By Gerardo Bolong
SPECIAL TO WESTSIDE SEATTLE
TACOMA -Fifth-seeded Federal Way won battles on all fronts to defeat No. 12 Battle Ground 78-57 at the Tacoma Dome on Wed., March 4, to advance to the Elite Eight of the 2020 4A Boys Basketball Hardwood Classic.
Federal Way (24-5) moved on to face third-seeder Mt. Si (23-4) in a Thurs., March 5, game at 7:15 p.m.
”It was a good start,” said Eagle Head coach Yattah Reed. “There’s still a few things to work on, but overall, I’m proud of the effort and energy. We played good team defense and wanted to set the tempo.”
Using a balanced attack combined with energy, defensive sharpness, and sharing, the Eagles set the pace early with transition baskets and just kept the flow consistent.
The second quarter featured a 17-6 scoring run that brought the FW lead to 31-16 as the rest of the game brought more of the same trends.
The Eagles led by 62-30 amidst a plethora of reserves seeing action at one point.
”We share the ball,” said Jaylen Wes-Williams who had a trio of three-pointers as part of his team high 18 points along with four assists and two steals. “When we share the ball, when everybody’s touching it, one through five, we’re all just sharing and we all look good.”
Federal Way shot 53.6 percent in the first half on the way to a 61.9 percent in the second half. Battle Ground (15-11) ended its season on 28 percent first half shooting and 45.2 percent in the second half.
Peter Erickson made all three of his shots from beyond the three-arc as part of his 13 first half points and 15 in total. Jared Franklin and Bradley Graham notched 12 points apiece.
The Eagles never let 6-foot, 9-inch Battle Ground post player Kaden Perry dominate, although he finished with 26 points with 16 rebounds and three blocked shots, most after the game was decided.
”We didn’t try to stop him,” said Reed. “We just tried to make it difficult for him.”
Brendan Beall added 13 Tiger points.
Players for Federal Way are Jaylen-Wes Williams, Peter Erickson, Marcus Cole, Jared Franklin, Javan Colombelli-Silva, Bradley Graham, Isaiah Afework, Jaden Call, Lamar Johnson, Drelyn Decuire, Darius Williams and Dace Pleasant.
Assisting coach Reed are Quinn Gillis, Malik Montoya, Doug Sloane and Dennis Johnson.
