STATE 5A GIRLS SEMIFINALS: Top-seeded Lakeland battles foul trouble, falls to Pocatello

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

NAMPA — Once the shoe was on the other foot, the Lakeland girls were unable to get any traction moving forward.

In their previous matchup against fourth-seeded Pocatello, Lakeland was able to get Thunder star and Gonzaga signee Abby Lusk into foul trouble, limiting her to eight points in the Hawks’ 63-47 win in the East Idaho Shootout at Skyline High in Idaho Falls.

On Friday, it was Lakeland that found itself in foul trouble as the top-seeded Hawks fell to fourth-seeded and defending champion Pocatello 52-45 in the state 5A semifinals at the Ford Idaho Center on Friday afternoon.

“The girls never gave up,” second-year Lakeland coach Caelyn Caufield said. “We knew this game was going to come down to the little details, making sure we were rebounding and playing great defense. And we were awesome at that, but tough to get things going in transition at the beginning.”

Lakeland freshman Jaeli Hoffman, averaging 16 points per game, picked up her third foul early in the third quarter and sat the remainder of the quarter as the Thunder rallied to take a 39-34 lead after trailing 27-24 at halftime.

Lakeland was bidding for its first appearance in the state championship game since 2002, when the Hawks won the second of back-to-back 3A championships under coach Steve Seymour.

“Even though we didn’t get to the championship game, we’re still trying to prove ourselves,” said Lakeland guard Karstyn Kiefer, the team's lone senior. “I think we’ll be ready for the challenge again tomorrow.”

Lakeland (19-5) faces Blackfoot (20-5) for third place today at 11 a.m. PST at Mountain View High in Meridian. Pocatello (18-7) will face Sandpoint (21-5) in the championship game tonight at 5 at the Ford Idaho Center. Sandpoint is seeking its second state title after winning in 2023. Sandpoint beat Blackfoot 53-50 in the second semifinal.

Kiefer, who finished with 11 points and six rebounds, had two fouls right before halftime.

“We were trying not to get her third foul right before halftime,” Caulfield said. “Karstyn’s our leader and our biggest defensive presence out there. Having her on the floor at all times is what we try to do. She’s the glue that keeps things together when things aren’t going our way.”

Junior Macy Bretveld had seven points and seven rebounds for Lakeland, which shot 16 of 65 from the field and 10 of 20 from the free-throw line.

“It was pretty physical,” Bretveld said. “It was getting hard to post up a lot. They’ve got really good defenders, and it made things difficult.”

“They’re a complete team,” Pocatello coach Sunny Evans said of Lakeland. “Their guards, No. 20 (Fagan) can shoot the lights out and No. 1 (Kiefer) is fast, and you’ve got to worry about their posts. Make or miss, she (Kiefer) can get to the rim. So that, and they run three 6-footers at a time, you’ve got to be able to defend the post as well.”

Lusk finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds for Pocatello.

“She knows how to score,” Caulfield said. “She got to the foul line and a lot of her points came from that (Lusk made 8 of 11 free throws). When we don’t make our free throws, that also makes it tough.”

With Hoffman in foul trouble, Kiefer defended Lusk — who holds the record for most career points at Pocatello (1,537) — for most of the second half.

“It was fun guarding her,” Kiefer said of Lusk. “She’s a good player.”

“The girls just stayed the course,” Evans said of avenging the earlier loss to Lakeland. “They bought into what we were doing. They were so tough and gritty today. They’ve been able to take on more and more information, so our game plans have been more difficult.”

In its last trip to state, Lakeland advanced to the semifinals in 2024, falling in the third-place game at Timberline High in Boise.

“We told them to let it hurt for a minute, and then we’ve got to turn around,” Caulfield said. “We’ve got to get that third-place trophy. It’s not giving you much time to think about it. They’re warriors and we told them to stay together and that’s the most important part — even when we go back to the hotel and making sure everyone is together.”

“We’ll come back stronger next year,” Bretveld said. “But we’ve still got one more tomorrow to try to win. We’ll be ready for that one.”

Pocatello    15    9    15    13    —    52

Lakeland    11    16    7    11    —    45

POCATELLO — Lusk 26, Pool 0, Tatom 0, Hirschi 9, Rogers 0, Finlayson 0, Torngren 12, Shuler 5. Totals 16-56 17-21 52.

LAKELAND — Kar. Kiefer 11, Forsman 1, Bowie 2, Hoffman 11, Fagan 10, Bretveld 7, Bullington 3. Totals 16-65 10-20 45. 

    JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Lakeland junior forward Mariana Bullington blocks the shot of Pocatello senior guard Abby Lusk during the second half of Friday's state 5A girls basketball semifinal game at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
  

    JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Lakeland junior guard Presley Fagan jumps after a loose ball during the second half of Friday's state 5A girls basketball semifinal game against Pocatello at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.