The Mountlake Terrace Hawks defeated the Arlington Eagles 65-48 in the opening round of the Wesco 3A District Tournament on Friday night.

Heading into the game, the Eagle’s were focusing their defensive efforts on Gabe Altenberger and Derek Anyimah, two key players for Terrace. Altenberger was held to just 3 points, while Anyimah managed to score 12. What the Eagles failed to do is provide an answer for Daniel Johnson who finished with 17 on the night. After a tough first half of play, Arlington trailed the Hawks 18-28.

Coming out of the half, Arlington’s clear goal was to pound the ball inside. After two quick buckets down low, the Terrace lead was reduced to just six, but a 7-0 run by the Hawks allowed them to regain control of the contest. Brennon Wiersma finished in double digits for the third game in a row with 12 points, but a stifling defensive effort from Terrace’s Khyree Armstead held Arlington’s Drew Bryson to just 2 points.

Terrace maintained their ten point lead into the 4th quarter, but outscored the Eagles 23-13 to take the game 65-48. Despite a strong 20 point effort from Donavan Sellgren, the Eagles offense looked very disrupted by Terrace’s defense, something that could result in a favorable outcome later in the tournament for the Hawks.

Arlington will face Stanwood on Tuesday at 7:00pm at Stanwood High School in a loser out game. Heading into the contest, the Spartans are 2-0 against the Eagles but are coming off of two straight losses. Tuesday’s game is sure to be a physical contest between two Wesco North rivals fighting to keep their seasons alive.