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For those who have watched the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors this year, it’s no surprise that being aggressive with the ball is a mantra for this team. To play offense for the Warriors is to attack the rim at any chance.
That strategy proved beneficial Saturday as the Warriors pushed their way to a 73-59 victory over the Enumclaw Hornets in a WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament Round 2 loser-out contest at North Creek High School.
With the win, No. 11-seeded E-W moves on to the State tourney Round of 12 and a matchup against No. 6-seeded Prairie. The tournament loser-out game will be an early wake-up call, set for Wednesday, March 4, 9 a.m. at the Tacoma Dome.
The Warriors punched their ticket for the Dome with an electric second half Saturday after a somewhat powerless first half. After mustering only 25 first-half points, E-W lit up the scoreboard with 48 points in the second half to down the No. 14-seeded Hornets.
The second-half scoring blitz wasn’t the result of any big strategic changes made by the E-W coaching staff at halftime, said junior Grant Williams, but instead was sparked by the message of staying assertive with their offensive attack.
“The coaches were pretty much the same to everyone, our whole offense: just keep being aggressive,” Williams said.
That message was taken to heart by Williams, who scored 24 of his game-high 32 points in the second half. That is the most he has scored in his high school career, Williams said, although he recalled a time in middle school when he surpassed it.
“One time, in seventh grade, I was, like, 50 points,” Williams said. “That was the most.”
Williams started his second-half scoring explosion with a 3-pointer at 34 seconds into the third quarter, giving the Warriors a 28-23 lead. At the five-minute mark of the third quarter, Williams sank another three-ball to put E-W up 35-27.
In the fourth quarter, Williams helped contribute to an 11-1 Warrior scoring run, giving E-W a 65-49 lead with 3:23 to go and ending any chance for a Hornets’ come-from-behind surprise victory.
Edmonds-Woodway was up by just four — 25-21 — at the half, and without a strong second half the Warriors could have been in for a much bigger challenge against the Hornets, who have won 14 of their first 17 games this season. While other teams may have felt the pressure of being in a tight loser-out tilt, Williams said that he and his teammates know how to handle the stress and tension in such situations.
“I just feel that this core group has been around each other for a while,” Williams said. “And when things go bad — we’ve been in endless tough games, tough situations — we just kind of know how to get through it and persevere as a team.”
Will Alseth added 19 points for Edmonds-Woodway, 14 in the Warriors’ second-half push. Enumclaw was led in scoring by Kannon Kuzaro and Jason Feddema, each with 18 points.
Saturday’s Edmonds-Woodway-Enumclaw matchup was marred by a slight scuffle in the game’s final second. Some pushing and shoving occurred on the court after Alseth was fouled putting up a shot with :1.0 on the clock. E-W’s Cruz Escandon and an Enumclaw player both rushed onto the court from their respective benches to enter the fray and received technical fouls and game ejections for their action.
WIAA rules call for an additional penalty to be applied for players ejected from games. Escandon could be suspended from playing in Edmonds-Woodway’s next game at the Dome. E-W Coach Tyler Geving said that if that is the ruling, he and E-W officials will likely appeal.
With one win in the State tournament now in the books, Edmonds-Woodway will next face another loser-out contest on Wednesday at the Dome. This year, the Warriors will have to earn three straight wins during Dome week to again appear in the 3A State title game, something achieved by the 2024-25 E-W squad.
“We just take one game at a time, one team at a time,” Williams said. “We’re not looking forward or ahead too much. Just one team at a time and just go on from there. That’s our mindset.”
To view the entire WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament bracket, click www.wpanetwork.com/m2/tourn.php?act=vt&tid=4955.
Prep Boys Basketball: Enumclaw vs. Edmonds-Woodway, Feb. 28 (WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament Round 2 loser-out game)
Enumclaw 15 6 18 20 – 59
Edmonds-Woodway 14 11 22 26 – 73
Edmonds-Woodway individual scoring: Grant Williams 32, Will Alseth 19, Dre Simonsen 9, DJ Karl 7, Shayaan Shah 4, Julian Gray 2, Cruz Escandon
Enumclaw individual scoring: Kannon Kuzaro 18, Jason Feddema 18, Trey Kuzaro 9, Esias Goodlett 4, Travis Leonard 4, Gavin Trachte 3, Kage Kuro 3, Brody Harderson, Jackson Ducatt
Records: Edmonds-Woodway 23-3; Enumclaw 16-6
Edmonds-Woodway next game: versus Prairie; Wednesday, March 4; 9 a.m. at the Tacoma Dome (WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament Round of 12 loser-out game)
Enumclaw next game: 2025-26 season completed
Upon review of game video, the WIAA overturned the ejections of Croz Escandon and a second E-W player. Both remain fully eligible for any Warrior games at the Tacoma Dome.