As Federal Way High School point guard Marcus Stephens dribbled the ball up the floor with a minute left, and his Eagles down by six in the 4A league title game against Kentwood, Feb. 4, he desperately looked to coach Jerome Collins for an answer, some sort of explanation.
Collins couldn’t give him one, however. In fact, Collins couldn’t say anything at all.
With just 6.6 seconds left on the clock, the Conquerors were up by 10, and the Eagles, and their fans, knew the game, and the team’s 63-game winning streak, the longest in the nation, was over. Behind a boisterous Kentwood crowd, the Conks achieved the upset of the year, downing Federal Way 69-59 and claiming the 4A North Puget Sound League title at Auburn Riverside High School.
It was the Eagles’ first defeat since their non-league loss to Bellevue back on Jan. 19, 2015.
After seeing the look of uncertainty on the face of his players, the longtime Federal Way coach (20-1) called timeout. After the game, Collins said, given the situation and the deficit the Eagles were facing, it was the only thing he could think to do at the time.
“I purposely called timeout,” Collins said. “There wasn’t any time left, but I needed to calm the guys down.
“If it had to happen, I guess you want it now — but I don’t like to lose, I just flat out don’t like to lose. But we can’t go back and do anything about it now. We need to move forward and look to improve.”
The win for Kentwood unfolded like a movie straight out of Hollywood.
The featured stars were Conks guards Koby Huerta and D’Angelo Minnis. As Federal Way began to find its way in the third quarter, building a 6-0 run and a 51-46 lead with six minutes left to play, Huerta sat open on the right wing.
Kentwood big man Beau Roggenbach had the ball in the post, looked up, found the open Huerta with a near-perfect pass, and the senior guard knocked down the critical 3-pointer to cut the Eagles’ lead to 51-49.
Two minutes later it was Minnis’ turn.
After Kentwood tied Federal Way at 53, Minnis put the Conks on his back and took over the game. Two minutes after Huerta’s three, Minnis dribbled the ball up the left side of the floor with Stephens right on his hip.
Minnis took one look at the basket, rose up and sank the deep, contested 3-pointer to give Kentwood the 56-53 lead with 3:12 left.
“They’re good. They are physical,” Collins said. “They are certainly the most physical team we’ve played, not just on the inside. They lock down on the perimeter, and that was a factor down the stretch.”
The Eagles cut their deficit to 58-55 with just over a minute to play, but Minnis put this made-for-TV game into post production when he took another contested 3-pointer, this time from way beyond the line.
Splash.
Game over. Streak over, as Kentwood avenged last year’s state-championship loss to the Eagles.
After the tough defeat, Collins took a moment to reflect on Federal Way’s historic accomplishment.
“Looking back on it now, and even before tonight, it’s a tremendous accomplishment, particularly in the game of basketball,” Collins said. “It’s a game of rhythm. Somebody can be on, and you can be off, and any number of things can occur, so the accomplishment to me, beginning with Viont’e (Daniels’) team and last year’s team and the back-to-back titles, it’s a great accomplishment. It’s in the history books.”
With both the loss and the history behind them, Collins found the answer to what’s next for the Eagles.
“Now that part is over, and we have to move on to the next game,” he said.
The Federal Way girls also picked up a loss during the sub-district game, falling to Hazen, 48-32, Feb. 3. Despite the loss, the Eagles advanced to a play-in game against Union, Feb. 8. The Titans beat Federal Way 55-22 to advance to the next round.
Todd Beamer
The Todd Beamer Titans girls had a rough league tournament outing, too. The Titans (18-6) fell to Kentridge, 54-48, Feb. 4. Beamer led going into the fourth quarter but was outscored by the Falcons, 11-5, in the final three minutes of the game. Senior point guard Japhera McEachin led the Titans with a team-high 16 points, four rebounds and three steals.
The Todd Beamer boys also lost a tough game, Feb. 3, falling to Kentridge, 69-43. Senior point guard Stef’fun Singleton poured in 23 points to lead the Titans in the loss. Beamer had little time to recover as it played its one-game knockout playoff game Feb. 8 against Camas at Olympia High School. The Titans fell to the Papermakers 67-50, bringing an end to their season.
Decatur
The Decatur Golden Gator boys played a first-round knockout game against Tahoma, Feb. 3 with the winner advancing to take on Auburn Riverside the next day. The Bears knocked out Decatur, 70-62, ending the Gators’ season, and Tahoma went on to fall to the Ravens.
Thomas Jefferson
The Thomas Jefferson Raiders boys fell to the Kentwood Conquerors, 39-36, Feb. 2, in their district tournament knockout game, ending their season.
