4A Region 1 girls basketball championship: Game 1 slips away late from Lakeland

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

RATHDRUM — Lakeland appeared to have the game in hand, but couldn't finish the job.

The Hawks led by 11 points late in the third quarter of Game 1 of a best-of-3 series for the 4A Region 1 girls basketball championship vs the Sandpoint Bulldogs on Wednesday.

But the Bulldogs chipped away in the fourth quarter, Lakeland missed some key free throws late, then fouled a Sandpoint player on a desperation 3-pointer with .7 seconds left.

Sophomore Daylee Driggs sank two of three free throws to lift second-seeded Sandpoint to a stunning 44-43 victory over top-seeded Lakeland at Hawk Court.

Lakeland (8-10) led most of the way, and by as much as 11 points late in the third quarter. But the Hawks committed 27 turnovers, and missed four late free throws that would have helped ice the win.

“Just a few too many mistakes in the second half,” Lakeland coach Steve Seymour said. “We put ourselves in a tough situation that maybe we shouldn’t have been in.”

Because no team ran the table in the 4A Inland Empire League, Sandpoint’s win meant the Bulldogs (10-9) “stole” home court advantage for Game 2, scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. at Les Rogers Court in Sandpoint.

A Bulldog win would send Sandpoint to state for the second straight year; a Lakeland win would force a Game 3 on Saturday, and return to series to the Hawks’ home court. Lakeland won the regional title in 2019.

Sandpoint pulled within 43-42 on two free throws by Hattie Larson with 21.7 seconds left.

Lakeland, which had missed just one free throw all night to that point, went 0 for 4 from the foul line in the final 14.6 seconds. The last two misses came with 4.7 seconds left.

Driggs grabbed the rebound of the second miss, dribbled up the sideline in front of the benches, and was fouled launching a 3-pointer from just inside the half-court line.

“I was thinking, what am I going to do?,” Driggs said after she grabbed the rebound. “I guess I’m going to have to throw up a shot, and see, and the girl fouled me, and I was really shocked.”

Sandpoint was 7 of 17 from the line to that point, but Driggs stepped up and rattled in the first free throw to tie the game. After a Lakeland timeout, she swished the second, then missed the third, and the clock ran out.

"I was shaking, the crowd behind the basket (Lakeland students) was making me more nervous, Driggs said. "And I was looking at the (Sandpoint) parents and I thought yeah, I got it."

“The free-throw thing has been a struggle for us all season,” Sandpoint coach Will Love said. “We went 22 for 29 Monday night, and you think you’ve got those things corrected, but it’s one of those things that mentally it starts building on itself, building on itself. But then, I think we started to get into the flow of the game … "

Sandpoint hit 6 of 8 from the line in the fourth quarter to finish 13 of 25. Lakeland was 9 of 14.

The road team won in the two league meetings as well — Sandpoint winning 43-34 at Lakeland on Jan. 15, Lakeland prevailing at Sandpoint 63-49 two weeks later.

Addie Kiefer had 13 points and seven rebounds for Lakeland, which committed 27 turnovers against Sandpoint’s full-court pressure and extended zone defense. Baylee Woempner hit three 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 11 points for the Hawks, and Katy Ryan had eight points, eight rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots.

“We were able to contain Katy and Addie, whereas last game, when they beat us pretty good, they were able to get loose,” Love said.

Sandpoint’s pressure made it tougher for Lakeland to take advantage of its size advantage, especially with the 6-foot-5 Ryan.

“We just hesitated,” Seymour said. “Our passes were lacking the same confidence that they’ve had. So you get a couple of turnovers and you start second-guessing yourself, and feet stop moving … and Sandpoint hit some shots in the fourth quarter, and we needed to make those free throws.”

Kaylee Banks scored nine of her team-high 13 points in the first half for Sandpoint. Larson finished with 11 points and three steals, and Bella Phillips had eight points, seven rebounds and four steals. Karlee Banks hit a pair of 3s early in the fourth quarter, and finished with eight points.

After going 9 of 32 from the field in the first three quarters, Sandpoint hit 5 of 11 from the floor in the fourth.

“We’ve been relying on our defense all year to keep us in games, and the shots finally started to fall in the fourth quarter,” Love said.

Kiefer scored seven straight points early in the third quarter to hike Lakeland’s lead to 31-21. Back-to-back hoops by Kaylee Banks midway through the fourth pulled the Bulldogs within 39-36. Ryan scored in the post to make it 43-38 Lakeland with 3 minutes to play.

It turned out to be the Hawks’ final points.

Sandpoint 11 9 6 18 — 44

Lakeland 12 12 11 8 — 43

SANDPOINT — Gammon 0, Driggs 4, Lyons 0, R. Cessna 0, Phillips 8, Kar. Banks 8, Larson 11, Platte 0, Kay. Banks 13.

LAKELAND — Sterling 5, Neff 4, Hostetler 0, Ryan 8, Simon 2, Woempner 11, A. Kiefer 13, L. Kiefer 0.