Federal Way beats Decatur in semifinals

TACOMA--It just had to go into overtime. Everything else was set for a

big game.

Crosstown rivals Federal Way and Decatur were on the Tacoma Dome floor

Friday playing each other in the Class 4A boys basketball state

semifinals, with the winner advancing to the championship Saturday and

the "loser" receiving a game for third and sixth place that same

afternoon.

The tempo of the game went back-and-forth the whole distance, until

Federal Way took command late in the overtime. The Eagles had watched a

52-41 lead vanish at the end of the fourth quarter with the help of the

unusual -- a four-point play.

Decatur caught Federal Way at 54-54 to end the quarter, but the Eagles

pulled together and never trailed in the four minute overtime period en

route to a 69-60 win.

Federal Way played for the championship after press time Saturday and

the Gators battling for third and sixth.

"I've been really blessed and fortunate to go on," said Eagles head

coach Jerome Collins. "Right now we just want to enjoy this one."

Aaron Broussard led Federal Way to victory with 29 points and credited

a talk by Collins between regulation time and overtime for the change

on the scoreboard.

"It was a long talk in the huddle, and he said the game's not over,"

Broussard said.

The win was a dream come true for Broussard and the Eagles.

"I'm trying to wake up now," he said.

Federal Way flew out to its biggest lead in the fourth quarter at 11

points on a seven-point surge that ended with a basket by Forbes with

only 3:01 showing on the clock.

Jerron Smith and the Gators had other ideas, however, and Smith's

1-for-2 appearance at the free throw line with 2:48 to go sparked their

biggest rally.

KJ Hong came off the bench and sank a left side shot for three points

to make it 52-45, then drew a foul while making another three point

shot with 2:06 remaining. Hong hit his free throw to complete the four

point play to cut the Eagles' lead to 54-49.

Andre Barrington of Federal Way made two free throws on a one-on-one

opportunity with 1:31 remaining to put the lead back to three at 54-51.

That turned out to be points in the clutch, as the Gators rallied the

rest of the way to tie the game and the Eagles would have lost if

Barrington only went 1-for-2.

Michael Hale III sank a three-point from the left side at 1:20 to play

and his two-pointer made it 54-54 at the 1:04 mark.

Federal Way wore the clock down but missed from three-point range at

the buzzer.

The Eagles jumped out front in the overtime, however, as Broussard and

Barrington hit back-to-back shots.

Decatur did not get any closer than two points the rest of the way,

while Federal Way wrapped up the game with 6-for-6 free throw shooting

to push the score to 69-60.

Jeff Forbes finished with 17 points for the Eagles as Barrington hit

14, Cole Dickerson six, Isiah Umipig two and Montrel Walton one.

Tibbs topped the Decatur scorers with 22 points and Hale was next with

13. Smith and Darious Walker scored eight each as Hong hit seven and

Cam Schilling two.