For Mountlake Terrace’s Derek Anyimah, seeing clearly may be overrated.

Despite losing a contact in the first quarter, Anyimah found his way to the rim enough to score 20 points and lead the Mountlake Terrace Hawks to a 49-43 win over the West Seattle Wildcats Wednesday during the Mountlake Terrace Holiday Tournament.

The victory lifted the Hawks overall record to 6-2, matching the win total that the team achieved all of last year. The loss was the first for the previously-unbeaten Wildcats, now 7-1 overall.

Anyimah admitted that his eyesight was a little fuzzy after losing the contact out of his right eye early in the game. The Hawk senior scored just two points during the first half, but recovered for 18 points in the second half.

“I didn’t know how the second half was going to go with just one eye,” Anyimah admitted, “but I took that first shot — a three-pointer — and it felt good.”

Anyimah’s second half performance helped erase a West Seattle lead of eight points midway through the third quarter. The Hawks took the lead for good at 40-38 with 3:40 to go in the game on a Daniel Johnson baseline jumper.

Terrace outscored the Wildcats 11-5 in the final four minutes to secure the victory.

Hawk Shimron Masih tallied 16 points in the game, helped by going 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. West Seattle was led in scoring by the 13 points of Carter Golgart; junior Nate Pryor added 12 points for the Wildcats.

The victory was the third in a row for Terrace, a team that only had six wins during the 2014-2015 season. Anyimah believed the win over West Seattle showed the difference between this year’s Hawk squad and the team from last year.

“Last year I don’t think we would have finished that game,” Anyimah explained. “We’ve talked about focusing and finishing games, doing all those little things we need to do.”

Terrace will next face Marysville-Pilchuck on Saturday, Jan. 2, at 2 p.m.at Mountlake Terrace High School, a game that was quickly arranged and added to the schedule after the Hawks’ opening game of their holiday tournament was cancelled. Terrace was to have played Canyon Springs (Las Vegas) on Dec. 29, but the Pioneers cancelled their appearance in the event the week before.

The game was broadcast on the Sound Live Sports Network. You can see the archived broadcast here.
Prep Boys Basketball: West Seattle vs. Mountlake Terrace, Dec. 30

West Seattle                         8        12       12       11       —         43
Mountlake Terrace              10       5        13       19       —         49

West Seattle scoring: Carter Golgart 13, Nate Pryor 12, Chaaka Trahan 9, Abdullahi Mohamed 5, Akili Kasim 2, Yusuf Mohamed 2, Gabe Gangon, Tyler Lenzie

Mountlake Terrace scoring: Derek Anyimah 20, Shimron Masih 16, Khyree Armstead 8, Daniel Johnson 3, Gabe Altenberger 1, Joey Gardner 1, Gabe Powter, Carson Dallas

Records: Mountlake Terrace 2-0 in Wesco League South play, 6-2 overall; West Seattle 5-0 in Metro League, 7-1 overall

Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Marysville-Pilchuck, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2:00 p.m. at Mountlake Terrace High School