Wash girls blast Jeff, 74-41

You throw a shutout in the first quarter, you've got a pretty good chance to win, right?Cedar Rapids Washington did and did Friday night, holding Cedar Rapids Jefferson scoreless for almost 10 minutes en route to a 74-41 romp at the J-Hawk gym."That's probably what I was most pleased with," Washington Coach Frank Howell said of his team's defense. "How long we were able to sustain the defensive effort."Jefferson (5-11) didn't score until Rachel Broghammer's offensive-rebound basket with 6:20 left in the second quarter. Washington already had run to a 16-0 edge, including 14-0 after a quarter.It was 38-11 Warriors at halftime and 60-26 after three. Simply a blowout."I thought we executed well defensively and did a good job on the offensive boards," said Howell, whose team (13-3) overall remained a game back of Linn-Mar for first place in the Mississippi Valley Conference's Mississippi Division. "We were able to get some putbacks in there."Ashley Piper led Washington with 13 points, with Tia Dawson adding 12. Taylor Jacobson had 10 points for Jefferson.Washington has beaten the J-Hawks in nine of the last 10 meetings.