Heading into one of their toughest challenges of the season, the Meadowdale Mavericks learned that starter Daniel Barhoum would not be available to suit up in their match-up with the 11-1 Mountlake Terrace Hawks Friday at Mountlake Terrace High School.

Barhoum’s absence proved to be pivotal as the Mavs couldn’t keep up with the hot-shooting Hawks; Terrace came away from the clash with a 65-50 victory over Meadowdale in the Wesco League contest.

The Hawks used a a 12-3 run to close out the first quarter and pull away from the Mavs to earn their twelfth win of the year.

Barhoum, Meadowdale’s leading scorer at 14.6 points per game, suffered a concussion when tumbling during a team practice on Thursday and hitting his head on the court; the senior will be out of action at for at least a week.

Meadowdale Coach Roger O’Neill acknowledged that with Barhoum on the bench Friday, the team struggled to find their tempo.

“He’s obviously a great player and a three-year starter for us. We certainly missed him,” O’Neill said.

“It’s tough going out to battle without him,” O’Neill continued, “but we still have a lot of talented basketball players and we felt like we had a chance to go out there and compete tonight. Credit to Terrace: they shot the lights out, which we knew they are capable of.”

The Hawks had their shooting touch throughout the game, making 12 shots from behind the three-point arc — six of eight attempts in the third quarter alone. Terrace senior Brendan Hayes led the team with five three-pointers — four in the third quarter — and ended the night with a game-high 22 points.

Hayes, showing confidence at both ends of the court, also picked up six rebounds, three assists and two blocks, in the contest.

“I usually show more confidence once I get a couple of the three’s or shots going in,” Hayes said after the game. “It then kind of keeps going; I get that confidence in me and then let it fly whenever I want.”

Hayes wasn’t the only Terrace shooter to find success from the outside; in all, five Hawks converted three-point attempts in the game, something O’Neill admitted gave his squad fits.

“When they want to go five-out like that, and then at least four of the five they have on the court are a threat to knock it down, that really stretches your defense,” he explained.

Mason Petersen scored 12 points for the Hawks with three three-pointers and three made foul shots after being fouled on a three-point attempt. Mason Christianson, Keegan Grayson-Zehrung and Connor Williams all sunk at least one shot from beyond the three-point arc for Terrace.

Nine Mavs contributed to the score sheet in the game, led by the 10 points of Mustapha Sonko who played his first game after returning from an injury.

Friday’s game was the 100th all-time between the boys basketball programs of Meadowdale and Mountlake Terrace High Schools. With the Terrace victory, the series is tied at 50 wins for each school.

In an up-and-down season, O’Neill believes good things are starting to jell for his Mavs’ squad as they head into the final third of the regular season starting with a home date against Lynnwood on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

“We’ve got a group of guys that work hard and they believe and they work well together, so I think we’re about to start clicking for us; I really believe that,” O’Neill said.

For Terrace, the team’s next contest pits them against Clover Park, a team the Hawks defeated in state regional play last year to earn a spot in the 2A Hardwood Classic in Yakima. While the Warriors may be hungry for avenging that regional game loss, Hayes believes the Hawks are up for any challenge.

“I believe in this team,” he stated. “When we can play our game and play to our potential, we can pretty much accomplish anything we want.”

In other Mavs-Hawks action on Friday, the Meadowdale girls defeated their Terrace counterparts 52-23 at Meadowdale High School. Lilly Williams scored 21 points to lead Meadowdale to the victory.

Prep Boys Basketball: Meadowdale at Mountlake Terrace, Jan. 12

Meadowdale       8   12   19   11 — 50
Terrace            19   11   25   10 — 65

Meadowdale scoring: Mustapha Sonko 10, Justin Chambers 8, Mason Harvey 7, Will Schafer 5, Haben Tekle 5, Drew Harvey 4, Okeoma Okoro 4, Nick Buckley 4, Colton Walsh 3, Will McKinley, Tommy Dimmock

Mountlake Terrace scoring: Brendan Hayes 22, Mason Petersen 12, Khyree Armstead 9, Max Hull 8, Mason Christianson 6, Keegan Grayson-Zehrung 5, Connor Williams 3, Akol Yel

Records: Meadowdale 2-3 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 6-7 overall; Mountlake Terrace 5-1 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 12-1 overall

Meadowdale next game: versus  Lynnwood, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 7:15 p.m. at Meadowdale High School

Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Clover Park, Monday, Jan. 15, Lower Columbia Community College in Longview

Prep Girls Basketball: Mountlake Terrace at Meadowdale, Jan. 12

Terrace             4   9    3     7 — 23
Meadowdale    14   4   18   16 — 52

Mountlake Terrace scoring: Nohea Morrison 9, Jazz Zenk 9, Aynika Nuckles 2, Kierra Scott 2, Berit Simonsen 1, Trinity Prout, Skyler Cristelli, Michaela Ollivierre, Lydia Prelow, Reagan Stickney, Kaiya Beavin, Allison Reyes-Davies

Meadowdale scoring: Lilly Willliams 21, Camryn Cassidy 11, Alicia Morrison 9, Kaisha Stark 3, Maia Austvold 2, Soriah Swinton 2, Fatournata Jaiteh 2, Cassidy Gamble 1, Tyra Gallagher 1, Taylor Kesselring, Kaylee Whatmore

Records: Mountlake Terrace 1-4 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 2-11 overall; Meadowdale 1-4 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 4-9 overall

Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Shorewood, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 7:15 p.m. at Mountlake Terrace High School

Meadowdale next game: versus Lynnwood, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 7:15 p.m. at Lynnwood High School

–By Doug Petrowski