18 points. Junior Sean Jones paced O'Dea with 10 points. The Irish were 3 of 18 from beyond the 3-point arc.

"Bainbridge appeared hungrier than we were," Lumpkin said. "They outplayed us tonight."