The T-shirts being worn by members of the Federal Way High School student section say it all — “We heart haters.” — referring to people doubting the sixth-ranked team could vault into the Class 4A State Girls Basketball Tournament semifinals.
The Eagles took those words on the T-shirts to heart during their first two games inside the Tacoma Dome Wednesday and Thursday. Federal Way beat up the defending three-time state champion Lewis & Clark Tigers, 61-48, in their opener Wednesday and continued their roll Thursday with a 54-38 win over the Issaquah Eagles in the quarterfinals.
Against Issaquah, the Eagles (23-5) got another big night from point guard Darah Huertas-Vining. The freshman led Federal Way with 15 points and sophomores Brittany Barrington and TyShana Burgess each tallied 11 points.
The win earned the Eagles a semifinal berth where they will play South Puget Sound League North Division foe Kentwood at 8:30 p.m. Friday. The No. 2-ranked Conquerors beat previously-unbeaten Pasco Thursday.
Kentwood beat Federal way twice during the SPSL North regular season, both by double digits.
Issaquah (18-7) took control of the game early, building a 6-3 lead. But the Eagles scored the next 10 points to take the lead for good. Senior Jacqie Evenson started the run with a 3-pointer and Huertas-Vining ended it with a floater in the lane.
Federal Way, led by the 10 first-half points of Huertas-Vining, took a 25-16 lead into the locker room. The Eagles built the lead up to 37-21 midway through the third quarter and cruised in fourth.
Federal Way 61, Lewis & Clark 48 (Wednesday)
Federal Way dominated the defending three-time state champs, 61-44, in their first tournament appearance in 11 years Wednesday night.
The Tigers entered the game against the Eagles on a 13-game winning streak at the Class 4A state tournament, including a state-record three titles in a row (2006-08).
“We knew they were the defending three-time champ, but we knew what kind of competition we played all year long,” Evenson said. “People didn’t think we could win, but we knew that we could. We believe we can win every game.”
“Everybody was telling us that we got a bad draw, even teachers at school,” Graham said. “That was getting a little irritating and we didn’t let that bother us.”
The Eagles jumped all over Lewis and Clark and proved to be the better team from the opening tip. Federal Way led 13-3 after a Talia Walton jumper with 1:02 left in the first quarter and cruised to a 31-19 lead at halftime.
The Eagles used a 9-0 run in the second quarter, highlighted by 3-pointers from Evenson and Huertas-Vining.
Things got a little dicey for Federal Way during the third quarter, when Lewis and Clark used a 10-0 run to cut the Eagle lead to two points, 33-31, with 1:52 left in the period. But Federal Way responded with its own 13-4 run to push the lead back to 14 points, 49-35, midway through the fourth quarter.
“We just needed to play defense and block out,” Barrington said. “Coach told us to just keep our composure. We knew they were going to make a run.”
And defense was the difference for the Eagles Wednesday night. Federal Way forced the usually-surehanded Tigers into 23 turnovers and limited Lewis and Clark to just 25 percent shooting from the field (14 of 56).
Sophomore 6-footer Burgess led Federal Way with 15 points and eight rebounds. Huertas-Vining added 13 and Walton finished with 10.
“There were a lot of excuses we could have made before this game,” Graham said. “But we didn’t talk about how great they are. But beating the three-time champs, that’s pretty special. This is a huge win for our program.”
