‘They just find ways to win the game.’ Curtis tests Federal Way, yet Eagles still win bidistrict title
Federal Way High School boys basketball will enter the Class 4A state regionals next weekend without a loss to an in-state team this season.
Saturday night in Puyallup, the Eagles held off a surging Curtis team to cap the 4A West Central/Southwest bidistrict tournament with a 73-67 win.
Despite foul trouble and a minor injury that kept him out for several minutes in the first half, five-star forward Jaden McDaniels — considered the No. 5 player in the country in the 2019 class — poured in a team-high 28 points and pulled down five rebounds and recorded three blocks to pace the Eagles.
McDaniels and standout junior forward Tari Eason, who pitched in 14 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks, each fouled out to end a long tournament littered with foul trouble, but Federal Way (23-2) still came away with the bidistrict title.
“They just find ways to win the game. They’re resilient,” Federal Way coach Yattah Reed said. “We knew what we were going up against with Curtis. It’s nothing new. His team plays hard, they’re well-coached, and we just had to weather the storm and not panic.
“These last three games have all been similar. We’re accustomed to it. And I think our non-league schedule prepped us for games like this.”
Federal Way’s only two losses this season have come to nationally-ranked opponents in Rancho Christian (ranked 14th by Maxpreps) and Ranney (20th). The Eagles are currently ranked 21st.
Many of the 19 games Federal Way, which effortlessly won this year’s 4A NPSL title, has played in Washington this season have turned into early blowouts, but Saturday’s title game — a seven-point win — is the closest an in-state team has played the Eagles so far.
“It was really big. It was a big goal for us,” McDaniels said of Federal Way’s bidistrict title win. “For us, it’s a pretty big deal. We still have more to work on, but every day we just get better at practice and prepare for the (Tacoma) Dome.”
Curtis, the 4A SPSL champion, and its league opponent Puyallup — which lost to the Eagles in the quarterfinals by nine points Wednesday — are the only two teams in Washington to play Federal Way to single digits.
But, Curtis coach Tim Kelly said the Vikings didn’t enter Saturday’s final with the intent of just avoiding a big loss to a state powerhouse.
“We came to win today,” he said. “We didn’t come to be close, and we didn’t come to hang around. We came to win.”
And, while the Vikings (19-5) trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, they closed the gap several times, and had chances in the final two quarters to capitalize.
“We have the matchups, we just need the confidence,” said Seattle Pacific signee Zack Paulsen, who scored a game-high 33 points and pulled down nine rebounds for the Vikings.
“We didn’t come out with the confidence we should have until the second half, when we started coming back. I’m confident if we get to play them again.”
Paulsen noted the growth Curtis has shown throughout the second half of the season. After an untimely loss to league rival Sumner, the Vikings were on an eight-game winning streak entering Saturday.
“We can beat anybody,” he said. “We have the potential to beat anybody on any given day. … We just want to play, and whoever is in front of us, we’re going to go at them.”
“We had chances,” Kelly said. “We didn’t do enough things correct to beat good teams. If it’s not Federal Way, it’s Union, Gonzaga Prep — it’s anybody else we could play in the regional. We have to do things much better.”
Bradley Graham (11 points) and Jishai Miller (10) also finished in double figures scoring for Federal Way, while Jordan Parker added 11 points for the Vikings.
Both Curtis and Federal Way will enter the state regionals in the top eight in 4A in the WIAA’s RPI rankings, meaning both are guaranteed a trip to the Tacoma Dome.
Reed said he believes this tournament is one of the toughest the state has, but knows even tougher competition is still ahead.
“There’s a reason why they’re in the playoffs. They’re good,” he said. “Our district is one of the toughest districts.
“Yes, we have played some of the toughest teams, but there are still more great teams out there that we might have to face.”
McDaniels — who played on two Federal Way teams that lost in the bidistrict final in 2018 and 2017 — sees this win as the next step toward the Eagles’ biggest goal.
The Eagles last won a bidistrict title in 2016, when they upended Curtis in the final.
“It was one goal we had to win the West Central District, now the next goal is to win a state championship, so we’re just taking it a game at a time,” he said.
“It’s always good to end with a win going into regionals,” Reed said. “It builds our confidence, and based off of this game, we know what we have to work on. It was a tough game. Coach Kelly does a great job with his guys. It felt like state to me.”
CURTIS | 8 | 15 | 18 | 26 | — | 67 |
FEDERAL WAY | 18 | 16 | 15 | 24 | — | 73 |
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
C – Bryce Parker 2, Zack Paulsen 33, Jared Franklin 7, Jordan Parker 11, Solomon McGinnis 6, Isaac Morrow 8.
FW – Jaylen-Wes Williams 2, Jishai Miller 10, Jaden McDaniels 28, Jalen Womack 8, Bradley Graham 11, Tari Eason 14.
This story was originally published February 17, 2019 at 12:37 AM.
