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Fife Prevails Over Olympic in the Battle of Trojans
By Steven Dion

In the quarterfinals of the District 3 2A Basketball Tournament, the third seed in Fife met sixth seed Olympic at Foss High School on Wednesday night. OHS defeated Steilacoom in the first round on Monday by the score of 54-42. Fife received a first round bye for being a top four finisher in league. The winner of this matchup would face the winner of Clover Park/Bremerton on Friday whereas the loser would take on team that failed to pick up the win on the aforementioned game.

FHS guard Austin Wood helped his team pick up some early momentum as he drew some charges under the rim to force turnovers. Olympic responded nicely by picking up their defensive intensity. The up-tempo offense Fife built early on was replaced with perimeter shots that were not falling regularly. A 10-2 run by OHS including 6 by sophomore post Jumier Johnson helped the Trojans from Silverdale take a 21-16 lead into the locker room.

When play resumed, impact bench player from Fife Jephthah Donker excited the crowd with highlight blocks and a bucket with foul on the offensive end. Olympic’s Makaleb McInnis despite only scoring 5 points had big contributions with aggressive play. The fourth quarter was a chess match with alternating possessions emptying the shot clock and back-and-forth trading of buckets. With thirty seconds left and a tie ballgame, Alex Lemoncelli intercepted an Olympic pass and took the ball to the hoop. The shot did not fall, but the senior drew a foul. He drained the second shot and that was the difference in the game as Fife won 37-36.

Top Performers:
Fife
Alex Lemoncelli-11 points including game winning steal and FT
Austin Woods-10 points

Olympic
Jumier Johnson-12 points (6/10 FG’s)