Shorewood Girls upset Glacier Peak; primed for Hoopapalooza

Shorewood's Lily Gustafson
Photo by Geoff Vlcek

The Shorewood girls basketball team defeated #8 ranked Glacier Peak Wednesday night, 59-53, in the T-Birds gym.

The win avenged an earlier defeat at the hands of the Grizzlies on December 11, by a nearly identical score of 58-53.

Shorewood benefited from a three-pronged attack, with Jalyn Hizey leading the way with 18 points. Taryn Shelley had 17, while Lily Gustafson chipped in with 13.

The Grizzlies tried their mightiest in the last two minutes to reclaim the lead and sneak out with a win, but the T-Birds kept their composure down the stretch and prevailed in the end.

"I'm really proud of the girls - they earned that one,'" said T-Birds first year Head Coach Mark Haner. "They weathered a good team's run and kept competing."

With the win, the T-Birds served notice that they aren't ready to concede the top two spots in WesCo South 3A to defending state champion Lynnwood and Glacier Peak. With the win the T-Birds are now only a game behind GP for second place.

All of which sets up perfectly for Saturday night's girls Hoopapalooza game that starts at 5pm in the SW gym. (The boys' teams finish off the day-long hoops fest at 7pm)

Shorewood topped the Scots 43-31 when the teams played at Shorecrest on December 16.

Both teams have three top scorers, all of whom offer different talents and skill-sets to help their teams.

Shorecrest's Wurrie Njadoe
Photo by Geoff Vlcek

The Shorecrest Scots feature three of the most unique (and dissimilar) players imaginable.

5' 8" Senior Wurrie Njadoe won four individual 2A state track championships last spring --- the 100 and 200 meter dashes, as well as long jump and high jump. She can outrun anybody on the court for easy lay-ins, and she appears to be on pogo sticks when it comes to skying for rebounds. She'll run track at Kansas State next year.

5' 10 senior Uju Chibuogwu brings great size and strength to the court along with a deft shooting touch from as far away as 25 feet, and court-vision that allows her to throw some of the prettiest passes known to mankind. When she is on her game, she can be unstoppable.

6' 0" sophomore Julia Strand has emerged for the Scots as a bona-fide scoring threat. The sleek forward can drive and slash her way to the basket, scoring points in a variety of creative ways, as shown by her 20 points last Friday in a loss to Lynnwood.

For the Shorewood T-Birds, the aforementioned threesome of senior Lily Gustafson and juniors Hizey and Shelley carry the scoring load.  Hizey, a former Scot, can be a deadly outside shooter who can also drive to the hoop. The 6' 2" Shelley, a WSU-recruit, can bang in the low post as well as square up and face the basket from fifteen feet.  Gustafson, at an even six-feet, has great versatility, can score from anywhere on the court, but is sometimes reluctant to shoot, preferring to pass.

--Frank Workman