Shots don't fall this time for Lakeland as Sandpoint nabs state berth
Taylor Ward, left, of Sandpoint, tries to get the ball from Makenzie Edinger, center, of Lakeland as Trinity Golder, right, defends during their 4A Region 1 girls basketball championship game at Timberlake High on Thursday night. LISA JAMES/ Press
SPIRIT LAKE — It was going to take an effort much like that of Tuesday’s 74-45 win over Moscow to advance to the state 4A tournament for the Lakeland Hawks.
But those same shots on Tuesday — and there was plenty of them — just didn’t drop in a 55-26 loss to the Sandpoint Bulldogs in Thursday’s 4A Region 1 championship game at Timberlake High.
Lakeland fell behind 13-1 early in the first quarter and couldn’t get any closer.
“It just would have taken a couple of shots,” Lakeland coach Steve Seymour said. “Or just a happy medium. But the kids worked hard and I was happy with the effort. Sandpoint just has a few more kids that are a little more seasoned than us in that regard.”
Junior Trinity Golder scored a game-high 26 points for the Bulldogs (10-11), who advanced to the state 4A tournament for the fourth straight year.
“Our kids played well,” Sandpoint coach Duane Ward said. “Lakeland always makes our girls work hard.”
Sandpoint led 26-9 at halftime.
“Our defense really was the key tonight,” Ward said. “And the girls ran the offense and played well, and we rebounded the ball well, especially in the first three quarters.”
Grace Kirscher added 20 points for Sandpoint, which plays at 12:15 p.m. PST next Thursday at Mountain View High in Meridian. Sandpoint finished third in last year’s state tournament at Timberline High in Boise.
“This team, we’re more balanced than last year,” Ward said. “Almost all of them got the chance to go down there. They might not have gotten playing time, but they got a valuable experience that I hope will benefit them next week.”
Sofi Schnepf scored six points for Lakeland, which finishes 3-19. Madi Farris had five rebounds for the Hawks.
“We just had too many turnovers,” Seymour said. “We were prepared for what they were doing, but they had a couple of different sets. But their length made it tougher than we could have imagined.”
Lakeland 6 3 9 8 — 26
Sandpoint 19 7 11 18 — 55
LAKELAND — Cooper 0, Loutzenhiser 0, Schnepf 6, Edinger 0, Farris 1, Elpers 5, Kirk 3, Charles 1, Boyer 2, Dowd 2.
SANDPOINT — Morgan 0, Driggs 1, Kaul 2, Ward 5, Laybourne 0, Golder 26, Hicks 2, Steiger 0, Tucker 0, Kirscher 20.