Mountlake Terrace sees 16-point lead dissipate

Published 11:18 pm Thursday, March 5, 2009

TACOMA — Twenty-four hours later, the shoe was on the other foot.

After watching from the waiting area while the Eisenhower High School boys basketball team blew a double-digit lead in a first-round loss to Curtis on Wednesday morning, the Mountlake Terrace Hawks found themselves in a similar situation a day later.

This time, Eisenhower felt the thrill of a comeback win. The Hawks were left wondering where it all went wrong in a consolation game of the 4A state tournament.

“It’s a bitter pill to swallow,” Mountlake Terrace coach Nalin Sood said after spending part of his 40th birthday watching his Hawks lose a 16-point lead over the final 15 minutes en route to a 66-64, season-ending loss to Eisenhower.

Just like Eisenhower’s first-round game, this one was all but decided early in the second half. Mountlake Terrace used a strong zone defense and a spark from reserve Jacob Champoux to build up a 33-17 lead one minute into the second half.

But Eisenhower’s James Lopez took control from there, scoring seven consecutive points and continually stripping Mountlake Terrace ballhandlers from the ball. Lopez had three steals and 22 points in the second half alone, spearheading an incredible comeback that the Tacoma Dome hadn’t seen in … well, 24 hours.

“We kind of had our heads hung after (Wednesday’s) loss, but we really didn’t let that affect us,” said Lopez, whose team led by 14 points in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s opener before losing 68-65 to Curtis.

Lopez turned a steal into two free throws with 2 minutes, 26 seconds remaining in the game, giving Eisenhower its first lead at 55-54. He and senior Tyler Elmo combined for 15 of the Cadets’ 17 points over the final four minutes, during which Eisenhower outscored Mountlake Terrace 17-8 to put the game away.

During that span, the Hawks (17-8) had turnovers on three consecutive possessions.

“It was that nasty, ugly old thing: turnovers,” Sood said. “That gave them a lot of confidence, and it got momentum going for them.”

Momentum was all in the Hawks’ favor early on.

A 13-2 run over the final 3½ minutes of the second quarter gave Mountlake Terrace a comfortable 29-15 lead at the break. Ryan Sells led the Hawks with nine first-half points, while Eisenhower was just six of 25 from the field — zero of 10 from behind the 3-point arc.

Eisenhower coach Pat Fitterer said that he used a pretty standard motivational tactic at halftime.

I told them: ‘If we lose, you’ll have to be in class at 8 a.m. (today),’” he said. “You’d be surprised how effective that can be.”

It was enough to fire up Lopez and the rest of the Cadets.

After Mountlake Terrace extended its lead to 16 points, at 33-17, Eisenhower scored 21 points in a six-minute span. A pair of Champoux 3-pointers helped the Hawks maintain their lead, but Eisenhower just kept coming in the fourth quarter. The Cadets opened the final period with a 16-4 run, taking a 59-54 lead on another Lopez basket off a steal.

“I could tell he runs off emotion,” said Mountlake Terrace’s Sells. “Once he started hitting baskets, he had it going.”

Lopez scored 22 of his team-high 24 points after halftime, while Elmo had 18 of his 22 after the break.

Karsten Strieby led the Hawks with 22 points and nine rebounds, while Tyler Stracener added 14 points, including a basket at the buzzer to cut a four-point deficit to two. Sells and Champoux each had 11.

Mountlake Terrace saw its season end after losing to the state’s No. 3 team (Foss) and No. 4 team (Eisenhower) by a combined five points in back-to-back days.

“When we came into the tournament, no one knew who we were,” Sells said. “We played the No. 3 and No. 4 teams and showed we could stack up with them.”

Said Sood: “I felt like we had a great draw, because if you beat those two teams, you’re probably going to get some hardware. I just feel bad for the kids. We couldn’t get it done.”

At the Tacoma Dome

Eisenhower872328—66

M. Terrace10191619—64

Eisenhower—Gaut 5, Watson 1, Lopez 24, Elmo 22, Fowler 0, Berman 4, Bonzer 10. Mountlake Terrace—Champoux 11, J. Sells 2, Clinan 0, R. Sells 11, Estrada 4, Strieby 22, Stracener 14. 3-point goals—Lopez 2, Elmo 1, Champoux 3, Strieby 1. Records—Eisenhower 26-2 overall. Mountlake Terrace 17-8.