Motivated by a tough loss to rival Meadowdale last week and the memory of a quick exit from last year’s postseason, the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors have found their inspiration during the tail end of this 2019-2020 regular season. And against an undermanned Mountlake Terrace team on Wednesday, the Warriors played with just enough fight to emerge victorious.

E-W snatched a 66-65 win over the Hawks in a Wesco League battle played at Mountlake Terrace High School.

After leading by as many as 11 points in the first quarter, the Warriors had to go toe-to-toe with Terrace in the second half as the two teams traded the lead five times in a seven-minute span.

When E-W pulled out to a 63-59 lead with 2:23 to go, some thought the game might have been over.  But a Robbie Baringer three-pointer shrunk the Warriors’ lead to 63-62 with 1:26 to play. 

The Warriors extended their advantage to 66-62 with 1:05 to go when Nuer Bol scored on a drive down the lane while being fouled, then converted the subsequent foul shot.

Terrace cut the lead to just one again at 66-65 on another Baringer long-range 3-ball with 49.4 seconds to go, then got the last possession of the game when Bradey Blackmer drew a charging foul on the Warriors’ Tollak Crawford.

After a trio of Terrace and E-W timeouts — the last with 12.6 seconds to go -` the Hawks’ final hope for a last-second game-winner slipped away as sophomore Vitaly Mkrtychyan lost possession of the ball in a maze of arms and legs in the lane; the Warriors’ grabbed the loose ball and the victory.

“It was a very big win for us,” Crawford said. The 6-foot senior forward played a post position for the Warriors on Wednesday and finished with 19 points to lead the team in scoring.

Crawford explained that the Warriors have their eyes set on a top-four seed in the postseason District 1 3A Boys Basketball Tournament next month, and that every game through the regular season finale on Feb.10 is important.

“Last year, in the first round (of the district tourney) we had to go up to Stanwood,” Tollak expounded. “We ended up losing by about 15 points; then in the second round we got Shorecrest at home and we were so down from that Stanwood game that we weren’t able to come out and play to our full potential. So this year we’re really focused on getting a home position for the playoffs.”

Wednesday’s win should help E-W as the team is battling with Meadowdale and Arlington for the No. 3 and No .4 seeds in the district tournament, with both seeds guaranteeing a bye and home game at the start of the tourney.

Tollak was one of four Warriors to reach double figures in scoring in the win over Terrace; the Bol brothers — Mutdung and Nuer — each scored 13 points, while Nikko McNeal contributed 12 points.

With so many offensive weapons on the E-W roster, Tollak is content to simply be a workhorse in the middle and let other teammates get more of the spotlight.

“I like to think of myself as like the Dennis Rodman on the ‘96 (Chicago) Bulls,” Tollak said. “You’ve got Michael Jordan — Mutdung Bol over here — and you’ve got Scottie Pippen — Chinedu Acholonu — and you’ve got me, Dennis Rodman. I just like to be on the court, I like to give 110 percent, anything I can do — rebound, you know, dive on the floor, grab the ball. If I can score, it’s just another bucket. I don’t really care about scoring, I want my team to win. That’s all I really want.”

Mountlake Terrace coach Nalin Sood had mixed feelings about the effort his team made on Wednesday, liking the second half when the team outscored the Warriors 32-26, but pointing to the first half as key to the loss.

“We can’t give up 40 points in the first half and ever be successful,” Sood said.

“We should have been doing a better job defensively,” he continued. “(Edmonds-Woodway is) a good team, they’re playing well; give them some credit. It’s not everything we did, but we should have been better on the defensive end.”

The Warriors took advantage of 12 first-half turnovers by the Hawks to help build their 40-33 halftime lead.

Baringer led all scorers in the game with 21 points, including six points on his two 3-pointers in the final 84 seconds to give the Hawks a chance. Muhammed Kinteh and Jeffrey Anyimah added 12 points each for Terrace. 

The Hawks played for the third game in a row without starters Mason Christianson and Jace Breakfield, both out with injuries. Terrace is 1-2 in those three games, giving up its season-high point totals in the two losses to E-W (66 points) and Marysville-Pilchuck (67 points on Jan. 25).

“We’re trying to hold down the fort until we get two guys that are key players for us back,” Sood said.

Both the Hawks and the Warriors have home games on Friday, Jan. 31, with Terrace hosting the Cedarcrest Red Wolves and E-W entertaining the Lynnwood Royals; both games start at 7:15 p.m.

Prep Boys Basketball: Edmonds-Woodway at Mountlake Terrace, Jan. 29

Edmonds-Woodway 24 16 11 15 — 66

Mountlake Terrace 16 17 15 17 — 65

Edmonds-Woodway individual scoring: Tollak Crawford 19, Mutdung Bol 13, Nuer Bol 13, Nikko McNeal 12, Chinedu Acholonu 6, Bryan Bunyatipanon 3, Steele Swinton, Jacob Gabler, Shiloh Zevenbergen, Andy Cerekja

Mountlake Terrace individual scoring: Robbie Baringer 21, Muhammed Kiteh 12, Jeffrey Anyimah 12, Trazz Pepper 9, Vitaly Mkrtychyan 6, Bradey Blackmer 5, Jai Nath, Adison Mattix

Records: Edmonds-Woodway 7-3 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 11-5 overall; Mountlake Terrace 6-3 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 11-4 overall

Edmonds-Woodway next game: versus Lynnwood; Friday, Jan. 31; 7:15 p.m. at Edmonds-Woodway High School

Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Cedarcrest; Friday, Jan. 31; 7:15 p.m. at Mountlake Terrace High School

— By Doug Petrowski