TACOMA--There's no shame in losing a game.
That's especially the case when a team battles all of the season and postseason to get to the state championship game, when expectations were that it wouldn't be anywhere near. Not even the team expected to be there in the case of the Federal Way boys basketball team.
"We didn't expect to be where we are," said Federal Way head coach Jerome Collins. "We're young, but the kids played with a lot of heart and determination."
The Eagles are indeed on the young side, with a team that loses only three seniors while players expected back are three juniors, five sophomores and one freshman.
Federal Way finished with a 20-7 overall record adding in the three-day charge to get through the tournament to the final, plus the final itself.
The Eagles then fell short, 68-44, against a Ferris Saxons team from Spokane that finished 24-0 with the win.
Getting there was more than half the fun for Federal Way, as it won its state semifinal against cross-town rival Decatur in overtime, 69-60. That followed a tournament opening 63-58 win over the Franklin Quakers of Seattle and a 52-45 quarterfinal victory over the Lincoln Abes of Tacoma.
The championship was an anti-climactic event compared to the three games that led up to it, but the Eagles were there and on television.
Ferris jumped out of the gate quick, taking a 5-0 lead and stretching it to 10-2 after Aaron Broussard of Federal Way broke the string.
Isaiah Umipig put two on the board to make it 10-4, but the Saxons rang up seven more unanswered points before the Eagles' Jeff Forbes scored to make it 17-6 with 0.05 seconds to go.
Ferris then rang up leads of such distances as 24-8, 28-9 and 37-14 in the second quarter. The Saxons kept marching on to control the second half and win, but Broussard of the Eagles got the last points on a three-point shot with 29.5 seconds remaining.
Broussard led Federal Way with 12 points as Umipig and Andre Barrington scored nine each. Cole Dickerson added six, Forbes five and Montrel Walton three. Broussard also made the all-tournament team.
"They're a good group and they're young," said Collins of his team. "They represented the school, the district and the community well."
Ferris was led by the 18 points of DeAngelo Casto, 17 of Erick Cheadle, 15 of Jared Karstetter and 12 of Jeff Minnerly. Shawn Stockton hit four and Russell Hart two.
