TACOMA--Thomas Jefferson's girls basketball team fought furiously from

all angles before falling, 57-53, to Rogers of Puyallup on

loser-go-home night last Wednesday in the Class 4A West Central

District tournament.

Kiara Martinez scored from inside with 43.7 seconds in regulation gave

the Rams a 54-53 lead and added two free throws 19 seconds later.

With 8.9 seconds left, Stacey Albrecht's three-ball attempt from the

top of the key rimmed out, forcing Jefferson to foul.

Natasha Chomik drained the second of two free throw tries with 3.9

seconds remaining for the final margin.

Despite this tough pill to take, Raider head coach Jerry Krueger looked

back at the 16-10 season with pride.

"Tonight the girls showed a lot of heart," he said. "They sure battled.

This season was a huge step for us. We experienced what this playoff

thing is about. It would have been nice to win, but we didn't get it

done tonight. Last season we won seven games and only 14 in the two

years before this one."

Trailing, 19-11, early in the second quarter, the Raiders closed the

score to 19-16 on Albrecht's close in goal and Unique Taufa'asau's

standard three-point play inside the key.

In ragged action, the Rams took advantage of Jefferson turnovers and

indecision to roll to a 32-20 command before Taufa'asau banked a goal

off the glass and Albrecht scored off an inbounds pass to narrow TJ's

halftime deficit to 32-24.

Coming out with all guns blazing to open the second half, Jefferson

pushed the ball quickly up the court with Jillian Rasmussen effectively

running the offense as the defense tightened.

Following a steal, Rasmussen's bank shot capped a 7-0 Raider run to

draw TJ within 32-31 at 5:36 of the third quarter.

The teams traded scoring surges until Rogers led, 40-35.

Keely Nelson-Rivers fired home a three-point bakset before Albrecht

scored from the post. Karen Carpenter drummed in an outside basket to

give Jefferson a 42-40 lead after three quarters.

"The same thing that got us behind, execution and defense, got us

ahead," concluded Krueger. "We had good execution in the third quarter

and did what we could to slow down their offense with our defense in

the third quarter. Then, we got away from it in the fourth quarter."

See-sawing back-and-forth with the lead, the Raiders took their final

lead on Hannah Kiyohara's two free throws as 56.6 showed on the

scoreboard clock to set the stage for the frantic final moments.

Despite the stinging loss, Jefferson's season was still splendid.

"We just realized at halftime, we had to suck it up," said Rasmussen.

"Making the playoffs as a senior was awesome."

Taafa'asau struck for a game-high 18 points. Albrecht and Kiyohara

tallied 11 points apiece.