MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Mountlake Terrace weathered a cold-shooting performance while advancing in the 3A District 1 boys basketball tournament on Thursday night.
Zach Karels had a team-high 11 points and Julian Snow added seven points and nine rebounds to lead third-seeded Mountlake Terrace to a grind-it-out 40-33 first-round win over visiting Shorewood at the Hawks gym.
The Hawks (11-10 overall), who struggled through a seven-game losing streak midway through the season, held Shorewood (10-11) to 33 percent shooting (13 of 39) from the floor while connecting on 41.4 percent (17 of 41) of their own shots.
Despite defeating the seventh-seeded Thunderbirds twice during the regular season — by double-digits both times — Mountlake Terrace struggled to find a rhythm all night.
“It would be really interesting if anybody kept a stat of what the scores are when you play a team a third time,” Mountlake Terrace head coach Nalin Sood said. “I can sit here and say it’s a layoff, I can sit here and say we’re doing this or that, but they played good defense, I’ve got to give them some credit. It’s not the right thing to say, but they played good defense and I thought our defense wasn’t bad.”
Shorewood sophomore post Andrew Hawkinson led the Thunderbirds with 13 points and eight rebounds, helping his team climb back into the game with eight fourth-quarter points.
The Thunderbirds utilized a 10-3 run late in the final quarter to cut the Hawks’ lead down to three points, 37-33, with 24 seconds left on the clock.
But a youthful Shorewood side, which had just one senior on the floor, couldn’t capitalize on Terrace’s late-game jitters.
Shorewood was without senior forward Blake Snell and his five points per game average because of personal reasons, according to head coach Marv Morris.
“I think we got up 10 a couple times and just (needed to) get a stop or make a couple plays to finish it off and we just couldn’t get it done,” Sood said. “We’re going to have to be better on Saturday night.”
Mountlake Terrace travels to Mount Vernon on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. winner-to-state semifinal matchup.
“We’re going to have to keep hanging our hats on defense and hope we can be a little bit more efficient and shoot a little bit better on the road up there,” Sood said.
The Hawks harassed Shorewood into 15 turnovers and stymied their half-court offense for much of the contest while limiting the Thunderbirds to just 17 points through three quarters.
Shorewood plays rival Shorecrest on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in a loser-out matchup at Shorecrest.
“We were a little intimidated by their physical play, again,” Morris said. “It wasn’t pretty.”
Junior forward Semir Kadiric had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Thunderbirds.
“Our kids get psyched up to play Shorecrest, so that’s what we’ve got going for us,” Morris added.
For Mountlake Terrace, a team that won four of its last five games entering the tournament, Sood is trying to steer clear of applying too much pressure on his charges while facing down a tough second-seeded Mount Vernon squad.
“It’s one win away (from earning a state berth), but it’s also two (losses) away from the season being over,” Sood said. “I don’t want to put the pressure on the kids. They’re going to have the same breakfast on Sunday whether we win or lose.”
At Mountlake Terrace H.S.
Shorewood 6 7 4 15 — 33
Mountlake Terrace 7 10 10 13 — 40
Shorewood—Pere 0, Andrews 2, Kadiric 11, Berquist 7, Hendrickson 0, Carroll 0, Hawkinson 13, Giles 0. Mountlake Terrace—Johnson 5, Powell 0, Fernandez 5, Karels 11, Armstead 4, Haldane 6, Lambert 0, Snow 7, Swanstrom 2. 3-point goals—Kadiric 1, Hawkinson 1. Records—Shorewood 10-11 overall. Mountlake Terrace 11-10.
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