Federal Way boys basketball players couldn’t get off the court fast enough.

As players hurried off the floor to avoid watching the Kentwood Conquerors celebrate their 77-59 win on Feb. 18 in the 4A West Central/Southwest bidistrict title game at Puyallup High, the looks on their faces said it all.

Their defense failed them.

The full-court diamond press they used to suffocate 14 league opponents in the regular season was absent. The zone defense they flirted with throughout the season and the league tournament never showed. And the man-to-man coverage it used in an attempt to get even with Kentwood after the Conks’ 12-point win on Feb. 4 in the league tournament finals just wasn’t good enough.

“For whatever reason, we were flat,” Federal Way coach Jerome Collins said. “We were lethargic. We were a step behind, and we just couldn’t get it going.”

The Eagles (23-2) succeed when their defensive rotation forces turnovers, but it was Kentwood (23-2) causing all the havoc on the defensive end. Through the first quarter, the Conquerors forced six Federal Way turnovers, which resulted in a 24-10 lead.

Kentwood guards Ravaughn Bolton and Koby Huerta led the Conks with a combined 29 points.

This time around, everything about Kentwood was different.

When the two teams met in the finals of the league tournament, the Conks appeared surprised that their zone defense and kamikaze-style offense proved to be too much for the Eagles. In the district title game, a confident Kentwood team took the floor for the full 32 minutes.

“They beat us in every phase of the game,” Collins said. “I was happy with the way we kept fighting. We just couldn’t overcome such a huge margin.”

It was Bolton who gave plenty of the beating.

The ball was in his hands with six seconds remaining in the first half. He confidently heaved up a 3-pointer as time expired. Bolton’s shot, as they had all night, went in, and the Conks led the Eagles 52-25 at the half.

In the first meeting between the two teams, Federal Way big men Malcolm Cola and Etan Collins had free will in the paint. Not this time.

Kentwood adjusted and took another step with its defense. Every time the Eagles went inside, the Conks went to a mini-trap defense, converging two, sometimes three defenders on Cola and Etan Collins.

For a second straight game, it was Federal Way point guard Marcus Stephens leading the team in scoring despite not scoring in the first half. He finished with 18 points and a steal.

“Like I said, we just seemed to be a step behind,” Jerome Collins said. “I mean, they were on ball screens. We didn’t execute, show recover well enough. We did not talk, didn’t rotate. They ran on us and hit open shots.”

The Eagles’ deficit grew to 69-38 at the end of the third quarter. The deficit also raised a historic question about Federal Way basketball: Can anyone remember the last time a Jerome Collins program had to come back from a 29-point deficit?

He certainly couldn’t remember.

“No, I don’t, I was just trying to think,” Jerome Collins laughed. “I don’t know, God.”

He said it had to be the 2002-03 season the last time Federal Way trailed by a margin that large.

Federal Way now heads into the regional round of the state playoffs this weekend after losing two of its last three games.

Both of those losses are to Kentwood, and because of the new RPI system, the two will face off again at 6 p.m. Saturday in a winner to quarterfinal, loser to first-round game at Puyallup High. Federal Way is pursuing a third consecutive state championship.

Once the final buzzer sounded, Feb. 18, the Eagles hurried back to the safety of their locker room both dazed and confused. They wanted no part in witnessing the Conquerors pose with their district title or watch them cut down the net one player at a time.

While they couldn’t get off the court fast enough last week, Jerome Collins is leading them in the opposite direction. He’s putting them back on the floor right away.

“We’ve got to take a look in the mirror,” he said. “It starts with matching another team’s intensity. We’ll be back on the floor immediately and get ready for what’s ahead.”