
The Lynnwood Royals showed why they have a chance at successfully defending their 3A girls basketball state championship as the team is now 3-0 after the first week of the 2015-2016 season, including a 64-15 drubbing of the visiting Mountlake Terrace Hawks Saturday night at Lynnwood High School.
The Royals have won their first three games this year by a combined score of 194-65.
Senior Mikayla Pivec led the Royals in scoring with 23 points; teammate Kaprice Boston contributed 12 points while Jordyn Edwards as added 11 points. Four Hawks scored in the contest: Jorie Lambert and Jazz Zenk with five points each, Weslynn Blackwell with three points and Trinity Prout with two points.

Lynnwood had built a 40-point lead early in the third quarter, triggering a “running clock” throughout the remainder of the game and limiting the opportunity for scoring.
While stating that his squad “played good team basketball,” Lynnwood Coach Everett Edwards admitted it was difficult guiding his players during their third blowout victory of the week. “It’s kind of tough,” he said; “Sometimes games like this are the hardest ones to coach because you want to be very humble, but you also want to play good basketball.”
One who appreciated the strong effort by the Royals was Terrace Coach Jesica Anissipour. “It’s one of those things where this kind of game is what we needed,” she said. “If freshmen can play against them and not fall down and cry, then that’s an awesome thing.”

The first-year Hawk coach said she appreciate the way her young squad fought against a superior opponent. “At the end of the day, your offensive may not be creative, but you can always control your heart,” she explained. “You can always control what passion you have on the floor. And tonight they did that.”
In addition to suffering the loss, Terrace had a couple players take hard hits in the tilt. Zenk fell to the floor in the third quarter and bruised her tailbone, Anissipour said. The sophomore laid on the court for five minutes before being helped to her feet; she returned to action later in the game. Junior Weslynn Blackwell was taken from the gym for medical attention after being poked in the eye early in the match-up; she did not return and her condition was not known at the end of the game.
Coach Edwards was thankful that his squad escaped the Wesco League opener with a victory and no injuries, something that he believes will be key if the team wants to repeat as state champions. “If we stay healthy we’re going to have a shot,” he said. “The whole thing we are focused on right now is trying to win our league and then after that we will shoot for the district tournament. Then, from there, we’ll see how it goes.”
Edwards added though that he’s not looking too far ahead on the schedule. “We’re looking forward to playing a very tough Snohomish team on Wednesday,” he said.
Prep Girls Basketball: Mountlake Terrace at Lynnwood, Dec. 5
Terrace 3 11 1 0 — 15
Lynnwood 27 22 10 5 — 64
Lynnwood scoring: Mikayla Pivec 23, Kaprice Boston 12, Jordyn Edwards 11, Reilly Walsh 5, Kelsey Rogers 4, Valerie Bell 2, Taylor Fahey 2, Kaui Piilani 2, Kia Crawford 1, Abigail Yemane 1, Rachel Walsh 1, Abby Douglas
Mountlake Terrace scoring: Jorie Lambert 5, Jazz Zenk 5, Weslynn Blackwell 3, Torry DeAlba, Trinity Prout 2, Claire Zucker, Nohea Morrison, Eliza Sandoval, Juanita Johnson, Aynika Nuckles, Bri Houtman
Records: Lynnwood 1-0 in Wesco League, 3-0 overall; Mountlake Terrace 0-1 in Wesco League, 1-2 overall
Lynnwood next game: versus Snohomish, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 7:15 p.m. at Snohomish High School
Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Cascade, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 7:15 p.m. at Mountlake Terrace High School
— Story and photos by Doug Petrowski
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