After a frustrating loss in a non-league game Monday against Bellevue, Federal Way High School got back to winning ways Tuesday night on the road by defeating Todd Beamer High School 86-48.
Led by team captains Viont’e Daniels and Christian Jones, Federal Way (15-2) came out aggressive and pressured Todd Beamer (7-8) into some poor shots and critical turnovers. Offensively, Daniels had 23 points, all in the first three quarters, while Jones added another 20 points for the visiting Eagles.
Federal Way coach Jerome Collins was pleased with his team’s ability to move past the game against Bellevue the evening before.
“Our guys came out with some resiliency and tenacity; they came out with some passion,” Collins said. “We came out with some pride tonight, the kids established themselves right away, played really unified and I’m just proud of all of them.”
Gio Jackson led the scoring for the home team, contributing for over half of the Beamer Titans’ scoring through three quarters before finishing with 18 points. The Federal Way high-tempo attack coupled with a pressure defense allowed for very few wide open looks during the game for Jackson. When Patrick Kennedy picked up his third foul in the first six minutes of the contest, the Beamer bench was tested for depth early as he had to sit for a long stretch of the first half.
Titans coach Winston Bell stressed the importance of an aggressive defense to his players early in the game from the sideline, as the start for both teams was fast and slightly reckless. The first few possessions for each team were sloppy and it took each offense a couple of minutes to settle into the game. Federal Way used their ability to find open shooters first to get the early lead and never looked back.
Ferron Flavors, scoring 15 points, hit five 3-pointers in the game, a few of them coming at the end of a sequence of passes that Beamer just couldn’t stop.
Widely regarded as a top five basketball team in the state’s 4A classification, Federal Way came in with a business-like approach and left people no reason to doubt their ranking among Washington’s elite basketball programs.
By the end of the first quarter, Federal Way had punished the lackluster attack of the Titans and gotten out to a 31-11 lead before extending it to 54-26 by halftime, silencing the home crowd for the most part. With the outcome not in doubt in the second half, many of the starters for both teams sat out the final minutes of the game.
Both teams played again after the Mirror’s deadline on Thursday night, with Federal Way taking their undefeated league record of 8-0 and returning home to host last place Decatur (3-12, 0-7 in league). Beamer (4-5 in league) traveled to play at Kentlake (10-5, 3-4 in league).
