This game for EvCC is a big one, since they dropped their last two league games by large margins to Peninsula and Skagit Valley. This has dropped them to 2-2 overall in league play, during those games the Trojans had got out to horrendous starts. This game was different with the Trojans jumping out to a 5-0 lead, with Jess Reiter knocking down an open three to start things off. Then Kaela Tyler found Claire Fyfe who slipped behind the defense for an easy lay up. However, Olympic had different plans rolling off the next seven points in a row, taking the lead 7-5.

The defensive intensity picked up for Olympic, causing a lot of tough shots for the Trojans and leading to fastbreaks. After the first quarter, the game was tied 10-10. Olympic started the second quarter on a 5-0 run and looked to start pulling away from the Trojans. Olympic built a sizeable lead of 11 at 27-16, but EvCC came right back with a run of their own. EvCC scored the next seven points and closed the gap to within four 27-23, it was back and forth for the last three minutes of the half.

That’s when Breezy Shore for the Trojans hit a buzzer beating three at the end of the first half to pull EvCC within two points 31-29. Shore finished the first half with 13 huge points for the Trojans, Chet Hovde the Head Coach for EvCC told his team at halftime, “we need to execute better and take care of the ball.”

The start of the second half was promising for the Trojans, as they were trading baskets with the Rangers, looking to get teammates going. Olympic turned up the pressure yet again and went on another run forcing turnovers, leading to more easy buckets on the offensive end. The Rangers pushed the lead to 10 at the end of the third quarter after some sloppy play from the Trojans. The score was 53-43, with Olympic ahead leading to the fourth quarter. That’s when Shore took over the game, leading the Trojans on a 16-3 run. EvCC grabbed all the momentum with defensive pressure, forcing the Rangers into costly turnovers.

With the game on the line, Shore kept attacking repeatedly getting in the lane, and getting to the line. Olympic had their backs against the wall and could never recover. Shore said after the game, “this was a huge win for us, it put us into the top four in the division and we need that to make the Playoffs. The Trojans went on to win 66-63 after dropping their last two league games. Coach Chet Hovde said, “we scraped and clawed, keeping ourselves in the game. It was a huge comeback and win for us.”

The Trojans are now 3-2 in league play and 10-9 overall. EvCC plays next on Wednesday Jan. 27 at 5:30 p.m. in Shoreline, against Shoreline Community College.