By Gerardo Bolong

AUBURN - Mount Rainier continued pile driving its way toward an unbeaten SPSL 4A North girls basketball championship by body slamming Thomas Jefferson 73-29 on Tues., Jan. 28, at the Raider gym.

Spreading the ball well from the outset with swift ball movement, the Rams set up numerous high percentage shots en route to an 18-0 first quarter lead that eventually reached a game high 47 high points with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter.

At this point, an entire unit of Ram reserves entered the game, turning the starters into relaxed spectators for the duration.

Two of the substitutes had entered the game with 2:32 left in the first quarter and spent some time playing in different combinations with starting players. Normal bench players played Jefferson to a near standoff in the final quarter before the match up ended.

The running Rams brought about the advent of the continually running clock when they established a 40-point lead late in the third quarter.
Mount Rainier (14-0 league, 15-3 overall) also switched types of defenses at will to regularly harass Thomas Jefferson ball handlers into turnovers
"The girls did a nice job of moving the ball around, especially in the first quarter," said Mount Rainier head coach Bob Bolam. "This was the best ball sharing we've done all season. We brought CeCe (Tafia) up from the jv for the first time and she was helpful in the short time she played. As far as getting more players to be able to play useful minutes, we're still working on it."

Brittany McPhee (21), Jordan McPhee (16 with 4 three-pointers) and Emily Fiso (16) led the Rams in double figure scoring. Aqueelah Williams was next at 9 followed by Tafia (5), Simone Johnson (4), Jenna Shamsheldin (1) and Kaiti Freeberg (1). Also getting extended game action were Kenzie Gandy, Megan Houston and Maddie Fletcher.

Katie Hernandez paced the Raiders (1-9, 4-10) with 9 points.