The All-American shook off a minor knee injury to lead the Eagles to the bi-district crown.
PUYALLUP — Jaden McDaniels didn’t love the way his game went Friday night.
Fortunately for McDaniels and the Federal Way boys basketball team, Saturday night provided another opportunity for the McDonald’s All-American to shine.
A day after missing much of a district semifinal game in foul trouble, McDaniels came alive in the second half and showed why the likes of Kentucky, Washington and UCLA are hoping to secure his skills. After a collision tweaked his knee and forced him to miss most of the second quarter, the 6-foot-11 senior had 23 of his 28 points in the second half to lead No. 1 Federal Way to the Class 4A West Central/Southwest boys bi-district title with a 73-67 win over Curtis.
“They just find ways to win the game. They’re just resilient,” Federal Way coach Yattah Reed said. “We knew what we were going up against in Curtis. It ain’t nothing new. (Curtis) plays hard, they’re well coached. We just have to weather the storm and not panic.”
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McDaniels added seven rebounds and five blocks for Federal Way (23-2) despite missing the majority of the second quarter after colliding knees with a Curtis player on a dunk attempt.
McDaniels showed no ill effects from the collision in the second half, as he answered every shot from Curtis senior Zack Paulsen, who netted a game-high 33 points.
“They knocked knees,” Reed said. “He ain’t got that much meat on his body already, so that’s probably bone to bone. It’s just a sample of what our team is. He knew how important this game was. … He wasn’t too fond of his play (Friday) and wanted to make it up, not just by points, but by being a leader for this team.”
McDaniels pronounced himself good to go after the game.
“It was just a little shake up,” he said. “I’m good now.”
Curtis’ offense struggled in the first half but, led by Paulsen, came out firing after halftime. An 11-2 run got the Vikings to within two, 36-34, midway through the third quarter. Jordan Parker, who finished with 11 points, netted three three-pointers in the quarter as Curtis (19-5) made a run.
But every Vikings’ run was met with a corresponding one by Federal Way. McDaniels scored from all over the floor, forward Tari Eason scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Bradley Graham added 11 for Federal Way.
“We battled and we fought,” Curtis coach Tim Kelly said. “We did a lot of things we wanted to do today, but there were little things that we didn’t do that put us in a hole, especially in the first half. … We had chances. We didn’t do enough things correct to beat good teams.”