Smith-Taylor's basket lifts Warriors

By Jeff Linder The Gazette CEDAR RAPIDS - This time, Renesa Smith-Taylor was on the receiving end. Smith-Taylor gathered an inbounds pass under the basket and converted for the go-ahead basket with 23 seconds left as Cedar Rapids Washington edged Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 63-62, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls' basketball game last night at Jefferson High School. It was Washington's second straight one-point, last-second victory. The Warriors (11-7, overall, 9-5 MVC) beat Iowa City High, 49-48, Jan. 30. “We've got two good wins in a row,” Smith-Taylor said. “This is a good one to get to keep the momentum going for the postseason.” The lead changed hands six times in the final 5:15. With the Warriors trailing by a point, Ashley Piper found Smith-Taylor under the basket. Smith-Taylor bobbled it for a moment, then gathered it and scored. Smith-Taylor was designed to screen for Camille Marie-Lidd on the play. “One thing I tell my guards: If they can get their defender on their back, go ahead and try to score,” said Washington Coach Frank Howell. “It worked out well for us.” It was an irony that Smith-Taylor scored the winning basket, because she's the one who has been feeding teammates all season. She had nine assists Friday to draw within 22 of Becky Strathan's school-record season total, set in 1989. “I've always wanted to do that,” Smith-Taylor said. “I'm so close. I want it really bad.” The Warriors survived a flurry of three Jefferson shots in the final seconds to complete a season-sweep of the J-Hawks (11-8, 7-7). “We got the shots we wanted,” said Jefferson Coach Larry Niemeyer. “We make one, we win.” Howell said, “We rolled the dice a little bit. We made sure we stayed close to (Amanda) Burger and (Britteny) Steffeny. They got some looks. We were just fortunate.” Jefferson lost leading scorer Katelynn Jourdan to an injury to her left knee - Niemeyer believes it's a torn ACL - late in the third quarter, but the J-Hawks stormed back behind Steffeny (16 second-half points) and Morgan Allee, who scored all 10 of her points in the fourth quarter. Allee's steal and layup gave Jefferson a 55-52 lead midway through the final period, then the game went back and forth from there. Marie-Lidd's two free throws gave Washington a 61-60 edge with 1:08 to go, then Britani Nolkemper countered with two foul shots with 45 seconds left to put the J-Hawks in front. But Smith-Taylor countered, and the J-Hawks couldn't. Alissa Oney led the Warriors with 17 points - 16 in the first half. Marie-Lidd added 12, Piper 10. Alex Jacobson scored 13 for Jefferson. Contact the writer: (319) 368-8857 or

jeff.linder@gazcomm.com Stephen Mally/Freelance  Cedar Rapids Washington's Renesa Smith-Taylor (35) glances up at the basket before making the game-winning shot as Cedar Rapids Jefferson's Britteny Steffeny (34) and Alex Jacobson (22) defend and Washington's Camille Marie-Lidd (45) looks during last night's game at Jefferson. Washington won, 63-62.