Fast hands and fast feet fostered fast scoring Friday in a John F. Kennedy 59-50 Seamount League girls basketball triumph at Mount Rainier High School.

Class 3A state No. 3 Kennedy remained unbeaten at 11-0 overall and 6-0 atop the league standings. Mount Rainier (7-4, 4-2) slipped back to third place in the league.

"It was about defense," elaborated sophomore Lancer guard Yasmine Fuller who posted a game high 20 points. "Every time we trapped, we got the ball for layups. Sometimes we struggled on finishing and got lazy when we thought it was cool that we were going to win."

Dedra Brown joined Fuller in double figures with 15 points for the quick striking Kennedy offense.

The Lancers forced the Rams to commit 12 first quarter turnovers while running the floor well en route to a 15-0 scoring salvo that turned a 4-3 disadvantage into an 18-4 lead. Brown notched seven points to pace the the running Lancers to a plethora of points on lay ups and short range goals. Scoring was often initiated by steals and outlet passes that left Mount Rainier resembling immobile statues.

Kennedy finished the game by forcing 26 turnovers in the up-tempo contest.

"When they (the Lancers) trap and pressure, it becomes an athletic contest that's hard to stop," stated Rams coach Bob Bolam.

The quick as lightning start doomed Mount Rainier and placed the Rams into pursuit gear for the rest of the showdown.

Keeping its composure, Mount Rainier exerted defensive pressure of its own while managing to execute its inside-outside offense in the second quarter in an attempt to unhorse the Lancers.

Midway through the quarter, Alison Vrbanac's put back basket ignited a Mount Rainier for five consecutive points that drew the Rams within 25-16. Brown converted a lay up off a steal

for Kennedy before junior Lyndsay Breed pulled the trigger on a 3-pointer for Mount Rainier. Southpaw Sarah Martinez canned a running hook shot to narrow the the Ram deficit to 27-21 heading to halftime.

Opening the second half, the opportunistic, fast breaking Kennedy offense reverberated to balloon its lead to 44-32 after three quarters.

"We played good defense and passed well," observed Lancer guard Jasmine Lemon. "We penetrated well and ran the court. Our team likes to get up and down the court fast and push the ball quickly."

Trailing 52-39 with 4:12 remaining in regulation, Mount Rainier mades its final climb. Melissa Yapp and Martinez each converted a pair of free throws ahead of Breed's 3-point goal to trim the JFK lead to 52-46 with just more than three minutes left. Breed stole the ball to begin a fast break, but the Rams were called for traveling with an easy lay up in sight.

Like unleashed race horses, the lightning Lancers galloped away for good. Breed's 3-point missile for Mount Rainier concluded the scoring with 17.4 seconds remaining.

Kennedy coach Tom Mummert was pleased with the win while also noting areas for improvement.

"Mount Rainier is a good ball club," he proclaimed. "We didn't play the kind of "man" defense we should have. We need to be tighter. We relaxed our defense and didn't rotate off the switches. Martinez was able drive to the basket for them. Offensively, we executed our offense well in the first and third quarters. As a whole, we took care of the ball pretty well. We're small, so we have to be quick."

For the homestanding Rams, Martinez drove, slashed and cut her way to 13 points and added a 3-point goal as part of her total while dealing out 7 assists. Breed added 11 points as Vrbanac powered for 11 and hauled in 11 rebounds.

"The best thing the girls did was when they got down, they kept on going," concluded Bolam. "We missed a lot of free throws, especially in the first quarter. I'm not displeased at all. We tried to take tonight as if it was a playoff game. Before tonight, I wasn't sure how we stood. After tonight, I feel a lot better about knowing how we stack up in the league."