STATE 4A BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT: Sudden end to successful year
MARK NELKE | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 9 months AGO
Mark Nelke covers high school and North Idaho College sports, University of Idaho football and other local/regional sports as a writer, photographer, paginator and editor at the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has been at The Press since 1998 and sports editor since 2002. Before that, Mark was the one-man sports staff for 16 years at the Bonner County Daily Bee in Sandpoint. Earlier, he was sports editor for student newspapers at Spokane Falls Community College and Eastern Washington University. Mark enjoys the NCAA men's basketball tournament and wiener dogs — and not necessarily in that order. | March 7, 2015 8:00 PM
BOISE - Lakeland's best season in more than a decade came to a sudden end here Friday afternoon, amidst a hail of missed shots and other frustrations.
The Hawks made just 12 of 46 (26.1 percent) from the floor in a 46-29 loss to Burley in a loser-out game at the state 4A boys basketball tournament at Borah High.
In the first round on Thursday, Lakeland shot 11 of 45 in a 47-32 loss to Mountain Home.
"And when we don't shoot well, we struggle - there's no doubt about it," Lakeland coach Dave Stockwell said. "Obviously every team down here is a good team. Tonight, for instance, Burley ran a great matchup zone - we had a heckuva time trying to figure out anything that might work. And they were scrappy; they beat us to every 50/50 ball, it seemed like, in the first half."
Lakeland, at state for the first time since 2004, finished 16-8.
Burley (15-11) advances to face Century (15-12) of Pocatello this morning at Borah for the consolation title.
Lakeland fell behind 12-2 early, but Derrick scored 8 points in a 2-minute span early in the second quarter to pull the Hawks within 15-12.
But Lakeland scored just one point over the final 5:42.
Still, Lakeland was in it midway through the fourth quarter. But after star point guard Tyrel Derrick fouled out with 3:34 left, with the Hawks trailing 34-29, Lakeland never scored again.
"It seemed like we couldn't get in a rhythm; we weren't running our own stuff," Lakeland senior guard Kenny Cooper said. "It just felt like, any time we got something going, we'd do something that would throw us off, and we couldn't get a run going like we had the whole year."
Jay Plunkett added eight points, for Lakeland. Auston Henry grabbed nine rebounds, Slader Ray 7.
Mckinley Quast scored 12 points, Mario Del Bosque 10 for Burley. Of the Bobcats' six baskets in the first half, four were 3-pointers. Burley didn't make a 3 in the second half but didn't have to, given Lakeland's offensive struggles.
Lakeland's 29 points were its lowest of the season. Until Friday, the Hawks' 32 points vs. Mountain Home were their second lowest of the year.
Still, Stockwell wasn't going to let that take away from what happened in the first 22 games.
"It was a great season - getting down here was an achievement in itself - it hasn't happened in a long time," Stockwell said. "The kids should feel proud about that, and I'm proud of 'em. It was a great group of seniors, they worked really hard in the offseason, and hopefully they've raised the bar a little bit."
Burley 12 8 7 19 - 46
Lakeland 4 9 11 5 - 29
BURLEY - Gunnell 0, Bagley 1, Cantu 5, Quast 12, Simmons 2, B. Page 0, Arteaga 2, Garrard 6, Bodily 0, Gibbons 1, Bell 3, M. Del Bosque 10, R. Del Bosque 0, S. Page 4. Totals 11-30 20-26 46.
LAKELAND - Ram 5, Cooper 0, Derrick 10, Roth 0, Henry 4, H. Ray 0, McDaniel 0, McDevitt 0, Zubaly 0, Plunkett 8, Davis 0, S. Ray 2, Knight 0. Totals 12-46 1-2 29.
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