3 takeaways from Federal Way’s 52-45 win over Puyallup in T-Town Throwdown
The Federal Way High School boys basketball team defeated Puyallup on Friday night in the T-Town Throwdown holiday tournament, hosted by Wilson High, 52-45 to advance to Saturday night’s tournament championship game. Here are a few observations from the Eagles’ win.
Federal Way climbs out of an early hole
It was a less than ideal start for Federal Way, with Puyallup jumping out to a 14-0 lead to start the game and Federal Way’s outside shots missing the mark against the Vikings’ 2-3 zone. Federal Way’s fortunes changed in a hurry, however, with the Eagles finishing the half on a 26-5 run to take a 26-19 lead into the halftime break.
“We had to be disciplined and focused on what we knew our gameplan was,” said Federal Way forward Peter Erickson. “We got off task a little bit. We stuck with it, got our defensive stops. We came back and won. We have a lot of work to do.”
Federal Way coach Yattah Reed called a timeout during Puyallup’s early run. He emphasized with his team attacking the soft spots of the zone instead of settling exclusively for outside shots. But mostly, he wanted the intensity on the defensive end to increase exponentially.
“I’m always telling them that your offense shouldn’t dictate how you play,” Reed said. “It should be your defense. That’s why it’s called offense — there’s going to be days you’re going to be off. But your defense should be on. … There are four quarters, it’s a long game. We tried not to panic or fold.”
Peter Erickson showed his ability inside and out
Erickson, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, scored a team-high 16 points, hitting four 3-pointers along the way for the Eagles and scoring off the dribble and around the rim, also. That outside shooting was instrumental in stretching Puyallup’s zone and helped open things open for the Eagles to penetrate into the key.
“When you have Peter hitting shots like that and bringing us back, it stretches the defense out and the zone out and opens up the areas that we’re trying to attack,” Reed said. “In the beginning, we weren’t hitting shots so the zone was pretty compact. When we started hitting shots, it extended it out a little bit more.”
Jared Franklin and Bradley Graham scored 10 points apiece for the Eagles, Marcus Cole scored nine, Jaylen-Wes Williams scored five and Dace Pleasant scored two.
That matchup can only help Puyallup in the 4A SPSL
It’s hard to look at the non-league loss as anything but a positive for the Vikings. Puyallup hung with one of the state’s top teams — which is likely the toughest team Puyallup will face until the postseason rolls around.
The loss doesn’t count toward Puyallup’s league standings in the 4A SPSL and should have the Vikings feeling confident in contending for the league title.
Junior guard Cobi Campbell had another strong game for the second consecutive day, scoring a game-high 22 points in the win. Freshman guard Taki Uluilakepa scored 10 for the Vikings and junior Luke Holcomb — also Puyallup’s quarterback on the football team — had nine points in the loss.
Campbell is the best player on the Vikings’ roster, but Holcomb could be a major factor down the stretch. He has a good handle, moves well for his size and is stronger than most defenders matched up on him. Expect the 6-foot-4 junior to be a constant threat attacking the rim the rest of the way for the Viks and opening looks for Campbell and Uluilakepa on the perimeter.
