By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

FEDERAL WAY - Steadfastness without a call to retreat kept the Mt. Rainier boys basketball team in the hunt until it rallied to post an 83-79 SPSL 4A Northwest win at Decatur on Fri., Dec. 19.

With the win, the Rams' league record improved to 1-2 league and 3-5 overall. For the hard fighting Golden Gators, their league and overall records fell to 0-4 and 0-6, respectively.

"We never gave up," said Ram head coach Ken Bush. "The guys made free throws at the end. It was a game of attrition. We worked hard and Decatur worked hard. Different people stepped up and they made a great team effort. Trey Tolbert was huge for us (with 18 points and 18 assists). Scoring was balanced after Tolbert and Christian McClain (17). Their press gave us a lot of trouble for 18 turnovers."

Trailing 79-78 with eight second left in regulation time, Mt. Rainier came back quickly on some unlikely events that occurred regularly in this wild and evenly fought contest.

With six seconds left, Decatur was whistled for an intentional foul. Trey Tolbert went to the line and missed the first opportunity, but got a reprieve on the first shot because the player that fouled out had not left the court. Tolbert then converted the new first shot by rolling the front rim and back rim before the ball dropped ahead of the second shot conversion.

Two seconds later, Blake Nelson made the second of two charity tosses for an 81-79 Ram margin which would have been enough for victory, but Barinder Sandhu completely sealed the deal for the Rams by swishing home two free throws with three seconds showing for the final 83-79 score.

The teams played with physical and mental abandon in a turnover dominated opening quarter that the Golden Gators finally won 12-11.

Mt. Rainier's own press had some effect in the second quarter to offset the Decatur forced turnovers.
Trailing 20-14, McClain and Shawn Mamon spearheaded a Ram charge that Tolbert capped to gain a 23-22 lead with 53 seconds until half. The teams tallied back and forth evenly with a Nelson 3-pointer eventually sending the Rams in front 37-28 with 53 seconds until halftime. MR maintained its control to lead 40-33 at the half.

By the third quarter, the Gator defensive pressure had returned along with quickness to the ball.
Mt. Rainier's 46-40 lead was quickly blown away with eight consecutive Decatur points that put the Rams behind, 48-46. Decatur built the lead to 55-49 before MR surged into a 56-55 lead and 58-57 margin going into the fourth quarter.

Decatur built up a five-point lead, but Mt. Rainier scrambled back and led at 76-75. Devon Kelley's rebound basket sent the Gators ahead 77-76 with 1:30 left.

Thirty nine seconds later, McClain connected on a pair of free throws for a 78-77 MR lead that disappeared at the eight second mark when Justin Njuguna emerged from the crowd for a tip up and in to set the stage for the frenetic finish.

Supporting Tolbert and McClain in the share the wealth team scoring were Austin Sharma and Malcolm Cola, who each had eight points while Cola blocked six shots. Checking in at seven were Mamon, Nelson and Sandhu. Pascal Joassaint contributed five points as Darius Saelle added four crucial third quarter points off the bench. Tevin Johnson chipped in with two points.

Decatur had a foursome in double figures scoring with Rashon Slaughter pouring in 21 points while Deonte Smith notched 16. Completing the double figures scoring were and Devon Kelley having 11 points each. Completing the Golden Gator scoring were Deanthony Jones (7), Julius Brandon (5), Tanner Rees (5) and Damico Love (3).