With wins already this season over Lynnwood and Edmonds-Woodway, the Meadowdale Mavericks boys basketball team marched into Mountlake Terrace Friday with purpose — to beat the Hawks and earn a sweep of Edmonds School District opponents. And from the opening tipoff to the final buzzer, the Mavericks made the most of the opportunity

Starting fast and finishing true, Meadowdale picked up a 56-51 victory over Mountlake Terrace to go 3-0 against their school district rivals this year.

The Mavs jumped out to a 15-4 lead late in the first quarter and held a 29-17 advantage at halftime as Terrace struggled offensively. It was the lowest scoring half of basketball for the Hawks this season, just as the four points scored in the second quarter was a season low for a quarter for Terrace.

Knowing ahead of time that a matchup against the Hawks would likely be a defensive battle, Meadowdale Coach Roger O’Neill exited the locker room after the game all smiles.

“They always play such great defense year-in and year-out — Coach (Nalin) Sood always does such great job with that,” O’Neill said of Terrace. “But I was really pleased with our defense tonight. We were able to get stops consistantly, even in times where we weren’t scoring the ball very well. There were patches there in the third quarter and we were to kind of keep them at arm’s length with our defense.”

The Mavs could only muster nine points of their own in the third, giving Terrace a chance to climb within six points at 36-30 late in the period. But a big fourth quarter by Colton Walsh was enough to fend off a complete comeback by the Hawks.

Walsh scored 12 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of free throws with 6.5 seconds to go in the game to secure the Meadowdale victory. 

The senior scored many of his game points inside going up against Terrace post player Jace Breakfield. 

“Jace, he’s very lengthy; he’s a good shot blocker but I just got to go up strong (and) don’t fade,” Walsh said of his strategy going against the taller Breakfield.

O’Neill was even impressed with the play of Walsh on Friday. “He made some plays tonight where I looked at my assistant coaches and said, ‘How did he make that?” O’Neill said.

Walsh also converted all seven of his second-half free throw attempts as the Mavs as a team went 11-for-12 from the foul line for the game.

Meadowdale’s Hunter Moen contributed 13 points in the victory. Terrace was led by Breakfield and Mason Christianson, each scoring 14 points; Jeffrey Anyimah added 10 points.

The victory lifted Meadowdale’s 2A/3A Wesco League record to 9-4, 11-8 overall. The Mavericks have the inside track of getting a home game to start the District 1 3A Boys Basketball Tournament next week, but must first defeat the Archbishop Murphy Wildcats in their final game of the regular season on Monday, Feb. 10.

Despite the loss, Mountlake Terrace will also likely begin play in their District 1/2 2A Boys Basketball Tournament at home. A win over the Shorewood Thunderbirds in the team’s regular season finale on Monday, Feb. 10, will all but secure the No. 3 seed for the Hawks in the district tourney.

Terrace is also 9-4 in Wesco League play and 14-5 overall, but four of the Hawks’ five losses this year have been on their home floor.

In the opener of the Mountlake Terrace -Meadowdale basketball doubleheader on Friday, the Lady Mavs stampeded their way to a 15-1 lead late in the first quarter and went on to defeat the Lady Hawks 65-37. Kaisha Stark led the balanced Meadowdale scoring attack with 10 points.

Prep Boys Basketball: Meadowdale at Mountlake Terrace, Feb. 7

Meadowdale   18   11     9   18   —   56

Terrace   13     4   13   21   —   51

Meadowdale individual scoring: Colton Walsh 25, Hunter Moen 13, Cole Nelson 8, Mason Vaughn 7, Leonardo Baquian 3, Will McKinley, Justin Jackson

Mountlake Terrace individual scoring: Mason Christianson 14, Jace Breakfield 14, Jeffrey Anyimah 10, Robbie Baringer 7, Bradey Blackmer 2, Trazz pepper 2, Muhammed Kinteh 2, Vitaly Mkrtychyan

Records: Meadowdale 9-4 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 11-8 overall; Mountlake Terrace 9-4 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 14-5 overall

Meadowdale next game: versus Archbishop Murphy; Monday, Feb. 10; 7:15 p.m. at Meadowdale High School

Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Shorewood; Monday, Feb. 10; 7:15 p.m. at Shorewood High School

Prep Girls Basketball: Meadowdale at Mountlake Terrace, Feb. 7

Meadowdale   17   14   23   11   —   65

Terrace     3   12   13     9   —   37

Meadowdale individual scoring: Kaisha Stark 10, Lilly Williams 9, Fatoumata Jaiteh 9, Soriah Swinton 8, Ava Powell 7, Alicia Morrison 6, Nicole Dallas 6, Silja Knutsen 5, Jordan Leith 5, Maia Austvold, Jenaly Gabriel

Mountlake Terrace individual scoring: Malie Armstrong 8, Lindsey Ho 6, Berit Simonsen 6, Cameron Dunn 6, Elise Colvin 5, Ainsley Ward 2, Mya Sheffield 1

Records: Meadowdale 10-3 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 14-5 overall; Mountlake Terrace 2-11 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 4-15 overall

Meadowdale next game: versus Archbishop Murphy; Monday, Feb. 10; 7:15 p.m. at Archbishop Murphy High School

Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Shorewood; Monday, Feb. 10; 7:15 p.m. at Mountlake Terrace High School

— By Doug Petrowski