MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Most of Friday night’s opening round game of the 3A District 1 boys basketball tournament between Mountlake Terrace and Arlington was played even, but when there was a run it belonged to the Hawks and it cost the Eagles dearly.
Mountlake Terrace went on runs late in the first and third quarters and closed the game strong to defeat the Eagles 65-48. With the win, the Hawks advance to Tuesday’s semifinals against Glacier Peak. Arlington will play a loser-out game against Stanwood that same night.
The Hawks (15-6) were paced by junior forward Daniel Johnson, who finished with a team-high 17 points and five assists. Two of those assists came on back-to-back plays in the fourth quarter that stretched the lead to 13 points and all but put the game away.
“It was a good all-around game in terms of his assist-to-turnover ratio,” Mountlake Terrace head coach Nalin Sood said. “He shot the ball well. Daniel can get a little rhythm going on his outside shot, but then he can also get to the basket. He did a tremendous job just making us a better team because he was finding guys with some really nice passes. When Daniel keeps his focus at a high level I think he’s a really good basketball player.”
Arlington (9-12) came into the game focused on stopping senior post Derek Anyimah and senior guard Gabe Altenberger. Altenberger was held in check with just three points and Anyimah finished with 12.
But the Eagles didn’t have an answer for Johnson.
“He killed us,” Arlington head coach Nick Brown said. “We were pretty focused on (Anyimah and Altenberger), but we just seemed to lose (Johnson). They put us out of what we wanted to do and we did not do what we wanted to do tonight. That’s not the team I’ve coached the last couple of games — even in some of the losses — we just weren’t together.”
Arlington was led by senior guard Donovan Sellgren, who finished with a game-high 20 points.
Both teams will face opponents they are very familiar with in their next game. Mountlake Terrace gets a Glacier Peak team it has beaten twice already this season, while the Eagles get Stanwood, which has two previous wins over the Eagles.
“Throw out the previous two games,” Sood said of his team’s wins over the Grizzlies. “For them to go up to Stanwood and beat them, obviously they’re playing good basketball.
“You would rather be the coach that has won the two games, but then also if you’ve lost two you’re going to be pretty motivated,” Sood added. “Glacier Peak is going to be awfully motivated in that basketball game.”
Like Glacier Peak, Arlington should have a similar motivation. The Eagles lost their first game to the Spartans by 30 points, but cut that margin of defeat down to just nine in their second meeting.
“We’ll play whoever is there,” Brown said. “(Stanwood head coach) Zach (Ward) does a great job. He’s a great coach. They have a great program. Either way, with Stanwood and Glacier Peak, you know it’s going to be a battle. This is not the yellow-brick road here, this is a tough road. We know this and we knew this was going to be a tough part of the road. We got thumped up a little bit, so we’re going to have to lick our wounds and go back tomorrow and get ready for Stanwood.
“I’ve already prepared them, whoever it is, it’s going to be tougher than heck, so we’ve got to be ready to play.”
At Mountlake Terrace H.S.
Arlington 10 8 14 13 —48
M. Terrace 18 10 14 23 —65
Arlington—Sam Tregoning 0, Tylor Morton 12, Donovan Sellgren 20, Aaron Carlson 2, Tim Zachman 0, Jaren Carey 0, Cameron Reece 0, Drew Bryson 2, Jalen Profit 0, Brennon Wiersma 12, Shane Kerschner 0. Mountlake Terrace—Gabe Powter 1, Daniel Johnson 17, Joey Gardner 5, Keegan Grayson-Zehrung 0, Khyree Armstead 11, Gabe Altenberger 3, Derek Anyimah 12, Shimron Masih 12, Carson Dallas 4, Akol Yel 0. Records—Arlington 9-12. Mountlake Terrace 15-6.
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