COEUR d'ALENE - Lakeland had a strong shot at advancing to today's championship game of the Lake City Invitational.

But two things stood in the Hawks' way, in a 62-55 loss to defending tournament champion Kentridge of Kent, Wash.

The first came with 22.6 seconds left in the game, with Lakeland trying to tie the game with a 3-pointer or three-point play, trailing 58-55. But Tyrel Derrick had the ball stolen from him by Deon Thomas, who moments earlier missed a free throw.

The second came with 1:20 left, on a putback by backup forward Ethan Walker, who scored 12 points and who was at the right place at the right time for an offensive rebound, a theme all game for the Hawks (7-2), who play at 4:15 p.m. today in the third-place game at Lake City against Columbia River. The putback gave the Chargers a small cushion for a 58-55 lead.

Kentridge plays Rocky Mountain in the championship game at 11 a.m.

"It came down to little things," Lakeland coach Dave Stockwell said. "A missed rebound here, an errant pass there. We've been talking all year about toughness, that's been our biggeset hurdle. It's one thing to be physically tough and there's another thing to be mentally tough. Hopefully we learned to be mentally tough down the stretch there. One rebound that we had our hands on, they knocked it away easily and they put it back. That was a gift to him."

Derrick scored 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting and he finished with six assists and four steals.

"Our guys are fine," Derrick said. "We didn't capitalize. We'll look to attack more. Slader (Ray) and Jay (Plunkett), those two are our keys. If we can get it to them inside, it makes it a lot easier on us."

Lakeland's final lead was 54-53, with 2:31 left in the game, after Auston Henry, who scored eight points, made a layup off a fast break after a steal.

But 16 seconds later, Jordan Ticeson, a 6-foot-7 junior post, drained a corner three to give Kentridge (7-1) a go-ahead lead.

Ticeson led his team in scoring with 15 points and he used his size advantage to grab several key rebounds, many on the offensive end.

"It was mostly our determination," Ticeson said. "We hustled most of the time. We used because we collapsed our bigs to the middle, because they were playing a three-big front and we used that to get the ball outside to our shooters."

Lakeland leapt to a 22-8 first-quarter lead, after drilling three 3-pointers, two by Andrew Knight, who also had four rebounds.

"We played well enough to win," Stockwell said. "There's no doubt about it. That's why we're in this tournament. You won't be a better team unless you play someone good. We've just got to get over that hurdle."

Kentridge 8 22 15 17 - 62

Lakeland 22 7 13 13 - 55

KENTRIDGE - Thomas 7, Chappell 11, Hopson 7, Simmons 7, J. Ticeson 15, E. Ticeson 3, Walker 12.

LAKELAND - Ram 4, Cooper 7, Derrick 22, Henry 8, McDevitt 0, Plunkett 5, Ray 2, Knight 7.

Lake City 61, Vallivue 47: With a 1-2-2 full-court trap it can dial up at any time and have for each of the past several years, Lake City flustered Vallivue, winning a consolation bracket game in the Lake City Invitational, 61-47 at Lake City.

The Timberwolves play at 2:30 p.m. today against Tahoma, while Vallivue plays at 1 p.m. today against Sandpoint.

"That's been successful for us," Lake City coach Jim Winger said. "We have a lot of good, athletic guards. We try to mix things up. The key is we've played real hard. We needed to get a win to get some confidence."

A few, yes, but more like several. As in several steps taken by short but speedy Jerry Louie-McGee, the 5-foot-9 senior guard who is a key thorn in opponents' sides, spearheading the trap.

Brandon Dotson, with a soft left-handed touch, led Lake City (3-4) in scoring with 13 points and he made three 3-pointers. Joe Pasquale added 12 points and Nick Hancock had 11 points.

One thing Lake City can work on is free throws, making just 13 of 22 for a 59.1 percent clip.

"We needed a win," Winger said. "It would've been nice if we made a few more free throws and things will be easier for us."

Landon Cain and Carlos Lopez each scored 11 points for the Falcons (0-7), which cut a 48-36 lead after the third quarter to 49-41 early in the fourth, before the Timberwolves pulled away.

Lake City 26 6 16 13 - 61

Vallivue 12 11 13 11 - 47

LAKE CITY - Stapleton 0, Louie-McGee 8, Goggin 5, Dotson 13, Hunter 0, Hughes 4, Pasquale 12, Colwell 0, Mitchell 8, Hancock 11.

VALLIVUE - Bean 2, Barrera 5, Schroeder 10, Lopez 11, Cain 11, Moran 5, Yasinski 1, Wade 0, Sedillo 0, Comforth 2.

Rocky Mountain 61, Columbia River 53: Kolby Lee scored 18 points to lead the Grizzlies of Meridian past the Cheiftains of Vancouver, Wash., in a semifinal game.

Jacob Erickson scored 13 points for Rocky Mountain (7-1).

Joey Bean, Spencer Long and Chad Pedigo scored 13 points each for Columbia River (6-3).

Rocky Mountain 18 14 13 16 - 61

Columbia River 8 10 18 17 - 53

ROCKY MOUNTAIN - Shepherd 3, Skurdal 4, Ludwig 12, Erickson 13, Peterson 2, Terashima 3, Moore 2, Lee 18, Faigl 4.

COLUMBIA RIVER - Hawthorne 5, Joey Bean 13, Vickers 6, Hjort 3, Spencer Long 13, Chad Pedigo 13.

Tahoma 44, Sandpoint 37: Kellen Sturdivan scored 15 points to lead Tahoma of Covington, Wash., past Sandpoint in a consolation game.

Davin Norris scored 12 points for Sandpoint (2-8), which faces Vallivue in a consolation game today at 1 p.m.

Michael Sawin scored 11 points for Tahoma, which faces tournament host Lake City today at 2:30 p.m.

Sandpoint 8 8 11 10 - 37

Tahoma 14 15 9 6 - 44

SANDPOINT - Aquirre 1, Daven Norris 12, Sundquist 5, Kuzmich 3, Coppess 4, Milton 4, Speckman 2, Colaatto 4, Perry 2.

TAHOMA - Thompson 4, Kellen Sturvivan 15, Sundstrom 10, Sawin 11, Hammock 2, Stultz 2.