Timberwolves dominate Hawks

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — The Jackson girls basketball team did its homework before Tuesday night’s rematch with Mountlake Terrace.

In the first meeting with the Hawks in mid-January, the Timberwolves struggled on both ends of the court in a disappointing 60-35 loss, easily the team’s biggest margin of defeat this year.

The Wolfpack reviewed videotape of the game in preparation for the rematch and saw a lot of problems.

“Our spacing was off. We weren’t setting good screens,” Jackson coach Jeannie Thompson said. “We weren’t setting up our players. We were forcing shots that just weren’t in the offense.”

The players analyzed themselves and made all the right adjustments as Jackson slammed Mountlake Terrace 68-46 in a key Western Conference South Division girls basketball game at Mountlake Terrace High School.

Jackson (15-2 in the league, 16-3 overall) clinched the South Division’s No. 2 seed to the Northwest District 4A playoffs with the victory. The Wolfpack will host Monroe, the North Division’s No. 3 seed, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21. Mountlake Terrace (12-5, 13-6), the South Division’s No. 3 seed, will play the North Division’s No. 2 seed (Lake Stevens or Snohomish) on the road.

“We really came out strong and really wanted this game,” Jackson sophomore guard Ashley Todd said. “Everybody knew that if we came out and played our game then we would come out with a victory … Everybody played as a team. Everybody just really stepped up their game”

Todd scored nine of her 17 points in the first quarter. Sophomore guard Kristi Kingma led all scorers with 19 points. Junior forward Michelle Addington scored 14 points and junior center Brittany Eskridge added 13.

The Hawks stayed right with the Wolfpack for most of the first half. But Jackson started to pull away from Mountlake Terrace late in the second quarter. The Wolfpack outscored the Hawks 15-5 in the final 3 minutes, 32 seconds of the first half to take a 35-25 lead into halftime.

Jackson continued the onslaught in the third quarter with a 17-5 run and coasted to the victory.

“We really got the momentum with our offense,” Todd said. “I think that sparked our defense. Defense wins games, but I think in this game it was both offense and defense.”

At the top of the Wolfpack’s list of defensive goals was coming out strong against Mountlake Terrace’s guards. The strategy worked as the Hawks often struggled with its ball handling.

“Our focus tonight was to have a lot of guard pressure,” Thompson said. “We know that our guards are very quick. They can cause a lot of havoc out there and tonight we really pressured the ball and tried to deny their wings and were able to force some key turnovers.”

Mountlake Terrace junior center Tatiana Heck often was forced to drop back and help bring the ball up the court.

“We just played good defense,” Todd said. “We just pressured the guards and made it hard for them to get to their posts. I think that was the biggest factor.”

Heck led the Hawks with 17 points, but most of her points were scored late in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter. Teammate Bianca Rowland had 15 points. The rest of the Mountlake Terrace team combined to score only 14 points.

The loss was the second straight for Mountlake Terrace, which dropped a 63-60 game to district rival Edmonds-Woodway on Feb. 10.

Since its earlier loss to Mountlake Terrace, Jackson has won nine straight contests.

“We feel really confident going into districts,” Todd said. “The past couple of games we’ve been coming out really strong. We’ve been playing Jackson basketball.”

The Timberwolves hope to use Tuesday night’s win as a springboard for success at next week’s district tournament.

“This gives us a lot of momentum,” Thompson said. “The girls are feeling really good. Mountlake Terrace is a great basketball team. So to be able to come in here and get a good win is special for the girls. We’re hoping to carry this momentum into our first round of playoff and hopefully get a first round win at our place.”

Playing a first-round game at home is an added bonus that can only help fuel the Wolfpack.

“We’re really excited,” Todd said. “The home court advantage hopefully will give us a little bit of a spark just because we’re playing in front of our own fans.”