Spartans beach Rainier in overtime

55-52.

Will DiIorio’s three-point shot with less than five seconds remaining gave the Spartan boys basketball team a 55-52 overtime win over Rainier Beach on Friday and moved the team into a tie for first place in the Metro League’s Mountain Division. Both teams have 10-3 league records with two games remaining.

“It was the biggest shot of my life, no doubt,” said DiIorio.

Paul Weese, whose three-pointer was the winning basket against previously undefeated Franklin ten days earlier, set up DiIorio’s heroics by hitting two key treys of his own. The first one came with 35 seconds remaining in regulation and knotted the score at 48-48 to force overtime. Then his second one, with 40 seconds left in overtime, brought the Spartans back from a three-point deficit.

Ryan Burris led the Bainbridge attack with 21 points, while Ben Eisenhardt added 13. DiIorio had 9 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Weese’s two treys were his only points of the night.

The win marked a remarkable turnaround from an 84-39 loss to the Vikings exactly eight weeks ago. Since then the team has gone 11-3, with the three defeats coming by a total of nine points.