MARYSVILLE — Victory was just out of reach for the Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks when they lost in overtime to Mountlake Terrace, 62-60, on Jan. 28.

The Tommies played with heart and energy as they lead Terrace most of the game, nearly taking the win.

M-P were the underdogs going in 7-8 overall, against Mountlake Terrace’s formidable overall record of 12-4.

M-P head coach Bary Gould said the Tommies had nothing to be ashamed about in their performance. “Obviously, we’re really young. A couple games ago, we decided we can’t use that as an excuse anymore,” Gould said. “We do have experience now, called ‘this season.’”

Gould believed it was the Tomahawks’ best game of the season.

M-P junior wing Michael Painter gave a tremendous effort in the game and led the Tomahawks in scoring.

Painter accumulated 27 points for M-P, with nine of those points three-pointers. “Painter stepped up huge for us,” Gould said. “He was unbelievable.”

Painter was a key defensive player as well. He held his own against the much taller Terrace roster.

“He basically defended their best player, who happened to be four inches taller than him,” Gould said.

Needless to say, M-P had some tremendous shooters and defensive players. Senior pointguard TJ Rice led in three-pointers, making four, while contributing 12 points for M-P total.

“We knew we had to improve our post defense and deny those guys the ball,” Gould said. “The guy that is not allowing the ball in gets a lot of the credit, but there’s also a guy behind his off-man, in help-defense, that was doing a great job as well.”

M-P opened the first quarter with a three-pointer from  Rice, followed by a goal from Painter which handed the lead to the Tomahawks 5-0.

After a goal from Terrace, senior pointguard Dante Fields extended M-P’s lead to 7-2, by converting two at the free-throw line.

Terrace was catching up quick, but M-P’s scoring and defense kept M-P ahead in the first quarter. M-P junior Bryce Vitcovich closed out the first quarter with an impressive hookshot. M-P led at the end of the first quarter 15-9.

M-P repeated much of the same success in the second quarter. By halftime, M-P was ahead 26-20.

The game appeared to get closer in scoring in every period. In the third quarter, Terrace improved their scoring by accumulating 14 points to M-P’s 13. Though Terrace was warming up, M-P’s defense was still alive and making plays. Rice stepped up to stop a Terrace breakaway, laying a huge swat and making M-P’s home crowd go wild. M-P was still in the lead at the end of the third quarter, 39-34.

It seemed M-P was in control to win the game as the fourth quarter began.

“We’ve got to lock em down,” Gould said to his team, prior to the final quarter. Terrace managed to catch up to M-P and tied the game 46-46. As the final quarter entered the final seconds, the coaches traded timeouts to assemble a plan to win the game. Both teams ran out of time in the fourth quarter, with the score at 50-50.

In overtime, Terrace swished a three-pointer, but so did M-P’s Painter. Terrace picked up a 58-53 lead over M-P, but the Tommies made one more rally in which they tied the game, 60-60. As overtime came to a close, Terrace sank a last-second basket, giving them the win.

It may have been a tough loss for any team, but Gould and his players are looking forward “to beat” the undefeated Stanwood on Jan. 31. “We’re getting better because of maturity, and we believe that we’re pretty good,” Gould said.