Weems, Federal Way clear latest 4A NPSL hurdle, beating Kentridge

For all the stats that high school basketball players can hang their hats on, there’s a talent that’s a bit more difficult to define or quantify: disruptiveness. In addition to keeping traditional stats, Federal Way coach Yattah Reed tracks another — deflections.

A ball tipped out of bounds, tipped to a teammate or to an opposing player, a blocked shot — anytime a Federal Way player gets a hand on a ball and alters a player, Reed records it.

The two best Eagles’ players in that category this season? Seniors Vaughn Weems and Isaiah Afework. It’d be easy to point to Weems’ game-high 26 points in a 76-62 win over Kentridge on Tuesday night and tie a bow on the story, but the offensive production only paints a partial picture.

In the latest measuring stick for the Eagles in the 4A North Puget Sound League, Weems played a complete game, as he’s done all season: 26 points, 12 rebounds, six steals and five blocks. He was all over the place, attacking the rim on offense and defensively, flying around and disrupting Kentridge’s rhythm.

“He does everything,” Reed said. “He fills the stat sheet. He also does the little things that doesn’t go in the stat sheet or that doesn’t go in the paper or Snapchat or whatever the stuff is they look at. Just altering shots, getting deflections.”

Federal Way held Kentridge to just 26 second-half points in the win.

“We just tightened it up on defense,” Weems said of the second-half effort. “I felt like we wasn’t talking much. We just have to move and rotate the way that we practice. We came out, tightened it up after halftime, did what we were supposed to do.”

Federal Way’s offense has been humming this season, but defense remains at the core of the identity of Reed’s team.

“Defense is our main focus,” Weems said. “Offense — that’s why it’s called offense — sometimes you have an off night. But you can’t have an off night on defense.”

Federal Way’s defense sparked its transition game and the Eagles never looked back, jumping out to a big lead in the third quarter and winning comfortably in the end.

“We thrive off our defense and take pride in it,” Reed said. “Our defense creates our offense. … It has to be on the whole team. That’s our mindset. They all know that, that it starts on the defensive end. It’s just one of those things of getting them to understand, let’s do what we’ve been coached to do on the defensive end and it’ll open up everything else.”

Senior Dace Pleasant added 18 points for the Eagles. Elijah Cain scored a team-high 19 points for Kentridge, while Jalon Blackwell and forward Alex Conner added 15 apiece. Federal Way (17-1 overall, 9-0 NPSL 4A) remains undefeated in league play, clearing one of the tougher hurdles remaining on the schedule.

“I feel like when we come out, we just have to make sure we compete every game,” Weems said. “We can’t come out and take any team lightly because any team wants to come in and knock us off. We’ve gotta come in, battle, do what we want to do.”