EDMONDS — Robert Brown has a pregame ritual that he’s veered from just twice this season.
Crankiness.
Brown tried a calmer approach before the Edmonds-Woodway basketball coach’s squad took on Mountlake Terrace and suffered its only league loss of the season earlier in the year.
Friday night, Brown brought the crankiness back to fire his team up. Edmonds-Woodway responded by jumping out front early and leading the whole way in a 66-61 Wesco 3A South victory over the Hawks at Edmonds-Woodway High School.
“I kind of set the mood, I’m really a cranky person before the game,” Brown said with a laugh. “I’m really a cranky person before a game. The two games I have not been that cranky person: the Lynnwood (game) and first Terrace game. It kind of shows. My crankiness, sets them on edge. They’ve even said it — David (Woodard’s) said it: ‘Coach you can’t not be mad before the game.’
“It really is a mood-setter for the guys. They’re used to it. … Sometimes it’s taxing for me to be so cranky before a game, but for them I think it puts them in a comfort zone.”
Edmonds-Woodway looked like it was in the zone in the first half. Despite Mountlake Terrace’s defensive pressure, the Warriors started the game with a 6-0 run and led 31-22 at halftime. An 11-4 run at the beginning of the third quarter extended Edmonds-Woodway’s lead and looked like it might be insurmountable for Mountlake Terrace’s struggling offense.
“Terrace gave us a lesson in defense the last time they played us,” Brown said of the 74-72 Hawks win on Dec. 17. “(We) scored 72 points, but they really gave us a lesson in physical defense last time we played.”
The rematch was even more defensive-minded, with Mountlake Terrace holding Edmonds-Woodway, which averages 79 points per game, to a season-low 66 points (the Warriors also scored 66 in a win over Bishop Blanchet earlier in the season).
But Edmonds-Woodway’s defense also kept the Hawks’ offense from sparking until late in the game.
“We’ve had some defensive lapses and we wanted to know what it’s going to be like when we can’t make shots and today we found out: Can we play defense when we can’t make shots?” Brown said. “… Defensive-wise, tonight was a huge step where we want to go defensively. Usually, we’re led by our offense. Our offense is kind of what brings people in the gym, but defensively, we’d been up and down and I think today was a step in the right direction.”
Edmonds-Woodway also had a little extra incentive after the two teams’ first game. The Warriors hadn’t forgotten which team handed them their one — and only — league loss this season.
“I don’t know if you could say ‘motivation’ or ‘revenge,’” Brown said. “But you lose one league game and you know who you lost it to and you’ve gone through league, yeah, you want to get that taste out of your mouth. You want to win that game by any means necessary.”
Mountlake Terrace made a run in the fourth quarter, with the Hawks getting to within four points on a breakaway layup by Gabe Altenberger.
But Edmonds-Woodway senior Brady Edwards went on a 5-0 run and guard Tre’var Holland got a steal, layup and free throw after a foul to all but put the game away for the Warriors.
“That’s when you’ve got to put the pedal down and overtake them and we didn’t do that,” said Mountlake Terrace head coach Nalin Sood. “And we’ve done that.”
Sood said the Edmonds-Woodway defense wore the Hawks down a bit. The Warriors got 12 turnovers including a steal on the Hawks’ first offensive possession of the game.
“We didn’t execute,” Sood said. “The first play was a steal and that got them going. But we fought and got back into it.
“We know they’re a good team. … It’s a wake-up call that you better bring your A-game and your A-effort and your A-focus. They’re getting 80 and they’re beating people by 20, 25 points.”
Woodard, Edwards and Ryan Peterson scored 12 points apiece for Edmonds-Woodway (7-1 league, 14-2 overall) and Holland added 11 in a balanced scoring effort by the Warriors.
“It’s always nice to see balance,” Brown said. “… When you look down the stat line we usually are pretty balanced. It’s seven, sixes, 12s here.”
Like the Warriors, Mountlake Terrace (5-3, 11-5) had a pretty even scoring line. Altenberger led the Hawks with 15, Derek Anyimah — who added 14 rebounds — and Shimron Masih scored 14 and Khyree Armstead added 11, while also anchoring the Mountlake Terrace defense.
“I just think everything we do is a team effort,” Sood said. “Everybody worked hard. I don’t like to single out guys but anybody who watched that game would say Khyree played tremendous. His defense and he just worked. He just worked and worked and worked. That’s a credit to Khyree and how he did things.
“But we had seven guys who were out there battling and competing in a 32-minute game, up and down the court. Everybody got a good sweat in that game.”
At Edmonds-Woodway H.S.
M. Terrace 9 13 16 23 —61
Ed.-Woodway 17 14 19 16 —66
Mountlake Terrace—Gabe Powter 0, Joey Gardner 0, Khyree Armstead 11, Gabe Altenberger 15, Derek Anyimah 14, Shimron Masih 14, Carson Dallas 7. Edmonds-Woodway—David Woodard 12, Grygoriy Lozynskyy 1, Tre’var Holland 11, Brady Edwards 12, Noah Becker 6, Edikal Seare 0, Ali Gaye 4, Jordan Rice 6, Ryan Peterson 12, Joe Cooper 2. Records—Mountlake Terrace 5-3 league, 11-5 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 7-1, 14-2.
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