Heading into Wednesday night’s matchup with Mountlake Terrace, Edmonds-Woodway was undefeated in five games, outscoring its opponents by an average of almost 30 points.

The Warriors were able to improve on that average point spread even more by downing Mountlake Terrace 69-22 in a Wesco 3A South girls basketball game at Mountlake Terrace High School.

The Warriors improved to 2-0 in league play and 6-0 overall, while the Hawks fell to 0-2 and 1-6.

While E-W eventually won by a 47-point margin, the victory came only after the Warriors survived some strong early play by the younger Hawks. Mountlake Terrace trailed by only five, 16-11, midway through the second quarter before the Warriors ended the first half on a 20-2 run.

“We were our own worst enemy at the beginning of the game, committing too many turnovers and not getting rebounds,” E-W Head Coach Rebekah Wells said.

Mountlake Terrace was able to slow the pace of the game down at times during the first half, showing patience on the offensive end of the court and utilizing a zone defense against the Warrior attack. The zone defense caught E-W off-guard early.

“We just haven’t seen it recently as much, so the girls were less use to it,” Wells said. “But as soon as they adjusted, they were fine.”

While junior Mady Burdett topped the Warriors in scoring with 20 points, it was senior guard Moni Jackson who led the E-W late first-half charge, scoring 15 of her 19 points in the second quarter. Jackson closed out the final seconds of the period with a bang, dropping a 3-point jumper, making a quick steal and driving to the hoop for an easy lay-in.

“She’s a great point guard for us,” Wells said of Jackson. “She’s been the starter for four years and is really good at distributing the ball — a very unselfish player that worries more about assists than points-per-game. But her little quickness and defensive intensity definitely gets this team going.”

While Mountlake Terrace stayed close for the first 12 minutes, poor shooting and ball-handling doomed the squad to their sixth straight loss. The Hawks shot 8-46 from the field (17.4 percent) and tallied more turnovers (23) than points.

Despite the lopsided final score, Wells believed the game brought to light something her squad needs to work on: mental toughness.

“The record of Terrace or teams that aren’t doing as well, those teams can still come out and have a good game,” Wells said. “You never know how they’re going to be coached or what strategy they’re going to come into a game with. So I have to keep my girls mentally ready to just play our game and not to adjust to how other teams play. We came out a little soft.”

The Warriors finished last year one win away from playing in the Tacoma Dome rounds of the 4A state championships. This year the squad may have their sights on getting to the state tourney as a 3A team, but if so they aren’t saying it out loud yet.

“Right now it’s one-game-at-a-time,” Wells said. “We have our goals throughout the season, but its one-game-at-a-time now and taking each step.”

“And not looking too far ahead,” she added.

– By Doug Petrowski

Prep Girls Basketball: Edmonds-Woodway at Mountlake Terrace

Edmonds-Woodway    15    21     23    10     —     69
Mountlake Terrace       7     6       5      4      —     22

Edmonds-Woodway individual scoring: Mady Burdett 20; Moni Jackson 19; Natalie Kasper 9; Missy Peterson 4; Keitra Jones 4; Kate Wooley 3; Claire Fyfe 2; Lea Bakken 2; Allie Browning 2; Kendra Cooper 2; Marivel Ortega

Mountlake Terrace individual scoring: Riley Zucker 8; Jorie Lambert 6; Skylar Zenk 5; Claire Zucker 2; Maddie Powers 1; Jasmine Zenk; Ashley Klippert; Juanita Johnson; Torrey DeAlba

Records: Edmonds-Woodway 2-0 in Wesco 3A, 6-0 overall; Mountlake Terrace 0-2, 1-6

Edmonds-Woodway next game: vs. Shorewood, Friday, Dec. 19, 7:15 p.m. at Edmonds-Woodway High School

Mountlake Terrace next game: at the Mountlake Terrace Holiday Hoops Showcase, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 26-27, Mountlake Terrace High School, opponents and times to-be-announced