The pressure of being the No. seed 1 seemingly had no effect on how the Bainbridge girls played in their opening 2A district playoff game, beating Kingston 71-51 Feb. 18 at home.

The Spartans advance to play North Kitsap in the district semifinals Nov. 20 at Foss High School in Tacoma at 7 p.m. The Vikings beat Fife 40-24 that same day. The winner of the next game clinches a spot in both the district title game and state tournament. Meanwhile, the Bucs play a lose-or-out game Feb. 20 at Fife at 6 p.m.

Kingston coach Charles Deam said his team was unable to do what he wanted. “We came into the game trying to limit what they were going to do inside.”

The Bucs came out of the gates with a full-court press, attempting to establish a defensive identity early on. Bainbridge was able to navigate the press, but not without committing some turnovers due to the intense man-to-man defense the Bucs were playing. Nonetheless, the Spartans began to find their way in the latter half of the first quarter, largely due to Olympic League Most Valuable Player Bella Ramirez spreading the ball around and playing sharper defense.

Ramirez accounted for seven out of the Spartans 17 total points in the second quarter. Buc Tatiana Fontes-Lawrence accounted for six of Kingston’s 14 points in the period.

“We just wanted to play our game and not let the playoff atmosphere affect us,” Ramirez said.

The Spartans went on a 13-2 run to kick off the second half, largely due to their ability to control the boards. Fontes-Lawrence was able to stop the scoring drought with a contested layup.

The Spartans tallied another 17 points, largely due to the scoring of Sierra Berry and Anna Rowe, both tallying six in the third quarter. Fontes-Lawrence continued to be the Bucs top scorer, adding six to their overall 12 in the period.

Bainbridge was able to build on its lead in spite of the fouls they were committing throughout the half, going on a 13-4 scoring run and building its lead to 22 with four minutes remaining.

“I was telling my girls all week, just because you beat them twice already doesn’t mean that they’re not going to show up ready to play,” Bainbridge coach Zach Burnham said.