1/26/2023

Mt. Tahoma 81, Lakes 52

(Tacoma, WA) In a must win situation for the Mt. Tahoma basketball team, the Thunderbirds used stifling defense to sprint past the visiting Lakes Lancers in a dominant win on Senior Night.

The T-Birds jumped out to an early 24-10 led by Senior Nehemiah Pollard’s 10 1st quarter points.

Mount Tahoma continued to dominate as they built a 19-point lead in the 2nd quarter but credit the Lancers for getting back in the game in the period as Lakes went on a 9-0 run to get within 10 points at 36-26. That would be the closest the Lancers would get as Mount Tahoma answered with the final 7 points of the quarter to make the halftime lead 43-26.

The 3rd quarter is when T-Birds put the game out of reach by outscoring Lakes 19-5 to give Mount Tahoma a commanding 62-31 lead entering the 4th quarter.

Lakes found offense in the final quarter to match Mount Tahoma with both teams scoring 21 points each to end the game.

The T-Birds 81 points were a season high lead by seniors Nehemiah Pollard who scored a game high 34 points and Jojo Maxey-Johnson had 19, T-Birds Coach Dontae Harris commented on his seniors.

“Both of those guys stepped up and I was happy for them,” Harris said. “Being seniors and playing major minutes and playing well, that was big for us tonight.”

Senior Javari Harris also pitched in 11 for Mount Tahoma, while Kai Riddick led Lakes with 15 points and E’lijiah McChristian added 11.

The win for Mount Tahoma and loss by Spanaway Lake to Lincoln secures the T-Birds the final District Tournament spot with a 6-6 PCL record and 9-10 overall. Lakes falls to 1-11 and 4-15 overall, as the Lancers end their season at Auburn Riverside on Saturday.