At a time when some may be sitting down for a leisurely Saturday brunch, the Mountlake Terrace Hawks were instead getting roughed up and being served a big dish of humble pie, down by 14 points early in the second half of their state playoffs regional round game against the Kelso Hilanders.

But in the end it was the Hilanders who left the morning get-together with a bad taste in their mouths.

After Kelso’s Hayden Yore stole the ball and raced to the hoop for an easy lay-in, Mountlake Terrace was trailing the Hilanders 38-24 with 6:57 to go in the third quarter. But the never-say-die Hawks mounted a defensive comeback — which included a wild 11.5 seconds at the end of regulation time — and squeaked out an improbable 67-65 overtime victory over Kelso in a WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament loser-out game played Saturday morning at Jackson High School.

With time winding down and Terrace behind 61-56, senior Jeffrey Anyimah sank a 3-pointer with 11.5 seconds to go in regulation time. Then after a missed free throw by Kelso’s Tyler Hays, Terrace quickly moved across midcourt and Anyimah found teammate Zaveon Jones with a pass deep in the lane with seconds to go. Jones banked in a lay-in as time expired, knotting the game at 61-61 and sending the contest into a four-minute overtime session.

In overtime, the Hawks went 6-for-8 from the foul line and limited the Hilanders to just one 3-pointer by Tyler Hays and one converted Hays free throw to grab the OT win.

“It feels amazing,” Anyimah said after the victory that earned the No. 9-seeded Hawks a ticket to the Hardwood Classic at the Tacoma Dome. “It’s a dream come true. We worked hard and I think it’s very deserving.”

The senior tallied 23 points in the game — 15 in the second half — to lead Terrace in scoring. But none of his points were more important than the late 3-pointer in the fourth quarter and then going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in overtime.

Anyimah said that shooting free throws has been something he has practiced for years since his playing days in AAU youth and Mountlake Terrace third-through-eighth grade feeder programs.

“When I was younger, actually a lot of games came down to the wire and I’d be at the line,” Anyimah explained. “And I’d miss those free throws.”

“So getting into high school I knew those free throws would win games in the end,” he continued. “So I really focused that summer going into (high school), working on my free throw routine and getting that down. Because in moments like these it would be crucial.”

Just as Anyimah assuredly converted free throw attempts in the overtime period on Saturday, he and his Hawks teammates were confident that they would be able to come from behind and win the regional round elimination contest.

“We were down 10 (points) at the end of the (first) half,” Anyimah said, “but at the end of the day, we knew we’d win. We just stuck with it and kept playing; you know, down but never out.”

In Terrace’s four postseason games so far this year, Anyimah has averaged 20 points per game to pilot the team. Coach Nalid Sood noted that not only his scoring but his steady leadership has been a big factor for the Hawks.

“That’s his nature, that’s his character, that’s the confidence his teammates have in him,” Sood said of Anyimah. “He’s had a really good postseason. Whether things worked out tonight or not I’m proud of him. And at the end of the game anyone wearing Terrace (colors) or knows Terrace wants the ball in his hands to shoot free throws.”

But Sood was also quick to point out the victory on Saturday was a team effort.

“It came down to defense,” he stated. “I thought we shored up things and played better defense in the second half collectively as a team.

After swapping the lead back-and-forth through much of the first quarter, No. 16-seeded Kelso snatched the lead late in the period and didn’t trail again until there was 2:20 left in overtime. The Hilanders’ advantage was due mostly to the outside shooting of senior Michael Foust, who made five 3-pointers in the game and led the squad in scoring with 23 points, 13 in the first half.

Sood gave credit to Hawks’ senior Vito Mkrtychyan for slowing down the Hilander sharpshooter in the second half.

“Vito Mkrtychyan did a really good job, I thought, on No. 24, (Michael) Foust,” Sood commented. “He went out there and guarded him in the second half because he was hot — he had 13 (points) at halftime. And Vito went out there and guarded him well.”

Foust was not a factor late in the contest as the senior fouled out with 2:20 to go in the fourth quarter.

Peyton Stewart scored 14 points for Kelso but none in the overtime period. Hays added 13 points for the Hilanders but missed two crucial free throws — the one with 9.7 seconds remaining in regulation that led to Jones’ bucket just before the final buzzer and the second of three awarded to the senior after he was fouled with 0.5 seconds to go in the overtime period. Hays made the first free throw, missed the second and his third was disallowed due to a Kelso lane violation.

For the Hawks, in addition to Anyimah’s 23 points, Jones scored 19 and Mkrtychyan added 11.

Despite a height advantage for the Hilanders, Terrace outrebounded Kelso by more than a two-to-one margin, 38 to 15. Sood noted the play of Jones, who stands at 6-foot-2, and senior 6-foot-4 Adison Mattix as the difference-makers on the front line.

“Zaveon plays a lot bigger than he is because of his wingspan, because of his motor,” Sood said. “He just goes after it. And Adison, he’s a fairly strong kid. And those kids have done a great job just battling down low for us.”

Terrace will play its first game since 2013 at the Tacoma Dome on Wednesday, March 2. (The Hawks were a 2A school and made three appearances in Hardwood Classic games at the Yakima Vally SunDome from 2016-2020). The Hawks will face the 3A state tournament’s No. 8-seed Timberline Blazers in a tourney loser-out game at 2 p.m.

Sood is happy that his squad gets to continue in the postseason and take to one of the twin courts at the Tacoma Dome for the final week of high school basketball this year.

“They’re just an awfully resilient bunch who like basketball and they’ve got tremendous chemistry,” he said. “So we’re looking forward to going down to Tacoma and … getting a chance to go compete against some really good basketball teams.”

Should the Hawks prevail in Wednesday’s elimination game, the team would be guaranteed at least two more days of competition at the Dome. The Hardwood Classic at the Tacoma Dome, which includes games in the 3A girls state tournament along with 4A boys and girls tourney contests, continues through Saturday, March 5.

To view the entire WIAA 3A State Boys Basketball Championships bracket, click www.wpanetwork.com/wiaa/brackets/tournament.php?act=view&tournament_id=3466. 

Prep Boys Basketball: Kelso vs. Mountlake Terrace, Feb. 26 (Regional Round  of WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Championships)

Kelso 16 18 15 12   4 — 65

Terrace 11 13 19 18   6 — 67

Mountlake Terrace scoring: Jeffrey Anyimah 23, Zaveon Jones 19, Vito Mkrtychyan 11, Adison Mattix 6, Chris Meegan 6, Jaxon Dubiel 2, Don Jones

Kelso scoring: Michael Foust 23, Payton Stewart 14, Tyler Hays 13, Ethan Mitchell 7, Hayden Yore 4, Naiser Lukas 4, Carter Lloyd, Chase Johnson

Records: Mountlake Terrace 18-2 overall; Kelso 15-9 overall

Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Timberline; Wednesday, March 2; 2 p.m. at the Tacoma Dome (WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Championships loser-out game)

— By Doug Petrowski