Balanced Effort Downs Rivals

The Trojans entered Saturday night with the hope of securing a spot in the NWAC playoffs.  A win over rivals Edmonds CC would do just that, and the mission was accomplished when the final horn sounded with a 101-96 point victory.

A see-saw 1st half was a good indicator of how this game would play out the rest of the evening as 10 lead changes and 4 ties kept a packed house in angst.  Edmonds held a 48-47 lead with 36 seconds to play in the first half, but a Jon Parker 3 pointer would give the Trojans the 50-48 lead going into the halftime break.  Everett was lead by Parker off the bench who scored 12 points on 5-8 shooting.  Magnus Jespersen had a huge first half, 14 points and 14 rebounds, completed with a monster dunk.  

In the second half the game remained tight until the Trojans built a 13 point lead again capped by a Jespersen slam off of the press break with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game.   Edmonds made a storming comeback forcing some turnovers to bring the game back to within 3.  The Tritons had possession on an in-bound play with 13 seconds remaining trailing 99-96, but an errant pass gave the ball back to the Trojans and ultimately the victory. 

Everett continued to assemble a solid offensive performance despite 23 total turnovers which can be the downside to a fast paced attacking style.  This marked the 4th straight game scoring over 100 points, shooting 55.7% from the floor and totaling 23 assists. Five Trojans scored in double figures, lead by Jon Parkers 22 points on 7-14 shooting.  Jespersen added 21 points and a huge season high 28 rebounds, moving his season average up to 13.7 per game (2nd highest in the NWAC).  Markieth Brown and Joe Crumley both added 5 assists to go along with 13 and 15 points respectively. 

The Trojans return home on Wednesday night at Larry Walker Court for a chance to clinch the North Region Championship for the second straight season against Olympic College.  Tip off is scheduled for 7pm and will be live streamed on the Everett Trojans Athletics Youtube channel.