The fine line between Century and Sherwood can be measured on 'who wants the game more on that night.' The first time around, it was pretty clear when Century visited Sherwood and came away with a 52-44 win that it was the Jaguars who enforced their will. Friday at Century it was the Bowmen who refused to yield as they held off repeated rallies to even up the head to head in what could be a deciding factor come playoff time. Sherwood's 53-48 win moved them into a tie with Century for the #3 Seed and now both trail Glencoe by a single game as they all come down the home stretch. (que up the sounds of a horse race)

On this night, as Coach Liz Barrett said, "This was a total team win. Everyone stepped up." Looking at the stats, it was clear that the Sherwood bench had brought the lunch pail and were the deciding difference. Post Jackie Long just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. The bench had 21 points and 18 of Sherwoods 36 rebounds. Meanwhile, Century's starters accounted for 43 of the Jag's 48 points.

The Lady Bowmen came out of the gates fast and used their defense to clamp down on the prolific scoring duo of Sade Elliott and Jasmine Gibbs-Brown. Bridgette Francis yelled "bank" and hit a three to break open a close game and the visitors would finish the quarter with an 8-0 run to lead 13-5.

Century would not go gently into the night as they fought back in the second quarter. The Lady Bowmen have shown an affection for the "Quarter from H.E.-Double Hockey Sticks" and perhaps a team vote selected the second quarter to let this disastrous virus run its course.  After Sherwood  opened up the lead to 22-8, the Jag's suddenly rallied behind Elliott's hot hand to put on a 11-0 run and close to 22-19. If there is anyone who can shoot it deep like Shoni Schimmel, its Elliott who boosted up back to back tre's from Shoni-Land and quickly got her team back on track .  A 14 point lead had quickly been whittled to a close 23-19 game at halftime. Meanwhile fans were treated to a performance of "RiverDance" by Coach Barrett who also lost her voice as she watched her team produce a prolific 8 turnovers in the quarter and instead of shooting the ball, began throwing the ball at the basket. Often the perfect recipe for disaster.

The second half could most easily be surmised as 'a battle.' Two of the more physical teams in the conference who aren't afraid of contact, the third quarter had plenty of contact as it looked like disco "Bump Night" inside the key. It didn't go unnoticed by the officials who continued to call the game tightly as Sherwood's leading scorer Megan Shields quickly picked up her third and fourth fouls early in the quarter. The Jag post players were also hearing plenty of whistles and even Coach Tim Owen's impersonation of Pavorotti directed at the referee's did little to stem the calls. Sherwood's shooting in the quarter dipped and Century crept closer.  Going just 5-16 from the field and a paltry 2-6 from the charity stripe, Sherwoods lead would dwindle to 35-34 at the end of the third as Elliott kept hitting from deep and Gibbs-Brown, with Shields on the bench, would start muscling inside for baskets.

Century hit the opening shot of the fourth quarter on an Elliott drive to the basket and their 36-35 lead would be their first since a 5-4 lead in the first quarter. It was just the wake-up call Sherwood needed. They would again get back to their trademark defense and start finding their offensive rhythm. A Shields basket followed by an Amanda Shelton three pointer would open back up the Bowmen lead to 43-36. A 'silly' foul by Shields would send her back to the bench for the night and then it would become Sherwood's free throws against Gibbs-Brown's "Bull in a China Shop Show" and she'd answer with a basket on most trips down. It wouldn't be enough as Sherwood managed the ball well committing just a single turnover in the quarter in easily the most telling statistic of the quarter. Sand would run out of the games hour glass for Century which should set up an interesting race for the deciding seeds as Sherwood (6-3) and Century (6-3) now look at Glencoe (7-2) and wonder where things will pan out.

Playoff time draws near and the NWOC contenders can look at the IMC, Midwestern and Mid-Willamette playoff chases and try to deduce who will play whom with all the ease of deducing next weeks Powerball numbers.

Sherwood-Megan Shields 13, Snyder 6, Griffin 9, Francis 3, Hendryx 2, Meserve 0, Long 11, Shelton 6, Visser 4.

Century-Sade Elliott 17, Green 3, Burns 4, Gibbs-Brown 12, Pingleton 7, Peterson 2, James 1, Newman, Ottum, O'Connor.