STATE 6A BOYS BASKETBALL: Their time now ... Lake City, behind seniors Miller, Strawn, has eyes on another deep run

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

Play enough close games, any team will know the situation and how to find success.

But could the luck of the draw be the reason why the Lake City High boys basketball team finds a little momentum, we’ll soon see.

Lake City (19-4), the second seed, opens the state 6A tournament on Thursday against seventh-seeded Thunder Ridge (13-11) of Idaho Falls at 1 p.m. PST at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

The start time is something that Lake City is something second-year coach James Anderson believes could play a factor.

“It’s right around when we practice each day,” Anderson said. “We played Post Falls in the district game at 1, so it was strange because we don’t play a lot of afternoon games.”

Lake City won the first game of the best-of-3 series 69-57, then beat the Trojans again 59-56 three days later to advance.

“That first game was probably our best defensive effort energy wise,” said Anderson, who also coached the Lake City girls program for six seasons, going 105-39. “I’ve done a lot of tournaments with going to Las Vegas and Arizona with the boys and girls, and I’ve grown to prefer the earlier game. You can get up, have breakfast, go shoot and do a little film, grab lunch and then go play. Then, you’ve got the rest of the evening of not having the tension or nerves of having a game weighing over you.”

Senior guards Reese Strawn and Cason Miller, four-year varsity players, were key reserves on the 2023 team, which finished 26-0 and won the first state championship in program history.

“It was a fun group to be around,” Strawn said. “They were super talented and really fun to be around. I just remember the celebration after winning and that overwhelming feeling that everything we did in the offseason didn’t go to waste. That was a really good feeling.”

“I knew my role on that team, which was to play great defense and hit shots,” Miller said. “I just bought into my role then. It’s a much different role now, but continuing to buy into whatever the team needs me to do.”

And for Miller, it was watching how that team in 2023 handled itself both on and off the court.

“I found some habits and ways to approach the game from them,” Miller said. “Just how they took care of themselves before each game was really good to see. What they ate, how they prepared in shootaround. I learned a lot.”

Owyhee of Meridian, the defending champion and winners of two of the last three state titles, is the top seed in the tournament and opens with Borah of Boise at 4 p.m. on Thursday. Lake City was the consolation champion last year after falling in a first-round game to Coeur d'Alene.

“Owyhee’s good and you’ve got to be able to give it all you got against them,” Anderson said. “But you can’t overlook Round 1. You can’t take anything for granted. It’s so hard to win that first-round game, so that’s what our focus is right now.”

Lake City, as the No. 1 seed in 2022, was upset in the first round. The Timberwolves won the consolation championship last year.

After the top two, Anderson feels like it could be anyone that advances.

“It feels like all of these teams have good days at some point,” Anderson said. “Looking at the scores, you really can’t make a lot of sense of who is really what. And that makes you a little nervous and you see upsets all the time. Every team in the tournament is playing their best right now and you really can’t take into account what their record is. They’re playing well right now if they got here.”

Lake City has won seven straight games entering state, and 14 of its last 15 games since back-to-back losses to Owyhee (76-56) and Madison (53-41) of Rexburg in a tournament at Owyhee in December.

“Against Owyhee, we gave them a lot of second-chance opportunities,” Miller said. “We can’t get caught looking ahead to Saturday, but we’ve grown a lot since. We trust each other more and communicate on defense a lot better now. We’ve definitely grown from that game.”

“Anytime the year goes on, you feel like you want to continue to get better,” Anderson said. “I feel like we’re a lot better right now. Those games in December were a really tough stretch and we played a lot of games in December (13). Those teams at the Owyhee tournament, that was probably the toughest games we’ve played this season. Our growth from that and attention to detail is huge, and the guys are growing in that.”

And while Strawn and Miller might be the only two remaining from that 2023 team, both are committed to finishing things the same way.

“Cason and I only have three games remaining in high school,” Strawn said. “In the offseason, and all those hours you put in with the boys, you don’t really remember the games, but the experiences you put in.”

“We’ve got to give it all we’ve got,” Miller said. “Us seniors, we’ve got three more games of high school ball and we’re going to give it all we’ve got. We’ve got to lock in and prepare for what we need to prepare for.”