In the West Central District semifinal game against Lincoln, Federal Way High School boys basketball head coach Yattah Reed told his squad to throw the first punch.

The Federal Way Eagles didn’t and fell behind early — and eventually lost a nail biter, 57-56.

The Eagles prepared for a rematch in the state tournament inside the Tacoma Dome in the round of 12. A fast start was even more emphasis, but to the dismay of Reed, Lincoln punched first and forced Federal Way to catch up.

“I was stressing with them that we need to make the first punch. I told them if we don’t, we are going to be in the same spot we were last time. Unfortunately, they threw the first punch again and we were playing catch-up ball all night,” Reed said.

At the end of the first quarter, Federal Way and Lincoln were level at 11 points a side. Brayden McVey had six points in the first quarter and was the engine that kept Federal Way moving all year.

“He probably got coached the hardest. I didn’t even see his stats, but tonight he had 20 (points) and 12 (rebounds). I told him, ‘I respect you,’” Reed said.

Since transferring from Thomas Jefferson High School, McVey has risen to one of the premier players in the NPSL.

“We ask a lot from him and he answers. He does it without complaining or anything like that,” said Reed.

McVey finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds in the loss, but his effort level never dropped, and neither did the Eagles’ effort for all 32 minutes.

“Not only does he meet our expectations, he went beyond it,” Reed said.

At halftime, Federal Way trailed 28-22 due to a 7-0 run from Lincoln in the waning moments of the second quarter. Out of the halftime break, Federal Way went on an 8-0 stretch to cut the Lincoln lead to three, 33-30.

“The message was not to panic, there was a lot of basketball left… Lincoln just answered and made plays,” Reed said.

But Lincoln found a way to keep Federal Way at bay and minimize the damage.

One area of struggle was beyond the arc. Federal Way went zero of 11 throughout the entire game, while Lincoln went 7 of 18.

In the fourth quarter, Federal Way again threatened the Abes, cutting the lead to two possessions. But a bucket to reel Lincoln all the way back escaped the Eagles in the quest for a comeback.

“It’s not that our guys were making plays on their own. They just didn’t want to lose the game. We just didn’t make the right decisions. I don’t want to say they are selfish or anything like that, but they wanted to win the game and understood what was at stake,” Reed said.

Federal Way would once again trim the Abes’ lead down to one possession with three minutes remaining, but could never get over the hump and put the pressure on the number three seeded Lincoln.

“It shows our resiliency, not just the basketball team, but the whole school. They’re not going to stop until the horn goes off. Unfortunately we were just on the other end tonight. But they had a great year,” Reed said.