For Mountlake Terrace Hawk Mason Petersen, the desire to shoot increases with each successful attempt. The senior was certainly craving the chance to shoot during the Hawks’ matchup with the Archbishop Murphy Wildcats on Wednesday.

Petersen scored a game-high 23 points — 17 in the second half — and led Terrace to a 62-46 victory over the Wildcats in a Wesco League contest played Wednesday at Mountlake Terrace High School.

Petersen made five shots from beyond the three-point arc for Terrace on Wednesday. The senior was especially focused in the third quarter, when he sunk five of six field goal attempts — including three 3-pointers — in helping the Hawks build a 50-26 lead going into the final eight minutes.

Peterson said that when he’s feeling hot, he wants the ball in his hands. “Yeah, you just want to keep shooting,” he said; “You just want to keep seeing the ball go in.”

The Hawks’ Jesse James Martineau added 18 points, and Jace Breakfield contributing 11 in Wednesday’s game.

Archbishop Murphy (2A/3A Wesco League play, 8-10 overall) was led in scoring by Sage Oliveria and Eric LaMarre, each with 11 points in the contest.

The win was Terrace’s third in a row following a three-game losing streak earlier this month. “We had a little slump in there (but) right now I feel like we’re on a roll,” Petersen said.

Although the Hawks averaged only 44 points per game during the recent losing streak, Petersen explained that there was no panic concerning the team’s offensive performance. In fact, Petersen said that Coach Nalin Sood stuck to his constant emphasis on defensive play. It’s a message that the players have taken to heart.

“Offense takes care of itself; defense leads to offense — that’s what I think,” Peterson said.

“We just keep focusing on defense,” he added. “I still think as a team we need to be a lot better (defensively) because we’re going to be playing tougher teams in 2A (district tournament play).”

Terrace (8-4 in the 2A/3A Wesco League, 13-5 overall) has two games remaining in the regular season — a Friday, Feb. 1, clash with the Meadowdale Mavericks and a Monday, Feb. 4, date with the Shorewood Thunderbirds — before the WIAA District 1/2 2A Boys Basketball Tournament begins on Feb. 6. Petersen likes how the team is playing as they start to look towards the postseason.

“I feel confident,” he said. “It’s a young group of guys but I feel we’re all hungry and ready to win and show everybody what we can do.”

Prep Boys Basketball: Archbishop Murphy at Mountlake Terrace, Jan. 30

Archbishop Murphy 7 13 6 20 — 46
Mountlake Terrace 16 15 19 12 — 62

Mountlake Terrace individual scoring: Mason Petersen 23, JesseJames Martineau 18, Jace Breakfield 11, Mason Christianson 8, Robbie Baringer 2, Jeffrey Anyimah, Bradey Blackmer, Trazz Pepper, Trevor Leen

Archbishop Murphy individual scoring: Sage Oliveria 11, Eric LaMarre 11, Dillon Halpin 9, Zach Ingle 5, Lukas Doyle 2, Ryan Kenny 2, Cole Calnon 2, Mateo Trimble, Colin Guy

Records: Mountlake Terrace 8-4 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 13-5 overall; Archbishop Murphy 3-9 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 8-10 overall

Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Meadowdale; Friday, Feb. 1; 7:15 p.m. at Meadowdale High School

— By Doug Petrowski