SNOHOMISH — After a spirited but low-scoring first half, the Mountlake Terrace boys basketball team finally kindled its offense in the second half on Tuesday night.
It was forward Derek Anyimah that provided the spark.
Anyimah, a 6-foot-3 senior, scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the third and fourth quarters to help the Hawks turn a 16-15 halftime deficit into a 51-48 victory over Glacier Peak. The outcome improves Mountlake Terrace to 3-0 in the Wesco 3A South.
Midway through the third period and with the Grizzlies still leading by one, Anyimah scored with a layin that would, as it turned out, put Mountlake Terrace on top to stay. Moments later he scored with a fast-break layin, and those two baskets keyed a 17-6 Hawks flurry into the early fourth quarter. It was a run that Anyimah capped with an offensive rebound basket.
He added four more points down the stretch as Mountlake Terrace managed to hold off a determined Glacier Peak comeback bid in the closing seconds.
“I think Derek exemplifies what this team is about,” Hawks coach Nalin Sood said. “He’s a hard worker and he just battles. … He didn’t have a great first half, but then he got it going in the second half.
“Derek is really good at a lot of things for us. He’s a good defensive player, he’s a good rebounder, he’s strong to the basket, and he’s one of our better free throw shooters. It’s nice to have a kid like that. What is he great at? Not one thing, but he’s good at everything.”
“I think Derek Anyimah had a really great second half,” Grizzlies coach Brian Hunter agreed. “He’s the guy that decided to make some plays and for them that was a huge positive.”
After a back-and-forth first quarter, Mountlake Terrace used a 7-0 string early in the second quarter to seize a 14-8 lead. The Grizzlies promptly countered with an 8-0 run of their own, though the Hawks trimmed the deficit to one point at halftime with a late free throw.
There were seven lead changes early in the third quarter before Mountlake Terrace began to pull away. The biggest margin was 10 points, 38-28, on Anyimah’s putback basket to start the fourth period.
But the Grizzlies refused to buckle. A big play came with just over three minutes remaining as Brendan Tetrault netted a 3-pointer from the left baseline just as teammate Kyle Dvorak, who was setting a screen, drew a foul from an oncoming Mountlake Terrace defender.
Dvorak’s two free throws pulled Glacier Peak within one, 40-39. In the remaining moments the Grizzlies would draw within one point three more times, but they could never get the go-ahead basket.
“We got up 10, but they’ve got guys who can shoot and they can execute,” Sood said. “So I don’t know if we were ever sitting there (on the bench) saying, ‘Well, this is over.’ We knew they were going to get back into it.
“Sometimes you have to keep fighting to win the battle,” he said, “and I thought that’s what our kids did.”
“We did some things that were OK, but we just didn’t play a complete game,” Hunter said. “We missed opportunities, and against good teams in league play you have to be able to make those plays. That’s the difference between being successful and not being successful.”
If there was a silver lining for the Grizzlies, it was their no-quit effort to the final horn. “Hopefully that’s something ingrained in our kids that that’s how we play,” Hunter said. “If we’re going to do the things we want to do and that I think we can do, we’re going to have to do that constantly because that’s how you win basketball games.”
Though Glacier Peak has a 1-3 Wesco record, “we’ve still got eight league games left and our focus is on just getting better.”
At Glacier Peak H.S.
M. Terrace 7 8 21 15 —51
Glacier Peak 6 10 12 20 —48
Mountlake Terrace—Gabe Powter 0, Daniel Johnson 9, Joey Gardner 2, Khyree Armstead 4, Gabe Altenberger 4, Derek Anyimah 19, Shimron Masih 9, Carson Dallas 4. Glacier Peak—Zach Hatch 10, Seiver Southard 5, Brendan Tetrault 10, Justin Guffey 8, Zach Argue 4, Bobby Martin 2, Kyle Dvorak 9. Records—Mountlake Terrace 3-0 league, 8-2 overall. Glacier Peak 1-3, 7-5.
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