Thomas Jefferson was staring right at a berth into the Class 4A State Girls Basketball Tournament Thursday night.
The Raiders led the South Kitsap Wolves, 33-23, entering the final 10 minutes of a West Central District loser-out, winner-to-state game at Auburn High School.
But it wasn’t meant to be for Jefferson. South Kitsap outscored the Raiders, 22-6, during the final 9:29 of the game to walk away with a 45-39 win and their first trip to the Class 4A state tournament since 2000. The loss ended TJ’s season after a pair of wins at the district tournament over Kentlake and Rogers.
“We got down and fought back,” said South Kitsap coach Mark Lutzenhiser. “They were just determined not to lose.”
The Wolves (15-11), who will be the West Central District’s fifth seed into Wednesday’s first-round state game, cut the 10-point TJ lead in half, 33-28, entering the fourth quarter as Kelsey Callaghan hit a 3-pointer and Tori Fairweather followed with a pair of free throws.
It wasn’t until there was just 3:55 remaining when the Wolves finally took the lead for good after Callaghan hit a 3-pointer to give her team a 39-36 edge.
Jefferson (16-8), which hasn’t advanced to the state tournament since 2003, responded as Unique Taufa’asau scored on a layup from Hannah Kiyohara to close the lead to one point. But that’s as close as the Raiders would get. Fairweather made four free throws and Stephanie Osterdahl scored on a layup. The Raiders’ only points in the final three minutes came on a free throw by Stacy Albrecht. Albrecht, Jefferson’s leading scorer entering the game at 13.4 points a game, finished with just three Thursday.
The Raiders were led by the 13 points of junior point guard Hannah Kiyohara and 12 from Unique Taufa’asau.
South Kitsap got 12 points from Fairweather and 10 from Callaghan.
South Kitsap 45, Jefferson 39
South Kitsap 12 9 7 17 — 45
Jefferson 12 10 11 6 — 39
South Kitsap — Kelsey Callaghan 10, Samantha Gulisao 2, Stephanie Osterdahl 8, Danielle Stewart 0, Ashlee Stoner 5, Chelnesha Thuring 0, Tori Fairweather 12, Angel Sheldon 2, Molly Werder 6.
Jefferson — Keely Nelson-Rivers 3, Hannah Kiyohara 13, Samantha Pham 2, Ariel Holman 4, Unique Taufa’asau 12, Stacey Albrecht 3, Karen Carpenter 2.
