The top-ranked Garfield Bulldogs got their revenge. But it came two years late and in a fairly meaningless boys basketball game.
The Bulldogs beat up the sixth-ranked Federal Way Eagles Saturday night in the nightcap of the Washington Hoop Challenge at Bellevue College, 63-48. The game was a rematch of the 2009 Class 4A State Championship game inside the Tacoma Dome, which the Eagles won. Federal Way didn’t have a player on its roster that played in the state title game two seasons ago.
Garfield, on the other hand, still features Tony Wroten Jr., who was the most valuable player of the 2009 state tournament. The University of Washington-bound guard finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds Saturday to lead the unbeaten Bulldogs.
The game, however, was a lot closer than the final score. The Eagles started the game with a 7-2 lead before Garfield fought back to tie the score at 12-12 at the end of the first quarter. By the half, Garfield had extended its lead to 32-25.
The Bulldogs continued to roll during the third quarter, building to lead to as many as 13 points. Federal Way made a run to cut the lead to six points with 2:37 to play, but Wroten converted a pair of layups to extend the lead back to 10 points.
Deshea Bell was the only Eagle in double figures Saturday night. The Kennedy Catholic transfer finished with 18 points to lead Federal Way. It was Bell’s first game of the season after a back injury kept him out.
Senior guards Jerry Duckworth and Napa Mefi both finished with nine points each.
The game against the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs will be immediately followed by a South Puget Sound League South Division game Tuesday against the second-ranked Curtis Vikings for Federal Way.
In other boys basketball action:
Decatur — The Gators (3-2) continued their brutally tough preseason schedule with two more non-league games last week. Decatur blew out North Thurston Thursday night at home, 80-50, but couldn’t get anything going offensively Saturday in a 48-23 loss to Mercer Island at the Les Schwab Preview at Highline Community College.
In a battle between two of the best Class 3A schools in the state, Mercer Island jumped all over the Gators. The Islanders outscored Decatur 21-8 in the the first quarter and their defense was too tough the rest of the way.
The Gators got 17 points from Portland State-bound guard Jerron Smith, but the rest of his team combined for six points. Decatur scored single-digit points in all four quarters.
It was a different story against North Kitsap Thursday. The Gators had eight players score, including four in double figures. Smith led Decatur with 25 points, Austen Wilson finished with 19, Dom Hunter had 13 and Abraham Logan-Ferrell chipped in 10.
Jefferson — The Raiders (2-4 overall) dropped a pair of SPSL North Division games to two ranked teams. Kentwood dropped TJ Thursday night, 67-55, and Auburn beat the Raiders Saturday, 77-68.
Against sixth-ranked Kentwood, TJ got 18 points from Deontae Davis, 12 from Danny Park and 10 from Alex Merced. The Conks led 38-27 at halftime, but the Raiders cut the lead to seven entering the fourth.
Jefferson also played the Trojans tough, but third-ranked Auburn outscored TJ 21-15 in the fourth quarter to pull away for the win. The Raiders were led by 14 points each from Chase Braxmeyer and Park and 13 points from Davis.
Beamer — The Titans (1-3) were beaten up by second-ranked Curtis Saturday night, 83-57. No other details about the game were reported.
Girls basketball
Jefferson — The Raiders dropped their first game of the season Thursday night to the Kentwood Conquerors, 63-21.
Kentwood jumped out to a 21-3 lead after the first quarter and led 39-8 at halftime. Jefferson (3-1) was led by the eight points of Christy Kullberg.
Beamer — The Todd Beamer Titans split a pair of games late last week. The Titans (2-2) beat Curtis Saturday night, 52-36, but lost to the Bethel Braves Thursday, 45-43.
Against Curtis, the Titans used an impressive 21-9 third-quarter spurt to down the Vikings. Beamer was led by the 16 points of Meghan Graf and also got 13 from Shyla Akins.
The Titans came close Thursday against Bethel, but couldn’t get past the Braves. Beamer trailed by eight points entering the fourth quarter. The Titans were led by the 18 points of Akins and got 10 from Graf.
Wrestling
Decatur — The Gators dominated their tournament Saturday, winning the 15-team Decatur Invitational in Federal Way. The Gators racked up 236 team points to finish ahead of second-place Tacoma Baptist (166).
Decatur also ended up with five individual weight-class champions in Trysten Dawson (103 pounds), Tyler Phelps (119), Rad Krysa (125), Nick Karis (160) and Rowland Gaydosh (171).
Dawson, Phelps, Karis and Gaydosh all won by pins in their championship finals, including a 38-second fall by Dawson over Skyline’s Joseph Demateo. Krysa won a hard-fought, 5-4 decision over Evergreen’s Moises Torres in the 125-pound final.
Federal Way — The Eagles had three finalists during the 15-team George Wilfong Classic at Puyallup High School Saturday. The Eagles’ 160-pounder, Joseph Coronell was the lone champion. Coronell beat a Marysville-Pilchuck wrestler in the final, 10-2.
Jessy Leifi lost in the 285-pound championship and Langley Ngov lost in the 152-pound final.
Beamer — Defending state champion Ares Carpio won an impressive title at the Battle at the Border Saturday at Blaine High School. Carpio beat a Steilacoom wrestler in the 130-pound championship match, 7-4.
The Titans finished in fourth place in the 20-team tournament.
