STATE 6A BOYS SEMIFINALS: Lake City back in state title game

By MARK NELKE 

Sports editor 

NAMPA — Josh’s ankle was fine, Jackson found his range, Jordan was Jordan and the other Jackson gave another gritty effort for the Lake City Timberwolves. 

Josh Watson and Jordan Carlson each scored 22 points, and Jackson Anderson hit three 3-pointers and added 13 points as third-seeded Lake City pulled away from second seed Centennial of Boise 68-51 in the semifinals of the state 6A boys basketball tournament Friday night at the Ford Idaho Center. 

The victory earned Lake City (18-8) a rematch with Owyhee (20-3) of Meridian in the championship game tonight at 7 PST. Lake City lost to Owyhee in last year’s title game. 

"This is who I wanted for sure,” Watson said. “Last year we got smacked in the state championship game. We just have to be physical, and play our game, and I think we’ll be fine.” 

Watson scored five points in Thursday’s win over Timberline of Boise, a game he left briefly in the third quarter with a sprained right ankle. 

On Friday, the 6-foot-5 senior and North Idaho College commit was 10 of 11 from the field, and scored 14 of his points in the second half. 

"It’s all good now,” Watson said of his ankle. “Honestly it was hurting, and I was worried it wasn’t going to get back to its full potential, but I did a lot of rehab. I was basically saying, I want to play in this game for my brothers, and make sure that I was 100% healthy, and I could do what I need to do to get it done.” 

"How good was Josh tonight? My goodness,” third-year Lake City coach James Anderson said. “Taking the ball to the rim, finishing through contact, making plays ... his best game of his career tonight, on the biggest stage. He is Lake City, man. He’s given everything to this school; played in three state title games ... special.” 

Jackson Anderson, a junior and the coach’s son, was 2 of 7 from the field on Thursday. On Friday, his first 3, late in the second quarter, boosted Lake City’s lead to 25-13. 

He opened the second half with a pair of deep 3s — the second from right in front of the Lake City coaching staff — that triggered a 10-2 run that hiked the Timberwolves’ lead to 19 points. 

"I felt super comfortable,” said Anderson, who finished 3 of 5 from behind the arc. “Yesterday I didn’t get the ones I wanted to to fall, but today I came in super confident, stayed ready, my teammates got it to me ... felt good.” 

"When you come out of a half, you have an 11-point lead, you know there’s going to be an adjustment,” James Anderson said. “It’s probably going to be a zone; you’ve seen a zone. If he doesn’t come out and make those two 3s and snap them out of a zone, this might have turned into a much different ballgame. Huge on his part to get them out of a zone in two possessions.” 

Carlson scored all 22 of his points in the final three quarters, including 11 in the second quarter as Lake City took a 31-20 halftime lead. He was 3 of 7 from deep. 

“He’s always been a gamer; he’s a kid that rises in big games,” James Anderson said. “He practices hard. People sometimes think he’s soft, just because he’s a gangly 6-7 kid that scores at three levels and doesn’t just sit in the paint. But he really isn’t. He’s a banger, and he’s a physical kid, and he practices hard. I think this was right in his element.” 

Jackson Bowman, Lake City’s defensive stopper, kept Centennial’s Gabe Eddins in check for most of the night. Despite suffering a cut over his left eye which caused him to leave the game twice in the second half to stop the bleeding, Bowman held Eddins, averaging 20.7 points per game, to nine over three quarters. Eddins finished with 15. 

“Jackson Bowman’s incredible, man,” James Anderson said. “I’m the luckiest coach in the world to coach a kid like Jackson Bowman, my goodness. He’s so tough.” 

Lake City shot 61% (25 of 41) from the field, including 53.3% (8 of 15) from 3, and led by as much as 21 points in the second half. 

Lake City is in the state title game for the third time in four years, and fourth time in six seasons. The T-Wolves won their only state title in 2023.

“I’ll say this; I’ve never been in a high school locker room where kids love each other more than this locker room,” James Anderson said. “And I think that’s a huge part of what you see on the floor. The energy they compete with is because they love each other, and they play for each other, and it’s incredible. The fact this is going to end in 24 hours is just hard.” 

Centennial (21-4), boasting the top scoring average in 6A, hit three quick baskets and led 6-2 early, but made just two baskets the rest of the half, finishing 5 of 17 from the field, including 4 of 11 from 3. 

“We’re super unique on defense,” James Anderson said. “We don’t run middle, we don’t run pack line, we don’t run any of these systems; we teach concepts ... we have baseline goals of the shots we want to eliminate, and they’ve got really good at it. It’s a little bit different, and one thing I’ve noticed down here, is that everybody runs through every screen. Nobody does what we do down here, so I think that probably plays into our advantage.” 

“We knew they had size; they made some shots that we were willing to give up,” 11th-year Centennial coach Josh Aippersbach said. “Every time we thought we had a stop, they made a shot. Their length hurt us. They were switching all five. They have a lot of length and athleticism out there; strong guys. They were bodying us up, and we didn’t make shots early.” 

Owyhee, which defeated Highland of Pocatello 66-45 in Friday's other semifinal, won last year’s title game 77-46 for its third title in the four years the school had been open. The game was close for a while, until Lake City went dead in the water offensively. 

"They’re really good, they’ve got a lot of depth, they do a lot of things,” James Anderson said. “I think our kids have been there. Last year we were primarily an offensive team, if I’m being honest, one of the better offenses I’ve ever seen. This year we’re one of the better defenses I’ve ever seen in high school. Not quite the 2022-23 Lake City team, but it’s a good defensive team. I think that gives us a chance to stay in the game, and have a chance to claw at them, and you never know what happens. Weird things can happen in those games. I don’t have a problem saying we’re the underdog. Bring it on; we’ll take it.” 

Lake City      9    22    18    19    —    68 

Centennial     8    12    12    19    —    51 

LAKE CITY — Williams 2, Oxenrider 1, Winey 0, Plummer 2, Carlson 22, Everson 0, Watson 22, Bowman 3, Hill 0, Anderson 13, Johnston 1, Pearson 0, Irgens 2. Totals 25-41 10-19 68. 

CENTENNIAL — Knudson 8, Ngongo 2, Eddins 15, Johnson 5, Ginn 2, Taylor 9, Buckner 0, Bonine 0, Bolen 9, Ruiz 0, Gallegos 0, Anderson 1. Totals 17-38 12-19 51. 

    JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Lake City junior Jackson Anderson bumps the chest of junior Jordan Carlson during Friday's state 6A boys basketball semifinal game at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.