The Sandpoint girls basketball team booked its ticket to state for the eighth time in nine years with a 43-36 win against Lakeland in Game 2 of the Class 4A District 1 championship Friday at Sandpoint High School.

The first half was a completely different half from Game 1 between these Inland Empire League foes.

On Wednesday, Sandpoint (12-8, 4-5) got out in front of Lakeland (8-11, 2-7) 26-15 and put its offense on cruise control for the rest of the game.

On Friday, its lead was only 17-15 at halftime.

Defense was the difference-maker in Game 2 and the Bulldogs showed its best stuff in the first three minutes of the second half. They went on an 8-0 run and had three steals.

“Our defense was able to carry us,” Sandpoint girls basketball coach Will Love said. “I knew it was going to be a battle, but I was confident our kids would put themselves in good positions to be successful.”

The Hawks got into foul trouble early in the third quarter, which made them step off the gas.

“I think some of us started playing a bit hesitant,” Lakeland girls basketball coach Steve Seymour said. “You really can’t do that and potentially the last game of the year, but I think a fourth foul was in the back of their head.”

The first two minutes of the first quarter saw the Bulldogs open up a 6-2 lead, but the Hawks came rallying back to tie the first quarter at 10.

“We had a strong first half,” Seymour said. “We dropped a couple of assignments here and there and Sandpoint took advantage of that.”

During the fourth, Sandpoint started to turn to take the air out of the basketball. This was a strategy that the Bulldogs started using much earlier in Game 1 but during the fourth, it was just as effective, especially with time on their side.

“The girls have an understanding that if we have a big lead in the fourth that the team kind of has a sixth man, they’re going against,” Love said. “That being the time, and they need to understand that eight minutes goes by pretty quickly, if you let it.”

Aliya Strock paced the Bulldogs with 14 points; she had two 3-pointers as well. Sandpoint had six made 3s, which is a part of its game that’s improving right in time for state, according to Love.

“After we went to Boise, we identified that as a weakness,” he said. “So we’ve been devoting a lot of time in practice to getting better and all of the credit goes to the girls for that.”

Kenna Simon paced the Hawks with 10 points.

Sandpoint advances to the 4A Idaho state girls basketball tournament on Feb. 17 at Mountain View High School in Meridian with the time date and place still to be determined.

Lakeland 10 5 3 18 - 36

Sandpoint 10 7 13 13 - 43

Lakeland - Terzulli 0, Sterling 5, L. Kiefer 8, K. Simon 10, A. Kiefer 5, L. Simon 8.

Sandpoint - K. Cessna 10, Driggs 10, Reinink 0., Tomco 3, Owens 0, Strock 14, Lyons 0, Platte 6.