MOUNTLAKE TERRACE
What happens when superior size meets stellar speed? On Feb. 17 at the Mountlake Terrace High School gym, the big guys ruled.
Sparked early by posts Karsten Strieby (6-foot-7) and Tyler Stracener (6-8), the Mountlake Terrace boys basketball team built a 14-point lead in the first quarter and drilled the smaller Arlington Eagles 75-57 in a first-round Class 4A District 1 tournament game.
Strieby and Stracener, both seniors, combined to score 14 points in the opening period. In all they tallied 30 points, 17 rebounds and five assists for Wesco South No. 1 seed Mountlake Terrace (16-5). Forward Paul Clingan contributed 10 rebounds and seven points for the victorious Hawks, who play North No. 2 seed Stanwood (16-5) in a winner-to-state game 8 p.m. Friday at Jackson High. Stanwood beat South No. 3 seed Jackson (13-9) 46-35 Tuesday.
Generating a barrage of high-percentage shots, Mountlake Terrace made 29 of 55 field-goal attempts (52.7 percent). The Hawks hope to put on a similar display against Stanwood as they try to reach the state tournament for the first time since 2005.
Strieby, who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Stracener (12 points, seven boards, three assists) scored Terrace’s first six points and set the tone against a quick but undersized Arlington squad. The Eagles’ tallest interior player is 6-2 Tyler Busby.
Terrace’s strategy was “pound the ball inside and get mismatches down there,” Strieby said. It worked. The Hawks led by scores of 20-6 and 39-21 in the first half. Arlington got no closer than nine after that.
Guard Cole Carpenter (18 points, two 3-point baskets), Busby (13 points) and guard Lucas Larson (13 points, 2 3s) led the way for Wesco North No. 4 seed Arlington, which had won four consecutive games and six of its past seven. The Eagles play Jackson in a loser-out game 8 p.m. Thursday at Jackson High.
“I don’t think we came out real ready to play,” Arlington coach Nick Brown said. “Their speed and their size definitely caught us a little bit off-guard. They’re physical and they’re fast.”
Arlington is known as a high-energy squad that plays stifling full-court defense. But Terrace repeatedly pushed the pace and passed inside to its athletic posts. That eventually opened up space for slashers like forward Ryan Sells, who scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the final quarter.
“We wanted to come out and run and fast-break and score points and jump on them,” said Strieby. Later, the Hawks nailed 11 of 15 free throws down the stretch.
Based on his team’s effort at practice Monday, Mountlake Terrace coach Nalin Sood had a good feeling going into the district tourney. “It was our best practice of the year. Our practices have been somewhat average the past couple weeks, but now it’s different,” said Sood, referring to postseason excitement.
Arlington did not have one of its usual starters, senior A.J. Richardson. He was replaced by sophomore Eric Carlson (eight points). Coach Brown declined to comment on Richardson’s status.
Mike Cane writes for The Herald in Everett.
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