Mountlake Terrace’s starting freshman point guard, Jaliyah Dyson, is no stranger to Hawks’ Coach Nick Starks. The Dyson family and Starks have known each other for years — Jaliyah even played fifth-grade basketball on a Starks-coached team four seasons ago.

It was Starks that gave Dyson her nickname: Bug. She doesn’t know exactly why Starks started calling her that years ago, but the moniker certainly fits the 5-foot-2 freshman’s style of play out on the basketball court.

By pestering members of the Everett Seagulls on defense and buzzing around the hoop on offense, Dyson guided the Hawks to a 56-44 victory over the Seagulls in a 3A Wesco League crossover game played Friday at Shorecrest High School.

Dyson scored 21 points to lead Terrace on Friday. The freshman also had numerous steals throughout the contest to spark fast breaks and easy buckets for her Hawk teammates.

As the team’s primary ball handler, Dyson said she takes pride in putting her teammates in positions where they can score. “I’m comfortable with everyone and I know what people can do,” she said. “So I like to set them up for success.”

It was a Dyson assist to Brooklyn Marino that gave the Hawks’ their biggest lead in Friday’s contest. After receiving a pass from Dyson, Marino scored on a fast break to put Terrace up 30-9 with 3:06 to go in the first half.

The lopsided lead came after Terrace had jumped out to an early 12-0 advantage before junior Lauren Desimone scored the first Everett points of the game with a pair of free throws at the 1:52 mark of the first quarter.

And while the Seagulls (4-6 in the 2A/3A Wesco League North Conference, 6-16 overall) were able to cut the Hawks’ lead to 10 points, 32-22, early in the third quarter, Terrace never let them any closer as Dyson tallied 12 of the Hawks’ 24 second-half points to keep Everett at bay and secure the victory.

Dyson’s defensive effort was also key to the Terrace win on Friday as the freshman reached double-figures in steals. “I’m just thinking that they can’t score on me if I can get the ball out of their hands,” Dyson said.

Sophomore Jordan Stokes contributed 15 points in the Hawk win as all 10 players on the Terrace active roster got on the score sheet, a first for the team this season.

“It was the first time that everyone scored, so we were all proud of each other and supporting each other,” Dyson said with a smile.

Junior twin sisters Akira and Akilah Shaw paced the Seagulls in scoring with 13 and 12 points respectively.

The league crossover game was the final contest for both teams prior to the District 1 3A girls basketball tournament that begins Feb. 12. Both Mountlake Terrace and Everett will open tourney play, most likely, with loser-out games on the road against higher-seeded opponents (the district tournament seeding and brackets will be finalized late Monday night, Feb. 10).

If the Hawks can pull off an upset and survive their first round loser-out game Feb. 12, the team will move into the double-elimination portion of the district tourney as one of eight remaining teams. The top four finishers in the tournament will move onto the regional round of the 3A state tournament later this month.

At 9-11 overall this year, Terrace has already tripled its win total from last season when the team finished with a mark of 3-17. Can the Hawks be a surprise in this year’s district tournament, challenge higher-seeded teams and sneak into the top-four? Dyson thinks so.

“I think if we just have confidence in ourselves and our teammates, we can go far,” Dyson said.

Prep Girls Basketball: Everett vs. Mountlake Terrace, Feb. 7 (3A Wesco League crossover game)

Everett   5 14   9 16 – 44

Terrace 13 19 12 12 – 56

Mountlake Terrace individual scoring: Jaliyah Dyson 21, Jordan Stokes 15, Jordan Wagner 4, Emma Schmidt 4, Brooklyn Marino 4, Samiah Coffee 2, Abby Mattens 2, Mia Sledge 2, Iman Kaifa 1, Mey-Lynh Jacobson 1

Everett individual scoring: Akira Shaw 13, Akilah Shaw 12, Beatrice Lane 9, Lauen Desimone 8, Aimelie Hovde-Girard 2, Jayda Crane 2, Ava Rodriguez, Tegan Trefry

Records: Mountlake Terrace 4-8 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 9-11 overall; Everett 4-6 in 2A/3A Wesco League North Conference, 6-16 overall

Mountlake Terrace next game: versus opponent to-be-determined; Wednesday, Feb. 12; 7 p.m. at site to be announced (District 1 3A girls basketball tournament loser-out game)

Everett next game: versus opponent to-be-determined; Wednesday, Feb. 12; 7 p.m. at site to be announced (District 1 3A girls basketball tournament loser-out game)

— Story and photos by Doug Petrowski