Non-league basketball games may not count for much, but they often are a barometer of where a team stands against competition state-wide. For Mountlake Terrace there was no better way to find out than facing perennial power O’Dea in the championship game of the Mountlake Terrace Holiday Tournament on Dec. 30.
The Hawks lost the game 61-46, but coach Nalin Sood said the team now has a better idea of things they need to work on as the season moves forward.
Sood says the Hawks perimeter players need to focus on improving their ball-handling and the post players need to work on their defending and rebounding to be more successful in future games.
“They were pretty quick and athletic,” Sood said of O’Dea. “They were a tough match-up.”
Despite losing, Sood said that he would play O’Dea “100 times out of 100” at this point in the season to get an idea of where his team is at.
“They don’t rebuild, they just reload,” Sood said. “It’s always good for us to play O’Dea.”
Terrace reached the finals by defeating Sequim in the first round of the tournament 63-55.
“The first game was a little bit of an unknown, which is good because if you play well you will wind up playing unknown teams later in the season,” Sood said.
Defensively, Sood wasn’t satisfied with the amount of points his team gave up.
“Obviously we aren’t excited about giving up 55 and 61,” he said. Sood added that he would like to keep teams in the 40s or low 50s scoring.
After the Holiday Tournament, the Hawks were 4-3 on the season and 3-2 in league.
“We have a chance to be a good basketball team, but we aren’t there yet,” Sood said. “We can be a team at the end of the season that’s playing for something.”
Jacob Champoux led the Hawks with 16 points in the championship game. He scored 17 points the night before against Sequim to lead the way.
The Hawks choose who they invite to their yearly tournament and Sood tries to keep the competition stiff.
“We want to make it as tough as possible,” he said.
Sood saw some good signs in the tournament, but also saw a lot of things that he and his coaching staff will be working on with his team.
“I would say overall it was a B-minus,” he said.
But Sood knows his team has the capabilities of making the necessary improvements.
“This team is as hard of a working team as I have ever coached,” he said.
The Hawks played Mariner Jan. 5 at home and travel to Shorecrest on Friday.
With the Holiday Tournament behind them, the Hawks now look forward to the remainder of the season.
“The next 13 games are really what matters the most,” Sood said.
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