Mountlake Terrace boys down Timberline, reach quarterfinals

TACOMA — One goal the Mountlake Terrace boys basketball team takes into every game is to hold its opponent below its season average.

Just about all season long, the Hawks have done just that to their challengers.

And it was no different under the bright lights of the Tacoma Dome on Wednesday when Terrace took on a high-scoring Timberline squad.

The Hawks held the Blazers to their fourth-lowest scoring output of the season and 13.6 points below their season average, Zaveon Jones scored 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds, and ninth-seeded Terrace advanced to the quarterfinals of the Class 3A Hardwood Classic with a 65-62 win over eighth-seeded Timberline.

“As long as you’re moving to the right (of the bracket), how can’t you feel good about things?” Terrace coach Nalin Sood said. “During the season, we try not to spend too much time talking about wins and losses because we want to just talk about the process and getting better. But now for the past two, three weeks … it’s been survive and advance.”

Jones did all of his work inside while helping the Hawks pile up a whopping 44 points in the paint as a team. He shot an effciecnt 11 of 16 from the field and scored 10 of his points in the fourth quarter.

“He’s another kid who just keeps playing,” Sood said. “I’ve said it before, he’s just got a skill set inside that we’d be foolish not to capitalize on.”

Jeffrey Anyimah added 18 points, all the final three quarters, for Terrace, which shot 16 of 28 (57.1%) from the field in the second half while holding Timberline to 12 of 31 (38.7%) shooting.

The game featured 13 lead changes and eight ties.

Anyimah scored nine points, including a deep 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer, during a 15-6 Terrace (19-2) run that reached early into the fourth quarter. Vito Mkrtychyan’s coast-to-coast layup capped the run and gave the Hawks a 49-43 lead — the largest lead any team held all game.

The Blazers (17-6) answered back with an 11-5 run of their own, finished off by Brooklyn Hicks’ basket in the paint that made it 54-51 Timberline midway through the fourth.

Jones went to work in the paint and scored 10 of Terrace’s next 12 points en route to 63-60 lead with under 1 minute remaining. Mkrtychyan and Hicks traded a pair of made free throws before the Hawks missed the front end of a one-and-one that left the door open for Timberline to have a chance to tie it trailing 65-62 in the final seconds. But a 3-point attempt was off the mark and Terrace held on.

“We found a way to make plays,” Sood said. “Timberline is a good team. I’ve said that before. Everybody knows that. You knew that they weren’t going down easy.”

Jones and Adison Mattix combined for 10 points as Mountlake Terrace jumped out to an 11-6 lead midway through the first. Timberline stormed back with six straight points to take a 12-11 lead at the end of the first.

Anyimah drilled a deep 3-pointer to ignite a 12-6 Terrace run for a 27-23 lead late in the second. Miles Gurskie’s 3-pointer just before halftime made it 27-26 heading into the break.

Chris Meegan added eight points, nine rebounds and three assists and Mattix had eight points, six rebounds and two blocks for the Hawks.

Gurskie netted 22 points and Hicks had 21 points with 10 rebounds for the Blazers.

Terrace advanced to face No. 7 Mount Spokane Thursday at 2 p.m. It’s the first time the Hawks have made it to the state quarterfinals since 2013.

“I feel good right now,” Jones said. “We got another win. We get more time to play basketball games, and we’re going to try and win and get to the championship.”