The Mountlake Terrace Hawks seemed to be in for a challenging matchup against their district rivals, the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors, after falling behind 11-13 in the first quarter. A strong effort on defense by Terrace led them to run away with the 64-43 win on Jan. 23.
After a solid first quarter, Woodway’s lockdown effort on defense was short-lived, as Terrace took an early lead in the second quarter and didn’t give it up for the rest of the game. The Hawk’s held the Warrior’s to only 6 points in the second quarter as Terrace had a comfortable 33-19 lead going into the third quarter. The dominance on both offense and defense followed through into the next half, as Woodway became the 9th team to lose to Terrace by 20 or more points.
Terrace has consistently showcased an aggressive defense all season long. Tuesday night’s game was no outlier, keeping Edmonds-Woodway well below their average 65.5 points per game and forcing the Warriors to shoot for only 25% on the night. Two of Edmonds-Woodway’s three leading scorers on the season were held to only three baskets combined. Warrior’s sophomore guard Mutdung Bol (15.3 points per game) was held to two shots made on ten attempts, while teammate and senior guard Michael Epoch (11.9 PPG) was held to one shot made on ten attempts. The Warrior’s senior guard Noah Becker was the lone Woodway player to reach double digits in points, scoring 16 points.
Many Terrace players contributed to the key victory on Tuesday night, but senior forward Brendan Hayes’ versatility stood out all game. Hayes continued his successful senior season, recording a game high 25 points, 12 rebounds, and an incredible eight blocks. The senior forward not only showed off his effectiveness in the post, but also made five three-pointers.
“I’m just trying to play my game and help the team in anyway [that] I can.” Hayes commented.
“Honestly, I just try to play my role for the game. If I have to defend hard, I will. If I have to shoot, I will. If I have to go inside and battle for rebounds or get some points in the post, I will.”
Terrace senior forward Khyree Armstead also had a solid game scoring 17 points while grabbing a game high 14 rebounds. Terrace sophomore guard Mason Christianson scored 13 points and recorded 4 assists. Terrace senior guard Keegan Grayson was scoreless in 3 shot attempts, but led both teams with 5 assists and led all Terrace guards with 6 rebounds.
The Mountlake Terrace Hawks improve to a 16-1 overall record and an 8-1 conference record. The Hawks take their 11 game winning streak into their tough home matchup against the Stanwood Spartans on Jan. 30 at 7:15.
