Terrace boys best Glacier Peak

Published 11:32 pm Friday, December 16, 2011

SNOHOMISH — Big blowouts are fun for the winning team’s fans, but what really helps a good basketball squad get better early in the season is a scrappy, hard-fought, down-to-the-wire tussle.

That’s the opinion of Mountlake Terrace boys basketball coach Nalin Sood, and his team had just such a test against Glacier Peak on Friday night. The visiting Hawks went on top to stay early in the game, but Glacier Peak still had a chance to win until the late moments before finally bowing 54-46 in a showdown of Western Conference 3A contenders.

“You really don’t have an awareness of the things you need to get better at until you get challenged like this,” Sood said. “And we got challenged tonight, there’s no doubt. We had to show tremendous resolve against adversity and make some pressure plays, and from that standpoint this was a great learning lesson for our kids.

“We will take more from this (game) of things we need to get better at and (gain) awareness of our weaknesses than we would from any kind of win of 15, 20 or 30 points,” he said.

The victory allowed Mountlake Terrace to push its season record to 7-0, including 6-0 in Wesco.

“But it’s not about wins or losses right now,” Sood said. “There are a lot of teams in our league that are going to get better (this season), and on Dec. 16, if you’re caught up in wins and losses, you’re not getting better.”

The Hawks spotted Glacier Peak a 3-0 lead on a 3-pointer by wing Jacob Davelaar, but Mountlake Terrace promptly countered with a 3-pointer from guard Blake Fernandez and the Hawks went on top for good moments later. The margin reached 16-5 early in the second period before the Grizzlies began to chip away at the deficit.

Mountlake Terrace led 23-17 at halftime and 37-29 through three periods, and an 8-2 scoring burst to start the fourth quarter lifted the Hawks to a 45-31 lead. Glacier Peak rallied with seven straight points to cut the lead to seven, but the Grizzlies would come no closer.

Late in the game “they hit a couple of shots that could have been momentum killers for us,” Mountlake Terrace center Ryan Shannon said, “but we held our poise. … I thought it was a solid win overall.”

The Hawks prevailed in large part because they finally did something they did not do well earlier in the game — shoot free throws. Mountlake Terrace was just 2-for-8 from the line at halftime and 3-for-10 after three quarters, but then went 11-for-13 at the stripe in the fourth period.

The Hawks got a big game from Shannon, who had 14 points, 16 rebounds and three blocked shots. Still, Glacier Peak kept him in check at the offensive end, save for a stretch of just over three minutes in the second quarter when he scored nine straight points.

Otherwise Shannon had only a single field goal in the third quarter — a terrific rim-rocking dunk from the 6-foot-7 senior — and three free throws in the game’s final 48 seconds.

Glacier Peak was clearly focused on containing Shannon, Sood pointed out. “I could hardly see Ryan because there were so many white jerseys around him sometimes,” he said.

“We obviously have to get him more involved,” Sood added. “But I can’t sit here and say we took a lot of bad shots. … We have multiple guys that can score and when they’re open, they need to look for it.”

Glacier Peak coach Brian Hunter called the game “a great test for us. And it was fun. This is what this time of year is about.

“I really can’t fault the effort of our kids,” he went on. “I love how hard our guys play. They sell out on every play, so there’s a lot there that we feel really good about. … There’s plenty of things that we did well and obviously some things we need to work on.”

At Glacier Peak H.S.

Mountlake Terrace11121417—54

Glacier Peak5121217—46

Mountlake Terrace—Zerom 2, A. Moisant 0, Fernandez 13, Shannon 14, Armstead 7, Bowman 8, E. Moisant 7, Russell 3. Glacier Peak—Tarvin 3, Klop 0, Vader 8, Rosales 5, Kiser 8, Preece 0, Pederson 13, Pohrman 4, Davelaar 5. 3-point goals—Fernandez 1, Bowman 2, Armstead 1, Tarvin 1, Vader 1, Rosales 1, Davelaar 1. Records—Mountlake Terrace is 6-0 in league, 7-0 overall. Glacier Peak is 3-2, 4-3.