Federal Way survived a one-point halftime deficit and turned up the gas in the second half to defeat Soldotna 63-40 on the opening day of the George Houston Capital City Classic on Friday at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé.

“I just think the ball wasn’t bouncing our way, but we found a way to win,” Federal Way head coach Yattah Reed said. “Fortunately we woke up in the second half, but obviously we wanted to play better in the first half. The ball wasn’t falling in, stuff wasn’t going right…I don’t know, a new environment but they persevered and found a way.”

Federal Way held a slim 9-6 lead after eight minutes of action with both teams pressing each other on and off across the length of the court.

Federal Way had points from seniors Angelo Williams and Brayden McVey, and a pair of free throws from senior Geron White. Soldotna relied on junior Jayden Stuyvesant and seniors Easton Hawkins and Izaiah Gilbert to move the score clock.

Both teams faced off steady full court pressure with Federal Way relying on the ball handling and court vision of McVey and Soldotna on Gilbert and classmate Easton Hawkins.

“I knew from the jump that my team kind of struggles with ball handlers so I have to slow the game down and I couldn’t let the pressure get to me,” Federal Way senior Brayden McVey said. “I just had to pass through the zone because once we got it through the middle it kind of broke it open, the press they had going on, and if we could get it in the middle we could kick out or dump down to the big man. We just really had to slow our game down, play more controlled. I think that is kind of what led us to win the game.”

A full court press is key for the Federal Way game plan, but in Washington State the league uses a 30-second shot clock.

“We have to adjust to that because the shot clock works in our favor,” coach Reed said. “I think the first half that was part of the slow start…our guys were thinking if we were defending so long that we should rush opponents to take tougher shot, but now shot clock you can just keep running your offense for two minutes if you like…so we like t speed up, we like to play fast but at the same time with some organization. It looks chaotic, but the guys know where they are supposed to be on the court.”

Soldotna started the second quarter with two Gilbert free throws and and a steal that was converted by sophomore Josh Babcock for their first lead at 10-9.

Federal Way ran off six points in a row, one basket inside by senior big man Saxon Niles, and a steal and two baskets by senior Jacob Hurskin for a 15-13 advantage.

After an exchange of baskets Soldotna’s Gilbert tied the game at 17-17, sophomore teammate Erick Turner stole the ball and fed Gilbert for a corner shot past the arch and their last lead at 20-17.

Federal Way could only manage two free throws in the final two minutes and closed to 20-19 at the half.

A Federal Way press right out of halftime resulted in a 16-2 run and a 36-22 advantage. Soldotna managed just a single basket and a pair of free throws before the stanza ended, and trailed 36-26 with just eight minutes left to play.

“First half you could tell we weren’t awake, just going through the motions,” Soldotna coach Darren Zibell said. “We had some opportunities early to stretch the lead and we didn’t. We talked at halftime that they were going to bring a lot of pressure in the second half and we have to take care of the ball but we did not do that. It was a tight game and then they blew it open…it is good experience for my guys. We don’t have a lot of varsity minutes so being able to experience pressure like that from a good team that is pretty long, there are not many teams we are going to face that have that height and length. That should hopefully serve us well if we face pressure again.”

Soldotna junior Theo Huff hit a pair of free throws to open the final stanza, but Federal Way got two baskets from Hurskin and another from senior Angelo Williams for a 43-28 advantage.

Soldotna made a final push, scoring five straight free throws, but Federal Way matched those points, topped off by Hurskin hitting two baskets in a row for a 51-35 lead with just minutes remaining.

Soldotna’s Gilbert hit a basket and a pair of free throws to close within 54-40, but Federal Way closed with eight straight points for the 63-40 win.

Hurskin led Federal Way with 17 points, McVey 16, Williams 11, senior Geron White and Niles six apiece, junior Oscar Garcia and sophomore Justin Calcote three apiece and sophomore Julian Barrett one.

The Eagles hit 8-15 from the charity stripe, the Stars 12-16.

Gilbert led Soldotna with 26 points, Stuyvesant seven, Hawkins five and junior Liam Peck two.

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.