STATE 5A GIRLS BASKETBALL: Shaky at the start: Lake City comes up short to Centennial in first state tourney game since 2009

NAMPA — The plan worked for Lake City coach Bryan Kelly in the school’s first state tournament appearance since 2009.

Force someone other that Division I-bound Dominique Williams (Weber State) or Tori Williams (receiving offers from Oregon State, Idaho among others) to beat you.

Unfortunately, the toughest shots might have been the ones that didn’t quite fall for Lake City, in a 41-32 loss to Centennial in the first round of the state 5A girls basketball tournament Thursday night at the Ford Idaho Center.

“First time a lot of these girls had played in an arena like this, so I knew we’d be a little shaky at the start,” Kelly said. “We got behind 12-4 after the first quarter, but the kids battled back and got some possessions and put-backs. What’s key, especially when you’re playing good teams, is that ever possession counts.”

Lake City cut the halftime deficit to 19-14, and eventually fought back to tie the game at 28 on a 3-pointer by Whitney Meier with 4:34 remaining, but Centennial closed the game on a 11-2 run.

“We battled, and did what we wanted to do,” Kelly said. “We slowed it to our pace and gave ourselves a chance to win, and that’s all you can ask. Defensively, we played great, but offensively we struggled to shoot the ball. When you’re 12 for 38, and 1 for 9 from the 3-point line, it’s tough to win a game.”

Dominique Williams finished with seven points and 12 rebounds, and Tori Williams (no relation) had nine points for Centennial (22-3), but it was sophomore guard Ami Ti’a’s 10 points that helped put the game away.

“Top three scorers, we wanted to take them out of the game,” Kelly said. “We did that very well. But at the other end, you’ve got to attack the basket and the shots didn’t fall.”

Freshman Bridget Rieken had seven points and 10 rebounds for Lake City (19-5), which faces Highland (14-11) of Pocatello in a loser-out game today at 2 p.m. PST at the Ford Idaho Center. In the final opening round game of the night, Boise (18-6) beat Highland 50-37.

“Defensively, she plays well,” Kelly said of Rieken. “Our other posts Keara (Simpson) and Lauren (Rewers), they’re a tough matchup for them because they don’t really have a post. Keara and Lauren were in tough situations guarding guards all night. But I thought that everyone that played did a good job. We fought back and had a chance to win. We wanted to come down here and win the blue one (championship trophy), but we’ve still got a chance to do some things.”

“I was kind of nervous at first, but when I stepped on the court I knew everything was going to be fine,” Rieken said. “We strategized against them to guard three players tough (Dominique Williams, Tori Williams and Asha Tullock) and we did a good job of that. Sometimes our help wasn’t there, but we did a good job of getting back into the game.”

Senior Cierra Dvorak had six points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals for Lake City.

Centennial forced 17 turnovers, compared to 10 for Lake City.

“It was a good defensive battle,” said fourth-year Centennial coach Cassie Bro, a former Lake City standout. “At times, it was tough to get into a rhythm in our offense with the way their defense was playing. But we kept working and were patient at times, and it worked out for us. They played us similar to what we faced against Eagle, where they guarded three and stuck two in the paint,” Bro said.

Centennial did not allow another field goal after Meier’s tying 3-pointer until Kate Maryon scored on a layup with 54.2 seconds left to cut Centennial’s lead to 39-32.

Centennial 12 7 7 15 — 41

Lake City 4 10 9 9 — 32

CENTENNIAL — T. Williams 9, Amaechi 8, Leitzinger 0, Carlson 0, Tullock 4, Brocke 3, Ti’a 10, D. Williams 7. Totals 15-45 8-18 41.

LAKE CITY — Dvorak 6, Carlson 2, K. Maryon 5, Rieken 7, Rewers 5, O. Maryon 0, Meier 4, Simpson 4. Totals 12-38 7-13 32.