In a matchup of Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association (WIBCA) Hall of Fame coaches, it was Mountlake Terrace’s Nalin Sood that came out on top Thursday.

Sood’s Mountlake Terrace Hawks defeated the Squalicum Storm 54-40 in a non-conference game played at Squalicum High School in Bellingham.

Sood was inducted into the WIBCA Hall of Fame this past summer; Squalicum Coach David Dickson has been a member of the hall since 2016.

While coaching honors are recognitions of a long career in Washington state high school basketball, it was the Hawk players that earned some distinction — especially with their defense — on Thursday. The 40 points scored by the Storm was well below the team’s average of 58.7 points scored per game last season.

On the offensive end of the court, Mason Christianson led Terrace with 14 points in the game. The junior also made all six of his free throw attempts in the fourth quarter to help secure the win.

Mason Petersen scored 11 points for the Hawks, nine in the first half by sinking a trio of three-pointers.

Juniors Dedrick Mitchell and Lincoln Hofer led the Storm with 15 and 14 points respectively in the loss.

Terrace will have a few days to savor the season-opener victory; the Hawks will next play on Wednesday, Dec. 5, when they host Monroe at Mountlake Terrace High School. Game time is set for 7:15 p.m.

Prep Boys Basketball: Mountlake Terrace at Squalicum, Nov. 29

Terrace 12 11 16 13 — 54

Squalicum 13  6  9 12 — 40

Mountlake Terrace individual scoring:  Mason Christianson 14, Mason Peterson 11, Jesse James Martineau 9, Jace Breakfield 9, Brady Blackmer 5, Robbie Baringer 3, Muhammad Kinteh 3, Trevor Leen, Traz Pepper

— By Doug Petrowski