TACOMA — From an objective point of view, Federal Way could not have played much better in its opening game of the Class 4A boys basketball tournament early Thursday at the Tacoma Dome.
The fourth-seeded Eagles held No. 6 Skyline at arm’s length all game en route to a 69-53 quarterfinal victory.
They were relentless with their full-court pressure.
They shared the ball.
They owned a decisive rebounding edge.
And they shot well. Extremely well.
It was the sort of complete performance that could portend good things for a Federal Way team that has designs on a championship run here this weekend.
And yet, ask coach Yattah Reed, and he’s quick to tell you, nope, it wasn’t good enough.
“We could’ve played better,” he said flatly.
And they’ll probably need to Friday afternoon in a semifinal showdown against No. 1 Curtis, which cruised past No. 10 Camas in the second quarterfinal game Thursday.
But if the Eagles (23-2) play like they did against Skyline, they’ll be a tough out for anyone.
Senior forward Dace Pleasant led a balanced scoring attack for Federal Way with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Senior forward Vaughn Weems had 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, with eight rebounds and seven assists.
Seniors Dane Lewis (12) and Colton West (11) also scored in double figures for Federal Way, which shot 52% and had 17 assists on its 25 field goals. The Eagles had a 33-18 rebounding advantage.
Most impressively, Federal Way shot 48% (10 for 21) from three-point range against Skyline’s 2-3 zone defense.
“We can make a very long run in this tournament if we keep shooting the way we’ve been shooting,” Weems said.
With a 9 a.m. start, both teams were sluggish early. Federal Way led 10-7 after the first quarter, but the Eagles turned it on in the second quarter to take control.
Pleasant hit a three-pointer from the top of the key and West followed with a three from the left corner to extend the Eagles’ lead to 16 points, and Weems added a layup in the final seconds to give Federal Way a 35-17 halftime lead.
Skyline pulled with 11 midway through the third quarter. Reed called a timeout and the Eagles responded with an 11-0 run over the next two minutes to take a 53-31 lead.
Nahmier Robinson led Skyline with 15 points and Trey Crandall added 13.
With eight seniors playing together for the final time this weekend, the Eagles said they’re motivated by a sour experience at state last year, when they were blown out by Gonzaga Prep and eliminated after only one game.
“I think they learned a lot from that experience,” Reed said. “We were one-and-done last year and that stuck with them.”
The Eagles enacted some revenge last week when they beat Gonzaga Prep, 69-56, in a state regional game.
Now they want more.
“Man, our confidence is as high as it can get right now,” senior Isaiah Afework said. “I trust all my teammates and we’ve been working hard.”