After getting their fill of food, family and Christmas festivities, local high school hoop fans can enjoy two days of action this week during the Mountlake Terrace Boys Basketball Holiday Tournament, set for Friday and Saturday, Dec. 27 and 28, at Mountlake Terrace High School.

A total of 24 games are scheduled over the two days with junior varsity and C-teams kicking off the action beginning at 9 a.m. each day. The varsity matchups begin at 3 p.m. and will close each day with games featuring the Mountlake Terrace Hawks’ varsity squad.

Once again this year, the two-day event has attracted a number of strong teams, including four that qualified for their respective WIAA state tournaments last year and two that came away from those state tourneys as trophy winners (Mountlake Terrace, 4th place in the 3A state tournament and Lynden Christian, 3rd place in the 1A state tournament).

Day one of this year’s Holiday Tournament will close with a Mountlake Terrace – Lynden Christian contest that is a rematch of a tourney game from last year that saw the Lyncs come from behind and defeat the Hawks in overtime 66-64 — one of just two losses Terrace suffered during the 2023-2024 regular season.

All games at the MLT Boys Basketball Holiday Tournament will be played at Mountlake Terrace High School. Admission for a single-day pass to the event is $10 for adults and $5 for seniors/students/children.

In other high school hoops action during Christmas week, the Mountlake Terrace Hawks girls basketball team will play three games over three days during a tournament at Kamiak High School in Mukilteo. The Hawks will face Auburn Riverside at 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 26; Bothell at 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 27 and Eastside Catholic at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 28.

Two more local girls’ squads will be on the court for stand-alone games on Saturday, Dec. 28: The Edmonds-Woodway Warriors will travel to Seattle to face Cleveland at 1:30 p.m. while the Lynnwood Royals will host Stanwood at 3 p.m.

In other boys’ games, E-W will be at Renton on Friday, Dec. 27 and at Oak Harbor on Saturday, Dec. 28; both of those contests tip off at 7:15 p.m. The Lynnwood boys will see action on Friday, Dec. 27, when they host Kentlake for a 7:15 p.m. affair.

2024 Mountlake Terrace Boys Basketball Holiday Tournament schedule (varsity games)

Friday, Dec. 27

3 p.m. – Squalicum Storm vs. Jackson Timberwolves

4:30 p.m. – Lakeside Lions vs. Inglemoor Vikings

6:00 p.m. – Prairie Falcons vs. Woodinville Falcons

7:30 p.m. – Mountlake Terrace Hawks vs. Lynden Christian Lyncs

Saturday, Dec. 28

3 p.m. – Jackson Timberwolves vs. Prairie Falcons

4:30 p.m. – Woodinville Falcons vs. Lynden Christian Lyncs

6:00 p.m. – Squalicum Storm vs. Inglemoor Vikings

7:30 p.m. – Mountlake Terrace Hawks vs. Lakeside Lions

— By Doug Petrowski