Dolphins Edge Trojans 79-74

Everett, WA – Coming off of a big 106-73 win over Whatcom last weekend, the Trojans were back on Larry Walker court in a pivotal match up with Shoreline Community College.  Everett entered the contest tied for third with Bellevue in the north region standings at 5-4, and Shoreline sat a single game back at 4-5 tied with Olympic in 5^th place. 

From the opening tip, neither team had much difficulty finding the bottom of the net as 20 total points were scored in the first three minutes of action.  At the fifteen-minute mark, Shoreline held a 15-14 lead before the Trojans went on a 15-2 run to take a 12-point lead.  If not for Shoreline's AJ Boyd who scored 20 first half points, the Dolphins would have been long out of the game, but his effort kept SCC within 13 heading into the half, 48-35. The Trojans were led by Jadin Penigar's 12 first half points and Leon Sayers who had 8.

The Dolphins opened up the 2^nd half in a 2-3 zone, which allowed the Trojans to build on their lead.  Five minutes in Everett led by 16, but over the course of the next ten minutes Shoreline slowly chipped away at the lead.  On a made three with 7:46 to play, Shoreline tied the game at 65, and took the lead two possessions later. 

On back-to-back Trojan turnovers, Shoreline extended their lead to four with just under three minutes to play.  Colton Spencer hit a three to bring the Trojans back to within one but Shorelines AJ Boyd answered with a three of his own to push the lead back out to four with 1:30 to play. 

Down the stretch, Everett had opportunities but didn't hit the big shots when they needed them to fall.  Shoreline took the win 79-74.  For the Trojans it was a tale of two halves, scoring 48 in the first half, but limited to just 26 points in the second half on 29% shooting (a season low).  Shoreline's AJ Boyd led all scorers with 34 points and Everett was led by Jadin Penigar's 15.  All five starters scored in double figures and Tucker Molina pulled in 9 rebounds with 6 assists.  Colton Spencer also had 6 assists to go along with 11 points. 

Everett moves to 5-5 in the region, now tied with Shoreline in 4^th place and a game back from Bellevue who got a big win over Olympic to move to 6-4.  The Trojans will travel to Bellevue on Sunday for another big matchup that will be crucial for playoff positioning.  Tip-off is scheduled for 2pm.