Federal Way impresses on both ends in 4A state tournament win over Battle Ground, 78-57
Federal Way put on a clinic on both ends of the floor in its Class 4A state tournament opening-round game against Battle Ground, winning 78-57 and controlling the action from the tip.
“We share the ball,” said Federal Way senior guard Jaylen-Wes Williams, who scored a team-high 18 points in the win. “When everyone is touching it, one through five, we’re all just sharing and looking good.”
Federal Way (24-5), seeded No. 5, could be flying under the radar a bit this season. While the Eagles don’t have the star power as they did in years past, Yattah Reed’s squad has the talent to play with anyone, with a deep and athletic roster stacked with players who can score.
“We came back senior year and had to make a statement,” Williams said. “A lot of people were underdogging us because of the losses we had in the season. We came in, made a big impact with all five seniors, one through twelve.”
Federal Way shot 57.1% (28-49) from the field in the win and 52.2% (12-23) from 3-point range in the win. Peter Erickson had 15 points, Jared Franklin added 12 amd Bradley Graham added 12.
“We continue to practice, ‘team, team, team,’ so that it will lead to games like this,” Reed said. “We trust in one another. The more we share the ball after watching film, they notice the plus and minuses when the ball is being swung, sometimes they don’t notice it until they see it themselves.”
Federal Way knew 6-foot-9 Battle Ground center Kaden Perry was going to get his points. The Gonzaga commit scored 26 points and hauled in 16 points in the loss.
“Battle Ground is tough,” Reed said. “We don’t see too many 6-9, super athletic, strong guys like that too often. But we just wanted to make it an up-tempo game, see if we can just tire them out. I thought our guys, one through twelve, did a good job just sticking to the gameplan versus Battleground. We didn’t want to make it a half-court game with the big fella.”
A matchup with No. 3 Mount Si awaits Federal Way in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
“We know their two stars, we know what we have to do,” Williams said. “And we just start off with what we know best, which is defense.”
