In a game that basketball enthusiasts will probably not look back on with admiration, the Glacier Peak Grizzlies hobbled past the Mountlake Terrace Hawks 43-33 in a Wesco 3A South affair Tuesday night at Mountlake Terrace High School.

“I think we set basketball back a little bit, both teams,” said winning Coach Brian Hunter. Hawk Coach Nalin Sood agreed: “Offensively, we set the game back.”

Each squad shot only 18 percent (4-22) from the field in the second half, with the Hawks going 0-8 and scoreless in the third quarter.

For Terrace, their 33 points was the second-lowest offensive output of the season; for Glacier Peak, their 43 points was their lowest effort this year.

“If you had told me before the game we’re going to keep them in the 40’s, I’d have said we’d be successful,” Sood said. “We had our chances; we didn’t score in the third and we just couldn’t get looks.”’

“That game was for the taking,” he added.

After the Grizzlies surged out to a 20-13 lead midway through the second quarter, the Hawks got tough on the defensive end of the court with three blocked shots and six unanswered points to pull within one point at 20-19 with two minutes to go. But that was the closest Terrace would get as the Grizzlies put together a seven-point run of their own late in the quarter, topped off by a Zach Hatch 3-pointer to push the lead to 27-19.

The Hawks closed out the first half with three consecutive Gabe Altenberger free throws.

The Glacier Peak 27-22 halftime lead increased to 30-22 after three quarters as Grizzlies’ Jacob Middendorf was the only one to find the scoreboard in the period. The 6-4 senior scored on an early lay-in and a late free throw; the rest of his squad went 0-12 in the quarter. But the Hawks couldn’t take advantage of the woeful Glacier Peak shooting as the squad missed on all eight of their field goal attempts.

The Grizzlies kept Terrace at bay in the fourth quarter with a pressing defense and by going 7-for-8 from the free throw line.

Hunter was relieved to walk away with the road victory despite a less-than-stellar performance by his Glacier Peak squad. “Road wins are the toughest ones to get,” he said, adding, “It wasn’t necessarily a beautiful game by any means.”

Hatch and Middendorf led the Grizzlies in scoring with 11 points each.

Even in the loss, Sood found some encouraging signs for his Hawk squad. “I thought Shimron (Masih) did a really nice job defensively tonight,” he said. “That’s a big positive for us going forward.”

Sood also liked the effort he saw in sophomore Joey Gardner, who came off the bench to lead the team in scoring with nine points. “Joey, who’s aggressive and willing to take some chances — that’s not a bad thing,” he said. “That’s why he’s a catalyst for us a little bit, defensively and offensively. He pushes the ball offensively; defensively he goes to work. It’s nice to have his depth and what he brings to the table for us.”

Each team suffered what could be a significant injury in the game. Terrace’s Derek Anyimah went down with 2:14 to go in the third quarter with a right knee injury as he was driving the lane. The knee was heavily-wrapped following the game and forced the starting forward into using crutches.

Glacier Peak lost sixth-man Jacob Argue to a left ankle injury in the second quarter. Argue came out of the halftime locker room on crutches with the injured ankle wrapped in ice.

– By Doug Petrowski

Boys Prep Basketball: Glacier Peak at Mountlake Terrace, Jan. 6

Glacier Peak           9         18        3          13        —          43
Mountlake Terrace   7         15        0          11        —          33

Mountlake Terrace individual scoring: Joey Gardner 9, Ryan Lacasse 8, Gabe Altenberger 5, Derek Aniymah 5, Shimron Masih 4, Gabriel Powter 2, Justin Hopkins, Ali Shah, Daniel Johnson

Glacier Peak individual scoring: Zach Hatch 11, Jacob Middendorf 11, Zach Argue 8, Brady Southard 7, Grant Peltier 4, Justin Guffey 2, Jacob Argue, Logan Preece, Connor Seed

Records: Mountlake Terrace 1-2 in Wesco 3A, 3-7 overall; Glacier Peak 5-0, 9-2

Mountlake Terrace next game: vs. Shorecrest, Friday, Jan. 9, 7:15 p.m. at Shorecrest High School

Glacier Peak next game: versus Lynnwood, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 7:15 p.m. at Glacier Peak High School