Prep boys basketball: Mountlake Terrace 49, Oak Harbor 40

Published 9:49 pm Tuesday, January 25, 2011

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — It was good news for the Mountlake Terrace boys basketball team Tuesday. It will be even better news Friday.

The Hawks got 21 points from senior forward Zach Karels to defeat Oak Harbor 49-40 in a Wesco 3A game Tuesday, clinching a spot in the Class 3A District 1 play

offs. And Terrace should be even better come the postseason, as standout 6-foot-9 senior center Ryan Swanstrom, who has missed the entire season with a broken ankle, is due back in the lineup Friday when the Hawks play their penultimate regular-season game at Shorecrest.

“We’re real excited,” Terrace assistant coach Greg Wirtz said. “It should change our team quite a bit. It’s really going to help us.”

Terrace has been solid even without Swanstrom, going 7-5 in the league and 8-10 overall. That includes a seven-game losing streak that included a 69-62 loss to Oak Harbor on Dec. 21. In that game, Mike Washington Jr. (27 points) and Jay Stout (21) made life tough for Terrace. On Tuesday, that duo was held to 22 points.

“We tried to deny and get some help on them,” Wirtz said. “We did a pretty good job on them.”

Terrace trailed by four after the first quarter but held Oak Harbor to 13 points over the middle two quarters to take control.

Karels shot 9-for-13 and Mitch Haldane had nine points and seven rebounds. Wirtz also said junior center Coby Russell and 6-6 freshman Greg Bowman provided quality play inside. There’s even more quality post play coming later this week for the Hawks.

“We’re improving quite a bit and getting (Swanstrom) back will only make us better,” Wirtz said. “We’re feeling pretty good about where we’re at.”

At Mountlake Terrace H.S.

Oak Harbor 15 7 6 12 — 40

Mountlake Terrace 11 14 13 11 — 49

Oak Harbor—D. Washington 0, Massey 1, T. Paul 2, Houck 0, Stout 9, M. Washington Jr. 13, C. Paul 4, Brooks 3, Bratt 8, Tillotson 0. Mountlake Terrace—Johnson 4, Powell 6, Karels 21, Armstead 6, Haldane 9, Lambert 0, Snow 2, Bowman 0, Russell 1. 3-point goals—Stout 2, Washington Jr. 1, Karls 3, Haldane 1. Records—Oak Harbor 3-8 league, 4-13 overall. Mountlake Terrace 7-5, 8-10.