By Sam Meyers
Published: January 28, 2009
The Lady Pirates were ranked No. 1 in the state, but after Wednesday night’s game the women’s basketball team fell in the ranks. The PJC team came up short to Northwest Florida State College 70-58. The Pirates have made it through the season with 23 wins and 2 losses.
The PJC women rocked the raiders through the first half leading 30-25, but that wasn’t enough to keep them on top. Christina Rateree from Northwest Florida seemed to control the court scoring 26 points during the game. The Raiders also had an advantage with an 80% chance in 3-pointers. The Pirates seemed to let the ball slip from their hands by making 14 turnovers. The two teams battled it out till the end, but Northwest Florida took the win 70-58.
The PJC men’s basketball team has 14 wins and 15 losses according to the 2008-2009 stats on the PJC website. They overpowered the Northwest Florida Raiders 62-50.
“It was a tough game and we came out to win it. We were patient, we came together and played well defensively. It was a team effort and it put us back in the race,” said Coach Swanson.
By halftime, Northwest Florida was leading 33-30, but PJC pulled through a steamy second half. PJC had a 15-0 straight run over the raiders leaving 7 minutes left to end the game. The Pirates kept a strong hold on the raiders, and in the final minute De’Andre Washington scored a one-handed dunk bringing the score 62-50.