By CASEY OLSON, The Mirror
The Federal Way girls basketball team is getting better, and that’s a scary thought for the rest of the South Puget Sound League. The Eagles improved to 9-3 overall and 4-2 in the SPSL North with a 56-39 victory over Decatur Thursday night.
Federal Way has won six of its last seven games and is doing it with only two seniors on the roster. The Eagles’ two leading scorers are freshmen. The 6-foot-1 Talia Walton is averaging a team-best 15.1 points and fellow ninth-grader Brittany Barrington is pouring in 14.8 points. In fact, Federal Way’s four leading scorers are all underclassmen. Junior Jacqie Evenson is averaging 11.3 points and freshman Chantel Dixon is scoring 5.3 a game.
Federal Way’s only three losses this season have come to senior-dominated, state-tournament caliber teams in Mount Tahoma, Kentwood and Kentlake.
Against Decatur, the Eagles took control of the game in the second quarter by outscoring the Gators 25-7. Decatur (1-9, 0-6) hung tough during the first eight minutes of play and headed into the second quarter tied with Federal Way, 8-8.
Barrington led the Eagles with 13 points and Keanna Blackwell chipped in 10. Evenson tallied nine points and Bennett and Walton each scored six. The Gators were led by the 10 points of Tenea Holcomb and seven each from Sarah Quantz and Ashleigh Vincent.
The Thomas Jefferson Raiders dropped a pair of games last weekend to fall to 8-5 overall and 2-4 in the SPSL North. The Raiders were ahead in both games entering the fourth quarters, but couldn’t hold the leads.
Kentlake moved to 4-2 in the North with a come-from-behind 54-50 win over the Raiders Friday night and a visiting team from Australia beat TJ Saturday in a non-leaguer 52-49.
Against Kentlake, Jefferson took a 42-38 lead into the final eight minutes of play, but were outscored 16-8 in the fourth quarter. The Raiders were led by the 15 points of senior Sofia Malamura. Jillian Rasmussen poured in 13 and Stacey Albrecht chipped in nine. Kentlake was led by the 26 points of Morganne Comstock.
The Australian team outscored TJ 15-5 in the fourth quarter to overcome a 42-37 lead. Jefferson was led by the 12 points of Hannah Kiyohara and 11 from Rasmussen.
Beamer fell to 1-9 overall and 1-5 in the SPSL South with a 66-51 loss to Curtis Friday. Kaylah Scott led the Titans with 19 points and Mikki Akins chipped in 12.
Wrestling
The Todd Beamer Titans moved to 2-1 in the SPSL South with a 48-32 win over Spanaway Lake Thursday. Beamer dominated the light middle weights, winning six straight matches from 119 to 145 pounds in either pins or forfeits. Vince Harteau pinned Rudy Ochoa at 125 pounds in 2:55 and Trevor Mills pinned David Ayuso in 2:15 at 140. Chase Nelson (119), Corey Obungen (130), Matt Sallas (135) and Alex Crumley (145) all won by forfeit.
Beamer’s other wins came from Connor Gleason at 171 and Kevin Oyer at 160. Gleason pinned Cameron Sevilla-Rivera in 5:11.
Swimming
The Thomas Jefferson boys downed district rival Federal Way Thursday afternoon, 101-73.
The Raiders got a pair of individual wins from Jordan Gaspay in the 200-yard individual medley (2:13.53) and the 100 breaststroke (1:08.47). The Raiders also got wins from Reid Mayfield in the 200 free (2:17.46), Frankie Ditzhazy in the 100 free (1:02.41) and Jayson Gaspay in the 100 butterfly (1:04.26). Jefferson also won the 200 medley relay and the 400 free relay.
Federal Way picked up a pair of individual wins from Cameron Moak in the 50 free in a state-qualifying time of 22.61 and the 500 free (5:20.75). The Eagles’ other wins came from Sean Webber in diving (85.95 points), Tim Clemons in the 100 backstroke (1:12.80) and the 200 free relay.
Sports editor Casey Olson: 925-5565, sports@fedwaymirror.com
