February 18, 2012 @ 8:14 am
Bellarmine coach Bernie Salazar wondered what team he would see on Friday night at the Mount Tahoma Gym, would it be the one that beat Olympia for the Narrows League top seed or the one that saw number nine-seed Kentridge take them down to the wire on Tuesday. He would receive his answer with his team missing star forward Sefo Liufau for a good portion of the second half to foul trouble.
The Lions rallied for a 48-45 win over the Federal Way Eagles behind Liufau’s 17 points and the 14 points from sharpshooter David Smith to advance to the state playoffs and semifinals of the 4A West Central District against Curtis on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Auburn High School.
“I’m extremely proud of these guys, they really played tough tonight against a good Federal Way team,” said Salazar, as he saw his team overcome the complacency they showed on Thursday night against Kentridge.
The Eagles would turn a nip-and-tuck first half into a seven-point lead early in the third quarter as D’Londo Tucker – who led the Eagles with 16 points on the night – would jumpstart the offense and the Lions’ backs were against the wall.
Having very little success scoring in the paint in the first half, Liufau and Lucas Meikle began to find success and Bellarmine would fight back to tie it at 40. Following a missed mid-range jumper by Tucker, Isaiah Flynn drilled a three-pointer to put the Lions back on top at 43-40 with a minute left in the game. Leading 48-45 late, Flynn missed four consecutive foul shots, but the Eagles could not respond and the Lions celebrated the narrow win that propels them to state.
“ It was a mugging underneath the hoop,” said Lucas Meikle. “They weren’t calling anything.” As for the trip to state, Meikle added “we’re so excited about the opportunity.” Salazar would not look that far ahead. “We’ve got a tough Curtis team to deal with tomorrow afternoon, it should be a great contest.”
As for the Vikings, they beat the Union Titans by a score of 59-51 with Rodrick Smith leading the way with 13 points and Cameron Howell chipped in with 12.
By Steve Mullen
