STATE 4A BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT: Trouble keeping up

BOISE — For a team few expected to return to state, the Lakeland Hawks were right in the game, early in the third quarter of their state 4A boys basketball first-round matchup Thursday vs. the Burley Bobcats.

But Burley ran off eight straight points to open up a nine-point lead, then opened the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run and went on to put away the Hawks 56-45 at Borah High.

“I thought we were a little tired today, for some reason,” Lakeland coach Dave Stockwell said. “Just the long trip got to us a little bit; we got a little winded. But I thought we battled (in the first half), and then we battled back (in the second half). I thought it was a close game until they hit those three 3s and got that cushion.”

Lakeland (10-13) will play Middleton (10-14) today at 12:15 p.m. at Borah in a loser-out game. Middleton lost to Preston (20-4) 51-48. Burley (17-8) will face Preston in tonight’s semifinals.

Senior Forest Zubaly, who finished with 13 points and six rebounds, drove to the basket for a layup to pull Lakeland within 27-26 midway through the third quarter.

But Braydn Bell hit a jumper for Burley, and sophomore guard Ryan Bagley hit a 3-pointer. After a free throw from Ace Christiansen, Bell drove for a layup and a 35-26 lead.

Bagley then started the fourth quarter on a personal 10-0 run, which included back-to-back 3-pointers, and when the smoke cleared, the Hawks were down 49-32 with 4 1/2 minutes left to play.

“They had about three shooters; we knew about ‘em,” Stockwell said. “They just hit ‘em at the right time.

“I thought it was a close game until they hit those three 3s and got that cushion.”

Lakeland sophomore Kaden Davis scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half. Finding holes in Burley’s zone, he hit 3 of 4 3-pointers in the first two quarters, and scored early in the third quarter — then was shut out the rest of the way.

“From our scouting report, we knew he was a great shooter, and we lost track of him in the first half, and our goal was to shut him down,” Burley coach Jack Bagley said. “We had to go man-to-man (in the second half), and put our best defender (senior guard Britton Gurrard) on him and we were able to hold him to two points in the second half.”

Lakeland, with no returning starters and only one returning player with much varsity experience from last year, was 6 of 13 from the free-throw line, and committed 16 turnovers. The Hawks went two and out from state last year with a much more experienced team.

“Last year we were kind of coming in just happy to be here, and this year, we really wanted to win some games,” said Lakeland senior forward Andrew Knight, the Hawks’ sixth man last year. “They were a really fast, athletic team, and we had trouble getting back on defense. They would move the ball too quickly up the court and we weren’t getting back.”

Ryan Bagley scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half for Burley, which ended Lakeland’s season last year in the consolation round. But the Bobcats didn’t return any starters from last year either. Gurrard added 12 points, Bell 10.

“For not supposed to be here, I thought we played pretty tough; we didn’t embarrass ourselves today,” Stockwell said. “Hopefully we’ve still got two more games left in us.”

Burley 16 9 12 19 — 56

Lakeland 10 13 9 13 — 45

BURLEY — Gunnell 2, Bagley 21, Polanco 0, Beazer 0, Gurrard 12, Bodily 0, Christiansen 7, Hackett 3, Simmons 1. Totals 22-42 8-12 56.

LAKELAND — McDaniel 0, D. Knight 5, Davis 15, McDevitt 6, Zubaly 13, A. Knight 4, Ray 2. Totals 18-38 6-13 45.