(1/29/2023)
Federal Way, WA)
The regular season of high school boys’ basketball in Washington State is winding down, as the North Puget Sound League Championship is on the line on Monday as the Federal Way Eagles (18-1 overall, 11-0 NPSL) hosts the Tahoma Bears (15-3 overall, 11-0 NPSL) on Monday night at Federal Way High School.
Federal Way is having a special season as the Eagles haven’t lost a game to a state opponent with their only loss coming to 22-1 Perry from Gilbert, Arizona in a holiday tournament game on December 21. Since then, Federal Way has been arguably the best team in the state with 12 straight victories. The Eagles are the #1 ranked team in 4A in the last RPI rankings and have some resume building wins that include 4A #10 Gonzaga Prep, defending 3A champions Auburn, and most recently a 76-62 win over 4A #6 Kentridge last Monday. Federal Way is coming off a 101-38 win over Kentwood on Friday coming into the showdown with Tahoma on Monday.
On the other side, Tahoma is red hot and coming in with a lot of confidence after a road win at 4A #3 Skyline on Saturday night 59-52. The bears trailed by as many as nine points in the 3rd quarter, but Adam Davis scored a season high 24 points including a 3-pointer to send it into overtime where the Bears pulled away. Tahoma has now won 9 straight games and like Federal Way have some elite wins including Kentridge and Auburn. Tahoma and Federal Way both pride themselves in their defense as the Bears allow an average of 62.1 points per game while the Eagles defense have allowed 49.4 PPG. Federal Way offensively have put up an astronomical number of points at 83 PPG, while Tahoma averages 67.8 PPG.
Players to Watch
Seniors Vaughn Weems, Dace Pleasant and Isaiah Afework are leaders for Federal Way with all three players capable of scoring 20 points on a given night. Weems had a game high 26 points in the win last week against Kentridge and impacts the game in multiple ways.
For Tahoma Dalton Brown leads the Bears in scoring at 16 PPG, the junior had 12 in the win over Skyline. Adam Davis is coming off a season high 24 points as the junior averages just over 13 a game and Jayden Stephens is right around 10 PPG.
Series History
This is the first meeting between Federal Way and Tahoma this season, and both teams split the season series last year. Tahoma won on the road 48-43 last year on Feb. 17, 2022, while Federal Way won the first meeting on Feb. 2, 2022, by a score of 59-52.
Where to Watch
You can watch the entire game on the NFHS Network live starting with the pre-game show at 6:45 and tipoff scheduled for 7:00 PM. The game will also be on-demand on NFHS as well.
Subscriptions are $11.99 per month and gives you access to the entire NFHS Network all across the country to watch the live broadcasts or any on-demand games. Literally hundreds of thousands of hours of game content. Go to https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/affiliates/eli-sports-network to sign-up if you don’t have a subscription or to find the on-demand replay of this game.
