Federal Way girls blow away Jefferson at districts, 80-30

To say the Federal Way girls basketball team started fast Wednesday night in a West Central District Tournament first-round game against cross-district rival Jefferson would not do the Eagles justice.

In the first quarter alone, the Eagles (19-4) had runs of 10-0 and 14-0 against the overmatched Raiders (14-7) and eventually finished the eight-minute quarter with a commanding 30-6 lead. Federal Way cruised in the final three quarters to rout Jefferson, 80-30, inside the Eagles’ home gym. The opening-round win moved eighth-ranked Federal Way one game closer to qualifying for the school’s first Class 4A state tournament since 1998.

The Eagles will take on the seventh-ranked Bellarmine Prep Lions at 8 p.m. at Mount Tahoma High School Friday night in a rematch of a non-league game from earlier this season. The Narrows League champion Lions (18-3) beat Federal Way, 55-52, on Dec. 27.

The winner Friday night will earn an automatic berth into the state tournament, as well as a berth into one of the district semifinal games Tuesday at Puyallup High School. The Bellarmine-Federal Way loser will play a loser-out game Tuesday at Foss.

The loss earlier in the season to Bellarmine was somewhat of a turning point in the season for the Eagles. The loss dropped Federal Way to 4-3 and since then, the Eagles have won 15 of their last 16 games. Their only loss was to No. 2-ranked Kentwood, 76-64.

There was never a doubt against TJ Wednesday night. The Eagles used a suffocating full-court press that caused too many Raider turnovers to count. Federal Way then turned those turnovers into easy baskets.

The Eagles were led by the 21 points of sophomore Brittany Barrington, 16 from sophomore TyShana Burgess and 14 from freshman Darah Huertas-Vining. In fact, Federal Way’s five leading scorers Wednesday night were either sophomores or freshmen.

Jefferson senior Stacy Albrecht was the only Raider to score in double figures with 11 points. The Raiders took on Kentlake last night (after press time) in a loser-out game at Auburn High School.

The Eagles jumped out to a 10-0 lead before the Raiders tallied their first points of the game. Federal Way then extended the lead to 32-6, just 30 seconds into the second quarter. The Eagles continued to pour it on in the second and third quarters to take a 50-19 lead at halftime and a 70-23 lead after the third.

Wednesday night’s Federal Way victory was the third of the season over Jefferson. The Eagles swept the Raiders in their regular season meetings, beating TJ, 55-43 on Jan. 8 and 64-55 on Jan. 29.

The 16-team, double-elimination West Central District Tournament will be played through Feb. 28 with the championship game being played at Puyallup High School. The top-six finishers will advance to the Class 4A State Girls Basketball Tournament, which will be played March 4-7 inside the Tacoma Dome.

Girls Class 4A West Central District Tournament

Friday, Feb. 20

GAME 9: Graham-Kapowsin vs. Auburn Riverside, 6 p.m., Mount Tahoma High

GAME 10: Federal Way vs. Bellarmine Prep, 8 p.m., Mount Tahoma High

GAME 11: Mount Tahoma vs. Rogers, 6 p.m., Puyallup High

GAME 12: Puyallup vs. Kentwood, 8 p.m., Puyallup High

GAME 13: Shelton vs. South Kitsap, 6 p.m., Auburn High

GAME 14: Jefferson vs. Kentlake, 8 p.m., Auburn High

GAME 15: Emerald Ridge vs. Olympia, 6 p.m., Foss High

GAME 16: Gig Harbor vs. Bethel, 8 p.m., Foss High

Tuesday, Feb. 24

GAME 17: Winner 9 vs. Winner 10, 6 p.m., Puyallup High