In their first game at the Tacoma Dome since 2008, the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors showed that they not only belong at this year’s WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament but also sent notice that they could very well be a contender for the state title.

In dominating fashion, the no.5-seeded Warriors crushed the no.6-seeded Lincoln Abes 73-36 in a 3A state tourney quarterfinal contest played Thursday at the Dome.

E-W never trailed in Thursday’s game, sinking their first five shots on their way to an early 11-4 advantage. Then after taking a 29-17 lead into the halftime locker room, the Warriors poured it on over the next 12 minutes and forced the running clock mercy rule to kick in after Will Alseth scored a lay-in midway through the fourth quarter.

At that point, Edmonds-Woodway was up 70-29 and the two coaches emptied their benches, allowing game starters to watch the final four minutes of the Warrior romp from the sidelines.

E-W’s Cam Hiatt led all scorers in the game with 33 points. The senior sank 11 of his 21 shots from the field, was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line and pulled down 14 rebounds in the contest.

But it was the Warrior defense that excelled on Thursday. E-W held the Abes to their lowest point production of the season. Lincoln shot just 23.4% (11-for-47) from the field in the game — and just 18.5% (5-for-27) in the first half.

Edmonds-Woodway Coach Tyler Geving loved the defensive effort of his squad, especially in the first half.

“The kids have bought into it all year,” Geving said. “At halftime (Lincoln) had 10 of their points off of rebounds or our turnovers, so just off their (offense) they got seven points.”

As a result of his team’s first-half performance, Geving knew what the second-half formula would be for his team to secure the victory. “It was more about taking care of the ball, rebounding and giving them one-and-done,” he said. “And DJ [Karl] guarding no. 3 (Davion Shareef-Dulaney), their best player.”

Shareef-Dulaney, a 6-foot-1 attacking guard for the Abes, was held to just nine points and a 1-for-10 shooting performance in the contest. The effort to slow down the dynamic-scoring freshman was placed primarily on the Warriors’ DJ Karl — although the junior credited a team performance for the shutdown of Shareef-Dulaney.

“We all made sure to help with no. 3 because we knew he was their best player,” Karl said.

Karl played 26 minutes in the game, all of it on an ankle he had injured early in the season. On Thursday, the junior also suffered a cut over his left eye during the second quarter and was thrown to the floor during a tie-up with Lincoln’s Jaiden Williams late in the third quarter.

After the rough-and-tumble contest, Geving gave high praise to Karl. “He’s a tough kid; he’s got a bad ankle, a bad eye. The kid doesn’t say anything; he’s a warrior,” Geving said. “People don’t realize how tough he is (and) what that kid means to our team. I’m super proud of him.”

Despite the physical nature of the game, Karl was all smiles afterward. “I’ve got scratches all over, I got my eye patched up — yeah, it was a fun game,” he said.

While the bumps and bruises suffered during the game were something to be proud of, Karl was mostly happy about how his team was able to clamp down on the Abes, including their outside shooters.

“They had some shooters but we were able to close out in time and we contested all of their shots,” Karl said. “Yeah, it was a very great defensive effort.”

With the victory, the Warriors will be in the 3A tournament final four and next face no.2-seed Mt. Spokane on Friday, March 7. Tipoff for the state tourney semifinal clash is set for 7:15 p.m.

If Edmonds-Woodway can prevail on Friday, the team will play for the school’s first boys basketball state championship on Saturday.

You can view the entire WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament bracket here.

Prep Boys Basketball: Lincoln vs. Edmonds-Woodway, Mar. 6 (WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game)

Lincoln (Tacoma) 10   7   6 13 – 36

Edmonds-Woodway 16 13 26 18 – 73

Edmonds-Woodway individual scoring: Cam Hiatt 33, Will Alseth 15, Julian Gray 8, DJ Karl 7, Grant Williams 5, Dre Simonsen 4, Harris Dobson 1, Calan Schillinger, Luke Boland, Hayden Ricker, Dre Lloyd

Lincoln individual scoring: Trey Collier 11, Davion Shareef-Dulaney 9, Uriah Wilson 5, Jahmari Hunter-Seaton 4, Justus Holt 4, Kasey Williams 2, Noah Dennis 1, Jace Williams, Jaiden Williams, Ervontae Davis, Amare Breedlove, O’Shea Lamer

Records: Edmonds-Woodway 25-2 overall; Lincoln 26-5 overall

Edmonds-Woodway next game: versus Mt. Spokane; Friday, March 7; 7:15 p.m. at the Tacoma Dome (WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament semifinal game)

Lincoln next game: versus Bellarmine Prep; Friday, March 7; 12:15 p.m. at the Tacoma Dome (WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament loser-out game)