Happy to be Hawks
<p>Players from the Lakeland High School girls basketball bench celebrate after the Hawks beat Moscow High Monday in the 4A Region 1 tournament at North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene.</p>
<p>Lakeland’s Kelly Ramus, right, battles with Moscow’s Joelle Stephens for a loose ball during the third period.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Never mind that they came in losers of their last 13 games.
So what if they had lost to this team twice during league play, by 16 points each time.
The No. 3 seed Lakeland Hawks put all that aside on Monday night, upending the No. 2 seed Moscow Bears 52-42 in the first round of the 4A Region 1 girls basketball tournament at North Idaho College's Rolly Williams Court.
"Pretty proud; pretty happy," Lakeland coach Steve Seymour said. "The girls played with heart. I hate to sound like I had a game plan, but whatever it was, they executed it perfectly."
Lakeland (4-17) will play No. 1 seed Sandpoint (12-7) on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at NIC for the regional title and the region's lone berth to state next week.
"We wanted it a lot," said Lakeland senior post Kelly Ramus, who scored 12 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. "It was our time. We've always heard that we had the potential to do it, and it all came together."
Moscow, the four-time defending Region 1 champions, finished 2-19 - the Bears' only victories coming over Lakeland in 4A Inland Empire League play.
In addition to Ramus, the Hawks had several others step up as well on Monday night. Junior post Kaidan Kelsey added 16 points and 10 rebounds, junior Haley Rotchford chipped in 10 points, and senior Madison Seymour had a big 3 late in the third quarter and a couple big steals in the fourth quarter to slow any thoughts Moscow had of a comeback.
But the biggest key for Lakeland was starting strong and never trailing throughout the game. And its zone defense was more aggressive and made it more difficult for Moscow to get good looks than in the first two meetings.
"We did some different stuff," Seymour said, careful not to give away any defensive secrets. "And the girls in green played to win. Jada Simpson (Moscow guard) had 24 against us last time, and we had to know where she was at all times."
Simpson scored just nine points on Monday night.
"Lakeland started on fire, and never let up," Moscow coach Robin Barnes said. "We weren't prepared for that 1-3-1 (zone) that they threw at us in the second half. With their big posts and long arms, they took away a lot of our passing angles."
The Hawks scored the game's first six points - four by Rotchford - and hit 6 of 11 from the field in building a 16-8 lead after one quarter. Kelsey's 3-point play gave Lakeland its biggest lead of the half, 19-8, with 6:39 left in the second quarter.
Moscow chipped away, pulling within 24-20 at halftime.
Lakeland built a 10-point lead in the third quarter, but Moscow hit three straight 3-pointers - two by Monica Burnette and one by Simpson - to pull within 33-31 late in the third. But Madison Seymour answered with a 3 of her own right before the third-quarter buzzer for a 36-31 lead. She finished with seven points.
Moscow never came closer than four points in the fourth quarter. The 6-foot Kelsey scored seven of her points in the quarter. Lakeland, trying to make it back to state for the first time since 2009, advanced despite committing 22 turnovers.
"They were excited to play in the district tournament," Seymour said. "With a 3-17 season, sometimes the kids just want to get it over with. But these girls were excited; they wanted to win."
Moscow shot just 26.6 percent (17 of 64) from the field, and was 5 of 12 from the line.
Ashley Engberg scored eight of her 14 points in the fourth quarter for Moscow.
"I think Steve did a nice job; he had his kids ready," said Barnes, whose team played without 6-foot senior standout Chloe Quinnett (broken foot) for all but two games this season. "We just sensed a little nervous energy at the start with our team."
Lakeland lost 49-24 to Sandpoint athome on Jan. 11, but played the Bulldogs tougher in Sandpoint 12 days later before falling 41-31.
"Hey, we're just tickled pink we're playing in another game," Seymour said. "They (the Bulldogs) are the favorites."
Lakeland 16 8 12 16 - 52
Moscow 8 12 11 11 - 42
LAKELAND - Vanderhoof 3, Price 2, Linehan 1, Kelsey 16, Fahlenkamp 1, Rotchford 10, Seymour 7, Ramus 12.
MOSCOW - Meyer 0, McDaniel 5, Engberg 14, Burnette 6, Stephens 2, Hill 0, Sprenger 4, Simpson 9, Davis 2, Klocke 0.