The Tacoma Dome has become the Federal Way Eagles’ second home. For the third-straight year, the Eagles will play inside the Tacoma Dome at the 2011 Class 4A State Girls Basketball Tournament.

Federal Way (24-2) earned that right Friday with a 67-58 win over the Bellarmine Prep Lions in the opening round of the state tournament at Rogers High School. The third-ranked Eagles will be one of eight teams in Tacoma starting Thursday. The tournament runs through Saturday.

“We’ve learned a lot the last two times we’ve been to the Tacoma Dome,” said senior Talia Walton, who is heading to the University of Washington in the fall and the Eagles’ leading scorer. “Our goal this year has always been to go to the Tacoma Dome and win it there.”

It was junior Darah Huertas-Vining, and not Walton, who proved to be the difference-maker Friday against Bellarmine. The 5-foot-2 junior point guard scored a game-high 20 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind
the 3-point line. Huertas-Vining also added six rebounds, five assists and two steals.

“When Darah made her outside shots early and that gave her some confidence,” Graham said. “When she gets confidence, she doesn’t need a whole lot of space to shoot.”

The game looked like it might end in a Federal Way blowout early. The Eagles cruised out to a 15-5 lead midway through the first quarter. But the Lions (20-4) were able to get back into the game during the first half after Walton and fellow four-year starter, Brittany Barrington, were sent to the bench with foul trouble.

Bellarmine’s Sarah Hartwell, who has already signed a letter of intent to play basketball next year at Xavier Univerisity, hit a pair of free throws with a little over a minute left in the first half to cut the Eagle lead to just 33-31. But Huertas-Vining buried a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to put Federal Way back on top by five points entering the locker room.

Walton, who was the South Puget Sound League South Division’s Most Valuable Player, finished the game with a season-low seven points and five rebounds in just 20 minutes of playing time. And Barrington, a hard-nosed guard, played just 17 minutes because of the foul trouble. She was able to score 11 points while on the floor.

“I’m just so proud of these girls,” Graham said. “They really play as a team. With Talia not playing well, the rest of our girls stepped up. There is not one star on our team.”

During the second half, Bellarmine Prep used solid defense and the scoring of Hartwell and Simonne Potts to tie the game at 53 early in the fourth quarter. But it was another unheralded senior for the Eagles who proved to be the difference. Tanji Ajeto tallied six of her nine points during a 1:37 stretch, which also included a layup by Huertas-Vining, to extend Federal Way’s lead to eight points, 61-53, with 5:44 left in the contest.

The Lions were only able to score two field goals during the fourth quarter Friday, thanks to a swarming Eagle defense. Bellarmine shot just 26 percent during the second half and were just 1 for 10 from 3-point range during the same stretch. Federal Way finished at 38 percent for the game and also outrebounded the Lions, 52-45.

Friday night’s win was the Eagles’ second over Bellarmine in the last week. Federal Way beat up the then No. 1-ranked Lions in the semifinals of the West Central/Southwest Bi-District Tournament, 70-54. The Eagle win started a three-game losing streak by Bellarmine.

“It was very exciting,” Walton said. “They actually came out hard against us. It’s hard to beat a team twice. This was a lot tougher game than the first time we played them.”

“They made some good adjustments,” Graham said. “They came out with an effort to be more physical with us. I knew they were a great team and they have a great coach over there. But we also know that there are no bad teams anymore and we have to play our best to win.”

Federal Way finished a surprising third place during the 2009 state tournament with basically five sophomore starters. Last year, with essentially the same team, the Eagles dropped their first two games inside the Tacoma Dome after entering the tournament as a potential state champion contender.

“We’ve learned a lot in the past,” said Walton. “We now know what it will take to win in the Tacoma Dome. Last year was a reality check for us.”