29-01-2025
Saxon Niles' last-second shot lifts Federal Way over Auburn Mountainview
Saxon Niles put up a shot from under the left side of the basket with only 2.6 seconds remaining on the game clock to lift the Federal Way boys basketball team to a stunning 57-56 win at Auburn Mountainview Tuesday.
It was the first loss of the year for the Lions, who led by 12 points at 55-43 with only 4:04 to go before the Eagles rallied.
'It just clicked in us,' said Niles, who paced Federal Way with 23 points. 'We locked in on defense and taking care of the ball.'
Auburn Mountainview fell to 11-1 in North Puget Sound League Class 3A division play and to 17-1 overall as the Eagles improved to 10-1, 11-3.
The Lions won the first meeting by a 74-64 score on the Federal Way floor Dec. 17.
'They beat us before,' Niles, a senior, said. 'They got lucky. I remember Tahoma beat us by one at districts last year on an out of bounds play, and I never want to lose a close game like that again.'
'They didn't fold and fought through adversity,' said Federal Way head coach Yattah Reed of his players.
Auburn Mountainview took its seemingly insurmountable 12 point lead with an eight-point surge from only a 47-43 advantage.
Beckett Jones struck from the right side for the Lions and teammates Lucas McClendon and Sebastian Arias took turns burying 3-point shots to up the lead to 55-43.
Niles answered with a putback with 3:22 to play and made one of two free throws at the 3:01 mark.
He missed the second attempt, but Marcel Jones of the Eagles grabbed the rebound and put it back to make it 55-48 with 2:59 to go.
Niles struck on a dunk at 2:35 to close the gap to 55-50.
Jones iced one of two free throws at 1:20 and the rebound fell to Federal Way with Niles scoring three seconds later to make it 55-53.
The Lions' McClendon broke the Eagles' string with a free throw with 1:06 remaining, but Jacob Hurskin of Federal Way hit two free throws with 46.3 seconds left to close the gap to 56-55.
That set the stage for Niles' heroics at the end.
Auburn Mountainview only had enough time left for Arias to miss a long 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
Angelo Williams of the Eagles backed Nikes up with 10 points and teammate Jones knocked in nine.
Kolven Posey of the Lions led all scorers with 24 points. Arias added 11 and Jones nine.
