Hawks think outside the box
<p>Lakeland High's Scott Simpson crashes into Isaiah Lutz from Sandpoint High as they race to a loose ball in front of Nathan Schwartz during the second half of the Hawk's 72-43 win Tuesday over the Bulldogs.</p>
<p>Randy McCabe from Lakeland High makes a pass while in midair around Sandpoint High's Chase Rodriguez.</p>
RATHDRUM - After hot-shooting Lakeland jumped out to an 11-3 lead over Sandpoint after 4 1/2 minutes Tuesday night, the Hawks saw a defense with which they were unfamiliar.
After all, "When was the last time Lakeland saw a box-and-one?" wondered Hawks coach Dave Stockwell. "It's been a while."
Sandpoint's defense - first geared to slow down guard Matt Horne, then guard Tyrel Derrick - worked for the rest of the half. Sandpoint cut a 16-point Lakeland lead down to eight, and trailed by 10 at halftime.
But Lakeland made the adjustments in the second half and Sandpoint had a disastrous third quarter as the No. 2-seeded Hawks rolled to a 72-43 victory over the No. 3 Bulldogs in the first round of the 4A Region 1 boys basketball tournament at Hawk Court.
"I thought they handled it quite well," Sandpoint coach Tyler Haynes said. "Clearly they made really good adjustments at halftime - coach Stockwell certainly had them where they needed to be — and they came out and played just an outstanding second half. We couldn’t counter them.”
Lakeland (11-10) travels to top-seeded Moscow (14-5) on Thursday in the semifinal game. The loser plays host to Sandpoint (2-19) next Tuesday.
Horne hit a couple of 3-pointers in the first quarter for Lakeland, which was 9 of 12 from the field — 4 of 7 from 3-point land — in the quarter and led 22-8. Lakeland led 26-10 early in the second quarter before Sandpoint started chipping away led by Jeremiah Gagnon, who scored seven of his 10 points in the quarter.
But Lakeland made 9 of 15 from the field in the third quarter, including 3-pointers from Derrick and Alex Opland, and outscored Sandpoint 20-5 in the quarter.
“We didn’t quite recognize it (the box-and-one) at first because I’m so slow,” Stockwell said with a laugh. “But then we made a couple of adjustments at halftime, used Matt as a decoy, and hit some shots.”
Sandpoint had more turnovers (six) than points (five) in the quarter.
“They got nearly every 50/50 ball; they got to the boards harder,” Haynes said. “They were a step ahead of us in every aspect on the floor, and opportune things came to them because of it. They made their own opportunities by playing so hard.”
Scott Simpson and reserve Jack Millsap led Lakeland with 14 points each. Opland finished with 11 points, Horne and Derrick 10 each.
Simpson had six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Opland’s 10 boards gave him a double-double.
“Really, I was most pleased with our rebounding,” Stockwell said. “Jack Millsap ... really played well. We’ve been looking for him to do this all year, so hopefully he’s coming out of that sophomore cocoon.”
“I have no idea,” explained Millsap, a 6-2 sophomore forward. “I was sick yesterday (Monday), and I got a lot of sleep, I guess. I figured I’d be pretty tired, but I wasn’t.”
Sandpoint shot 15 of 49 from the field, compared to 30 of 55 for Lakeland.
Lakeland played Moscow tough both times during the regular season, losing by nine at home and by three at Bear Den.
“They’re very tough; their size in the middle with those two big kids (6-6 Nick Ellison and 6-7 Brandon McGurkin) is really a challenge for us,” Stockwell said. “We just have to defend as hard as we can, and try to out-run them. And I think it would really help us if we scored in the first quarter — last time we didn’t score in the first quarter.”
Sandpoint 8 18 5 12 — 43
Lakeland 22 14 20 16 — 72
SANDPOINT — Jurenka 2, Rodriguez 5, Couch 2, Silberman 0, Schwartz 4, Nelson 3, Burgstahler 9, Gagnon 10, Edwards 6, Alsager 0, Lutz 2.
LAKELAND — Opland 11, Horne 10, Carr 3, Derrick 10, Millsap 14, Stanford 2, Dove 4, Simpson 14, McCabe 4, Piva 0.