TJ blows away FW, upsets Puyallup

By COLE COSGROVE

Associate editor

After losing two games last week that seemed to take the wind out of the sails of the Jefferson girls basketball team, the Raiders rebounded this week with a pair of much-needed wins.

“Last week was hard on us,” Jefferson coach Mike Grady said prior to Tuesday’s game against Federal Way. “We need to get back on track.”

The Raiders did just that, running past winless Federal Way 53-38 then coming up with a clutch victory over league-leader Puyallup 60-47 on Thursday.

Kezia Long scored 18 and Chelsea Hunt 15 to topple Puyallup.

In Tuesday’s game, both teams combined for 51 turnovers, the Jefferson girls basketball team manged to control the ball long enough to make a few baskets along the way to beat Federal Way.

Long scored 19, one-point off a career high, in just three quarters of play as the Raiders built a 43-19 lead. Federal Way played strong against Jefferson’s reserves in the fourth quarter, outscoring them 19-10.

One gutsy performance came when Federal Way sophomore guard Chelsea White was fouled shooting a 3-pointer at the buzzer ending the third quarter. As players cleared the floor to huddle for the quarter break, White stepped to the freethrow line for three shots. Rather than the usual quiet reserved for foul shots, the Federal Way band, thinking there was a break in the action and not realizing a player was shooting, started playing. White made the first shot. Then the Jefferson cheerleaders started their routine, as the Federal Way band continued playing. White made the second. Then the scoreboard buzzer unexpectedly went off, as the cheerleaders were cheering and the band was playing. White paused, regrouped to compose herself, then made the third.

She made two more 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with nine points. Shelby Avaava led Federal Way with 15 points.

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