The Stanwood High School boys basketball team showed why they are the No. 2-ranked team in the AP State 3A Boys Prep Basketball rankings Friday night as they easily outlasted the Mountlake Terrace Hawks 66-52 in a District 1 3A basketball tournament semi-final at Jackson High School.

While the Spartans will move on to the district championship game on Feb. 22, the Hawks will have to battle their way through the losers’ bracket of the tourney if they want to prolong their 2013-2014 season. Terrace will face the Everett Seagulls on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. in a loser-out match-up at Mountlake Terrace High School.

Stanwood was led by the 32 points of Josh Thayer, who ran wild with 26 points in the second half Friday night. Thayer beat the clock at the end of the third quarter with a long three-point bucket at the buzzer, then scored the Spartans’ first nine points of the fourth quarter on his way to his biggest scoring effort of the year.

While Thayer and the Spartans controlled much of the game, it was the Hawks who were in charge for the first 3:46 of the match-up. Terrace jumped to a 10-0 lead before Stanwood went on a 20-5 run over the next six-and-a-half minutes, aided sharply by a pressing 1-2-2 zone defense that forced 14 first-half Hawk turnovers. Terrace was able to close to within two points twice, 20-18 and 22-20, midway through the second quarter, but that was as close as they would get to the undefeated Spartans.

A balanced scoring attack, with all five starters getting on the board, gave the Hawks a 15-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. But Terrace was unable to keep up with the Spartans, and particularly the sparkling play of Thayer, for the remainder of the game.

Hawk Greg Bowman led the squad with 21 points, while Loren Lacasse contributed 15 points.

In other District 1 tournament action, Glacier Peak was knocked out of the tourney after a 65-54 lost to Everett. Ferndale defeated Shorewood in a high-scoring affair 86-75, ending the T-Birds’ season. Shorecrest earned a spot in the district championship game with a 55-51 victory over Marysville-Pilchuck.

You can view the complete District 1 3A Boys Basketball Tournament bracket here.

MTHS Boys Basketball vs. Stanwood, Feb. 14
Terrace     15   6  12  19 — 52
Stanwood 14  14  16  22 — 66

MTHS individual scoring: Greg Bowman 21; Loren Lacasse 15; Derek Anyimah 6; Yoel Tekle 4; Isaiah Green 3; Gabe Altenberger 3; Prescott Day; Matthew Moisant
Stanwood individual scoring: Josh Thayer 32; Drew Stang 12; Ian Zipp 10; Karsten Chaplik 7; Brady Garcea 5; Skout Roberson; Drew Wright; Anthony Engelhart

Records: Mountlake Terrace 15-8; Stanwood 23-0

MTHS next game: versus Everett, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 7 p.m. at Mountlake Terrace High School (loser-out district tournament game)

— By Doug Petrowski