After scoring 68 and 70 points in their first two games of the season, the Mountlake Terrace Hawks could only muster 44 points Saturday night against a strong-willed Lynnwood Royals squad. Fortunately for Terrace, those 44 points were enough.

The Hawks defeated the Royals 44-32 at Lynnwood High School in the Wesco League boys basketball opener for both squads.

The win pushed the Hawks’ overall record to 3-0 after just the first week of the 2015-2016 season. The squad totaled just six wins all of last season.

With the score tied 22-22 at halftime, Terrace turned up the defense heat on the Royals in the second half, limiting Lynnwood to just 10 points after the break.
“Defensively I thought we did a pretty good job overall because we held them to 32 (points), so that’s never bad basketball,” said Terrace Coach Nalin Sood. “Obviously that’s a positive, what we did defensively. But I think we can be better offensively.”

Lynnwood pressure defense was a major factor for the Hawk offensive woes Saturday night, Sood said. “Offensively we just couldn’t get it going, but give them some credit – they had a nice zone press that slowed (us) down and took time off the shot clock,” he explained.

“My hat’s off to Lynnwood and how they played,” Sood added. “The kids played hard and their scheme tonight was tough.”

Royals Coach Bobby Hinnenkamp liked what he saw from his team on the defensive end of the court. “What I’ve been preaching to these kids from day one is that we just want to compete. Give me a hard 32 minutes. If we can compete for 32 minutes I think we will be in a position to win some games,” he said. “I can’t ask for anything more from these kids today. They competed hard for 32 minutes. Our defensive effort was great.”

It’s the offense that concerns Hinnenkamp after the first two games of the season (Lynnwood is 0-2 after losses to Terrace and Mariner). “I’m going to be honest; we’re still trying to figure out where it’s going to come,” Hinnenkamp confessed. “We’ve got some guys in Bryce Milne and Tanner Mack and even Ryan (Rapanan) and Eli Edwards — they can provide some scoring.”

“I told them today that’s on me as a coach to figure out how to get our guys the ball in the right positions to score,” Hinnekamp continued. “I’ll be going back to watch film tonight and back to the drawing board tomorrow and we’re going to keep working to try to get them shots that they are going to be successful at.”

Both Lynnwood and Terrace have a few days to work on their offenses before their next games, when the Royals host Archbishop Murphy and the Hawks head to Seattle to face Roosevelt.

Prep Boys Basketball: Mountlake Terrace at Lynnwood, Dec. 5
Terrace 13 9 10 12 — 44
Lynnwood 8 14 5 5 — 32
Records: Mountlake Terrace 1-0 in Wesco League, 3-0 overall; Lynnwood 0-1 in Wesco League, 0-2 overall
Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Roosevelt, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 7:00 p.m. at Roosevelt High School (Seattle)
Lynnwood next game: versus Archbishop Murphy, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 7:15 p.m. at Lynnwood High School

— Story and photos by Doug Petrowski