Mountlake Terrace overcame a first-half, double-digit deficit and played suffocating second-half defense to earn a 60-52 win against Clover Park during the regional round of the 2A state tournament on Saturday at Mount Tahoma High School.
Sean Kirk led the Hawks with 19 points, Brock Davis scored 16 and Khyree Armstead added 14.
The win sets Mountlake Terrace (14-10) up with a Hardwood Classic loser-out game against North Kitsap at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Yakima SunDome. A win would advance the Hawks to the quarterfinals where they would face Selah the following morning.
“The fourth quarter it just came down to really solid defense,” Mountlake Terrace coach Nalin Sood said. “Their best player didn’t score a field goal. (Davien) Harris-Williams didn’t score a basket in the fourth quarter.”
Clover Park entered the regional matchup averaging 67.4 points per game, and Sood felt the Hawks’ defensive effort decided the outcome.
Mountlake Terrace trailed 28-26 at halftime, but the Hawks outscored Clover Park 21-10 during the third quarter and held on late in the fourth by hitting five of six critical free throws.
Harris-Williams scored a game-high 25 points, and no other Warrior logged more than seven.
“We did a good job of sharing the basketball, and multiple guys found open shooters,” Sood said. “But the big thing was our defensive effort and holding them way below their scoring average.”
King’s 50, Northwest 46
King’s started strong, played tight defense and beat Northwest in a 1A state regional game, which coach Rick Skeen said “wasn’t really a thing of beauty.”
The Saturday victory at Mountlake Terrace High School sets up King’s with a Hardwood Classic quarterfinal matchup against either La Salle or La Center at 3:45 Thursday at the Yakima SunDome.
Chewy Zevenbergen and Dawson Porcello each scored 14 points, and Luke Wicks added 11 for the Knights (21-5).
“It was a grinder of a playoff game, two evenly matched teams,” Skeen said. “You do what you have to do and have to win ugly sometimes against good teams like that, and we were excited to get the win.”
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