LYNNWOOD — Mountlake Terrace boys basketball head coach Nalin Sood had a pretty good idea his squad was going to have a tough time scoring against a Lynnwood team that featured 6-foot-9 standout center Simi Fajemisin. The solution for him was pretty simple: Don’t let them score either.
Senior post Karsten Strieby scored 10 points, senior forward Paul Clingan added eight points while turning in a superb defensive effort and the Hawks won a gritty, defense-oriented Wesco South game 44-35 over the Lynnwood Royals Saturday night at Lynnwood High School.
“Obviously, any time you hold someone under 40 points, you’re going to have a great chance to win,” Sood said.
The game was Mountlake Terrace’s season-opener. Lynnwood defeated Sammamish in its season-opener on Friday behind 27 points from senior Aaron Matzen.
But Matzen could never get on track on Saturday, finishing with seven points while being defended much of the game by Clingan.
“(One of the keys) to the game was holding their key player to seven points,” Mountlake Terrace forward Ryan Sells said. “Paul Clingan did a great job on Matzen.”
Clingan also teamed with Strieby to help put the game away for good in the fourth quarter.
While Terrace led virtually the entire game, Lynnwood pulled within three points at 28-25 to open the fourth quarter when Fajemisin dropped in a mini-hook shot.
After a pair of Mountlake Terrace free throws, Strieby blocked a Lynnwood shot attempt, and then drove and kicked out to Clingan for a 3-pointer to push the lead to seven points with about six minutes remaining.
Fajemisin’s then drew his fourth foul of the night when he was called for going over Strieby’s back, and it became clear that Terrace would pull away.
“We rebounded,” Ryan Sells added, “and we did a good job of fronting Simi.”
Fajemisin finished with a game-high 16 points. Eight of those came in the first half, when the entire rest of the Lynnwood team combined to score just six points.
“Give Lynnwood some credit,” Sood said. “They played tough defense … Simi keeps getting better everytime I see him.”
Mountlake Terrace made an obvious effort to pressure Lynnwood’s guards throughout the game, frequently going to a full court press.
Junior guard Jacob Champoux came off the bench to help lead the wave of defenders Mountlake Terrace threw at Lynnwood and was rewarded for his hustle by accumulating three fouls before halftime. Champoux finished with five points, all of them coming from the free-throw line.
While Lynnwood didn’t always turn the ball over in the face of extreme pressure, it did prevent the Royals from getting into their offensive sets for long stretches of time, and frequently forced Fajemisin to come out to the top of the key to receive the ball.
“Going to the full court, we work on that in practice,” Sells said. “We went to it and it just was working. It’s what we thrive on.”
Both teams sported senior-heavy squads. Eleven out of 12 players are seniors for Lynnwood. Mountlake Terrace boasts seven seniors.
Strieby connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the key to open the game, and Sells followed that by stealing the ball and nailing a pull-up jump shot in the paint to give Terrace an early 5-0 lead and set the tone.
At Lynnwood H.S.
M. Terrace109916—44
Lynnwood104912—35
Mountlake Terrace—Champoux 5, J. Sells 7, R. Sells 8, Clingan 8, Lechtenberg 2, Estrada 2, Strieby 10, Stracener. Lynnwood—Alexander, Bryant 2, Daniel, Elder, Evans 6, Fajemisin 16, Matzen 7, Meinken, Milne 2, Shippey, Steelquist, Wilson 2. 3-point goals- Clingan, Strieby, Evans 2, Matzen. Records—Mountlake Terrace 1-0 league, 1-0 overall. Lynnwood 1-0, 1-1.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
