The chill of a cold February evening snuck indoors for the Mountlake Terrace Hawks and Meadowdale Mavericks on Thursday as both teams suffered from cold shooting nights, leading to tough defeats in their respective District 1 3A boys basketball tournament games.

The Hawks could muster just four points in the first quarter and a total of 13 in the first half, then eventually fell 49-43 to the Snohomish Panthers in a district tourney loser-out game played at Mountlake Terrace High School.

The Mavericks, who had previously averaged 54.6 points per game this season, came up 10 points shy of that mark on Thursday and were beaten by the Ferndale Golden Eagles 59-44 in a tournament loser-out contest played at Ferndale High School.

For both the Hawks and the Mavs, the losses ended their 2024-2025 seasons.

For Mountlake Terrace, Thursday’s slow start doomed a squad that had received the no. 7 seed in the 12-team District 3A tournament.

“The shots weren’t falling in the first half,” said Terrace Coach Johnny Phillips. “That’s kind of been the story of our season a little. We missed a lot of open shots, but it happens.”

While the Hawks were finding it a challenge to score early on, Snohomish wasn’t having much of a hot shooting night either. The no. 10-seeded Panthers didn’t score in the first four and a half minutes of the contest and later went scoreless over the last 2:31 of the second quarter and first 1:26 of the third quarter, a nearly four-minute span.

It was then that senior Bryson Wheat took it upon himself to carry the Panthers to the win. Wheat warmed up to score a game-high 24 points — 20 in the second half — to lead Snohomish to the victory.

Wheat also was a momentum-breaker to the Hawks. After Terrace pulled to within five points, 26-21, in the third quarter, Wheat sank back-to-back 3-pointers to dash Terrace’s hopes.

Then in the fourth quarter, when Terrace again pulled to within five points — 38-33 with 5:52 to go — Wheat drove to the hoop and scored while triple-teamed to stop a Hawk scoring run and potential comeback.

“We were aware that he was their best player,” Phillips said of Wheat. “But when we’re just in the wrong spot and he’s open, he can make some shots. And that’s kind of what happened. We were just a little off from where we needed to be.”

Terrace’s final push for a come-from-behind win got the team to within four points, 47-43, with 22 seconds to go in the game, but that was close as they would get to the Panthers as time expired and the season came to an end for the Hawks.

Hudson Smith contributed 11 points for Snohomish (4-6 in the 2A/3A Wesco League North Conference, 8-14 overall) in their win. Rayshaun Connor scored 14 points — 12 in the second half — to lead Mountlake Terrace (7-5 in the 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 11-11 overall) while fellow senior Svayjeet Singh added 12 points.

There were plenty of downcast faces in the Mountlake Terrace locker room following the game as the Hawks ended their 2024-2025 campaign just one game into the postseason. Last year, Terrace played seven postseason contests and finished fourth at the 3A boys state basketball championships at the Tacoma Dome.

“We talked about it — you just take this as a life lesson,” Phillips said of Thursday’s disheartening loss. “You work hard for things but sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you want it to. But you wake up tomorrow; life’s going to keep going. The sun goes down, the sun goes up and you have to figure out how you’re going to deal with (disappointment).”

Phillips, while also disappointed with how the season ended, gave a positive assessment of his team’s overall performance for the year.

“It was a good year — we grew a lot,” Phillips said. “We played the youngest team we’ve ever had. (Terrace graduated seven seniors from last season’s fourth-in-state team.) 

“Those guys came a long way,” Philips said about his squad this year. “It took them a while to get to understand what it takes to get through a season and then to take another step and how it’s a different game when you get into the postseason. So I get how it’s a learning lesson and we’ll take that and grow from it — like we’ve grown all year.”

For four seniors, Thursday’s contest was their last in a Terrace uniform. Phillips — who is in his first season as the Hawks’ head coach after 27 years as an assistant — expressed his appreciation for each of them, especially for Connor and Singh, who he called on to be leaders in a way that pushed them beyond their comfort zones.

“That was a struggle for them a little bit; that’s not really their personality,” Phillips explained, “but they did a great job. I’m proud of those guys, not just for this year but for their entire career, for three years playing varsity. 

“Brody (Myers-Little) just worked so hard,” Phillips continued about his seniors. “I was on him a lot but he just takes it in and keeps on working. And Hunter (Nuckols) didn’t get to play a lot but he’s like the hardest worker. During practice time, he made those other guys a lot better. It’s just his work ethic. It’s just the way he approached the game.”

Up at Ferndale High School — where the temperature outside dipped down in the teens overnight — the Meadowdale Mavericks got off to a frigid start in their District 3A tournament matchup with the Ferndale Golden Eagles, scoring just eight points in the first quarter.

The Mavericks never led in their game against the Ferndale but did pull to within three points, 42-39, with six minutes to go. It was then that Ferndale closed the door to any potential Mavs’ comeback with a 12-3 run over the next four and a half minutes on their way to a convincing 59-44 victory.

In his last game in a Mavericks’ uniform, senior Natnael Ghirmay led Meadowdale with 15 points; junior Khalil Botley tallied 13 points in the Mavs’ loss.

Ferndale’s Mantaj Singh led all scorers in the game with 17 points. Hunter Wills scored 13 points while Jonah Brillowsky and Lincoln Thomas each added 10 points for the Golden Eagles.

Meadowdale, the no. 9 seed in the District 1 3A tourney, finished the 2024-2025 season with a record of 3-9 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference play, 10-12 overall. The no. 8-seeded Golden Eagles, who will next face no. 1-seeded Edmonds-Woodway in the District tournament, compiled a record of 8-6 in 1A/2A/3A Northwest Conference play and is 11-9 overall.

View the entire District 1 3A Boys Basketball Tournament bracket at: www.wpanetwork/wiaa/brackets/tournament.php?act=view&tournament_id=4577. 

Prep Boys Basketball: Snohomish at Mountlake Terrace, Feb. 13 (District 1 3A Boys Basketball Tournament loser-out game)

Snohomish   8 12 14 15 – 49

Terrace   4   9 15 15 – 43

Mountlake Terrace individual scoring: Rayshaun Connor 14, Svayjeet Singh 12, Anthony Fuentes 6, Jackson Wallis 4, Jordan Wilson 3, Brody Myers-Little 2, Oliver Shaw-Jones 2, Alex Mkrtychyan, Shan Shah

Snohomish individual scoring: Bryson Wheat 24, Hudson Smith 11, Luke Davis 7, Jack Rotondo 7, Chase Clark, Deyton Wheat, Cade Yoder, Grant Smith

Records: Mountlake Terrace 7-5 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 11-11 overall; Snohomish 4-6 in 2A/3A Wesco League North Conference, 8-14 overall

Mountlake Terrace next game: 2024-2025 season completed

Snohomish next game: versus Shorecrest; Saturday, Feb. 15; 7 p.m. at Shorecrest High School (District 1 3A Boys Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game)

Prep Boys Basketball: Meadowdale at Ferndale, Feb. 13 (District 1 3A Boys Basketball Tournament loser-out game)

Meadowdale   8 11 15 10 – 44

Ferndale 14 14 12 19 – 59

Meadowdale individual scoring: Natnael Ghirmay 15, Khalil Botley 13, Orion Ezeonwuka 6, Payton Hernandez 5, Marley Miller 3, Noah Million 2, Adam Desta, Jordan Berhe, Yosef Estifanos

Ferndale individual scoring: Mantaj Singh 17, Hunter WIlls 13, Jonah Brillowsky 10, Lincoln Thomas 10, Tommy Mack 7, Cooper Vincent 2, Tushraj Grewal, Kaveer Dhillon

Records: Meadowdale 3-9 in the 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 10-12 overall; Ferndale 8-6 in the 1A/2A/3A Northwest Conference, 11-9 overall

Meadowdale next game: 2024-2025 season completed

Ferndale next game: versus Edmonds-Woodway; Saturday, Feb. 15; 7 p.m. at Edmonds-Woodway High School (District 1 3A Boys Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game)