Here's one reporter's top five Washington stories of the week:
1. KingCo 3A/2A showdown: Jake Bainton's fourth-quarter touchdown reception lifted the No. 3 Liberty Patriots past the No. 7 Juanita Rebels 28-21 in a key KingCo contest. Liberty (5-0, 3-0) built a 21-0 lead before Juanita (4-1, 1-1) rallied to tie things in the fourth quarter.
"Momentum was all their way," Liberty coach Steve Valach told the Seattle Times. "Jake made a huge momentum play for us. If you're going to win big games, you need to have momentum plays."
2. Will Federal Way keep hoops title? The Seattle Times is reporting that an independent investigation has been launched to look in to whether Federal Way used an ineligible player during last season's state title run. The investigation centers on 6-foot-9 forward T.J. Koontz, who played sparingly and averaged two points per game. Koontz transferred to crosstown rival Decatur, whose coach reviewed Koontz's transcript and noticed he shouldn't have been academically eligible for the last season. Federal Way, which conducted its own investigation, maintains it's just a matter of clerical errors and the investigation will discover no wrongdoing.
3. Wroten under the knife: Garfield point guard Tony Wroten, one of the top-rated juniors in the nation, had surgery recently to repair a torn ACL. The 6-foot-5 Wroten injured his knee during the first football game of the season. He was playing football (reciever and defensive back) for the first time since seventh grade. Wroten will miss the entire basketball season. He led the Bulldogs to the state title game last year.
Photo by Dennis Lee
Josh Smith, Kentwood
4. T-Mobile dials up Kentwood: The Kentwood Conquerors were invited to play in the T-Mobile Invitational in Birmingham, Ala. The T-Mobile, an elite prep tourney which moves to different sites each year, is Dec. 29-30. Kentwood features 6-10 Joshua Smith, widely ranked as the No. 1 center in the nation. Kentwood is also playing in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass., on Jan. 16. No opponent has been named.
5. Meadowdale climbs the Peak: Naji Moore-Taylor scored from 4 yards out in overtime as No. 6 Meadowdale of Lynnwod (5-0, 1-0) beat No. 10 Glacier Peak (3-2, 0-1) of Snohomish 34-28. Moore-Taylor rushed for 100 yards in the second half as the Mavericks rallied from a 21-7 deficit.
Top performers
Jake Bainton (Liberty football): Bainton returned a kickoff 69 yards for a score and caught the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter as No. 3 Liberty beat No. 7 Juanita.
Isiah Umipig (Federal Way football): Playing the first game of his first season of football, the Cal State Fullerton basketball commit scored on a 50-yard end-around to help the Eagles to a 24-14 win over Tahoma. Umipig decided two weeks into the school year he wanted to play football.
Alex Johnson (Bainbridge football): Johnson carried the ball 35 times for 161 yards and two touchdowns as the Spartans rallied from a 22-7 halftime deficit to beat Eastside Catholic 36-22.
Conner Peloquin (Gig Harbor cross country): The state contender won the Northwest's biggest meet, running the course in Yakima in 15 minutes, 24.3 seconds.
Recruiting news
One of the state's top swimmers, Skyline's Andie Taylor visited Florida and Georgia last week. Taylor swam at the national championships over the summer. ... Former Curtis forward Chad Rasmussen has committed to Seattle University. The 6-7 Rasmussen will play this season at Tacoma CC before transferring. ... Central Kitsap distance runner Shane Moskowitz, the preseason favorite to win the Class 4A state cross country title, has committed to Oklahoma State.
Nate's notes
A sophomore football player was airlifted from Jefferson Memorial Stadium in Port Townsend to Harborview Hospital in Seattle. Daniel Thatcher is expected to make a full recovery, my friends at the Tacoma News Tribune tell me. This state has had some bad football news recently. This injury comes on the heels of the death of Drew Swank, who played for Valley Christian, which is in Spokane Valley. He suffered a head injury during a game in Washtucna. ... We're halfway through the football season. Even though they've taken lumps from out of state competition, does anybody doubt Skyline (4A) and Bellevue (3A) will win state titles again?
Nathan Joyce has covered high school sports around Washington for 12 years. He currently works at the Kitsap Sun in Bremerton.