By CASEY OLSON, The Mirror
State will have to wait for the Jefferson and Federal Way girls basketball teams. Both the Raiders and Eagles dropped winner-to-state games Saturday night and will now have to fight their way through the loser’s bracket of the West Central District Tournament to earn a berth into the Class 4A State Girls Basketball Championships.
Jefferson was pounded by the eighth-ranked Mount Tahoma Thunderbirds, 81-48, in the district quarterfinals and Federal Way blew a two-point lead in the fourth quarter against ninth-ranked Bellarmine Prep to lose, 56-49.
The Raiders (16-9) will take on Rogers in a loser-out game at 6 p.m. Feb. 20 at Foss High School. The Eagles will play Kentlake at 8 p.m. Feb. 20 at Mount Tahoma. Both teams will have to win two games in a row to qualify for state.
Jefferson just couldn’t contain the 3-point shooting of Mount Tahoma Saturday night. The Thunderbirds (20-4) hit 13 threes, including five during a 28-point second quarter. Mount Tahoma led 45-18 at halftime.
Federal Way (18-5) had its chances against Bellarmine Prep Saturday night. The Eagles held a two-point advantage entering the fourth quarter, but couldn’t hold on at Puyallup High School. Federal Way outscored Bellarmine, 17-8, during the third quarter.
The Eagles were led by the 19 points of freshman guard Brittany Barrington and fellow ninth-grader Talia Walton chipped in 12.
Boys basketball
A berth into the boys state tournament will also have to wait for the Decatur Gators. The third-ranked Bellarmine Prep Lions (21-2) clinched a state berth with a 66-62 win Friday night in the West Central District quarterfinals at Mount Tahoma.
Decatur (18-6) led in the first half, before Bellarmine went on a 20-2 run. Marcus Tibbs led the Gators with 17 points and hit a 3-pointer to cut Bellarmine’s lead to 60-58 late. Avery Bradley scored 26 and Abdul Gaddy 24 for Bellarmine. Darious Walker scored 16 for Decatur, which faced Central Kitsap in a loser-out game last night. The winner of that game will face the winner of a game between North Kitsap and Gig Harbor at 8 p.m. at Auburn High School on Thursday for a berth to the state tournament.
The Federal Way Eagles remained alive with a 64-51 win over Beamer Friday night. The loss ended the Titans’ season.
Federal Way (16-6) was led by sophomore Cole Dickerson, who scored a season-high 20 points. Dakin Wanquist and Andrew Winton each scored 17 for Beamer (10-14).
Federal Way played Bethel in another loser-out game last night. The winner will play either Curtis or Kentwood at 6 p.m. at Auburn High School Thursday for a state berth.
Sports editor Casey Olson: 925-5565, sports@fedwaymirror.com
