STATE 4A BOYS BASKETBALL: Shorthanded Hawks grounded

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

MERIDIAN — Not even a group as talented and unique as the Lakeland Hawks could overcome the loss of not one, not two, but three starters to win a state tournament game.

Lakeland shot 28.8% (15 of 52) from the floor, and made just six baskets in the second half of a 56-44 loss to Bishop Kelly of Boise in the first round of the state 4A boys basketball tournament Thursday afternoon at Rocky Mountain High.

The Hawks were already without junior Abe Munyer (knee) and his senior brother, Ammon (disciplinary reasons). Then coach Dave Stockwell learned Monday that star forward Jalen Skalskiy, who is attracting college interest, was sidelined for violation of team rules and did not make the trip south.

That left Lakeland, at state for the first time since 2016, with just six guys who had played significant varsity minutes, and that lack of depth caught up to the Hawks in the second half Thursday.

"Well, it’s just really hard to play varsity basketball at the state level, with six guys," Stockwell said. "The people we missed, obviously it hurt us down the stretch because we ran out of gas completely. Legs went; shots didn’t fall, hard to play defense. But man, the effort those six gave was outstanding. I mean outstanding; I’m so proud of them."

Lakeland (11-10), considered a legit state title contender with Skalskiy in the lineup, plays Twin Falls (15-13) today at 11 a.m. PST at Rocky Mountain in a loser-out game. Twin Falls lost 47-43 to Preston, which has won four of the last five state titles.

Senior forward Noah Haaland scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Lakeland, and senior guard Carson Seay hit three 3-pointers and added 15 points. Only four Hawks scored. Henry and Scotty Hocking, the lone reserve who played, each had three assists.

"It was pretty tough (playing with six), but in my opinion it shouldn’t be an excuse; we should still get out there and play," Seay said.

Seay and Haaland hit 3-pointers as Lakeland jumped out to an 8-2 lead after 3 1/2 minutes. The Knights used a 9-0 run to take the lead late in the first quarter, and led 24-22 at halftime.

Kade Rice, youngest son of Boise State men's basketball coach Leon Rice, scored on a fast break to hike BK's lead to 31-23 early in the third. The Knights led by as much as 12 in the fourth quarter. baskets by junior Bryce Henry and Seay pulled the Hawks within 48-44 with 3 minutes left.

But Lakeland never scored again.

Lakeland played mostly zone, still had lots of height to make things rough on the smaller Knights. But when BK started opening up a lead in the second half, the Hawks had to go man in an attempt to force tempo.

"I think exhaustion caught up to us today," Haaland said. "We still have good players on the floor; those six guys can still definitely play, but … "

Junior guard Tommy Hunter led BK with 13 points, and junior Aidan McGarvin added 12. Senior Aiden McCarthey, nephew of Post Falls assistant coach Rob McCarthy, added eight points, four assists and three steals for the Knights.

The smaller Knights, who outrebounded Lakeland 31-24, played zone in an attempt to keep the Hawks away from the rim as much as possible.

BK coach Ryan Kerns said he had heard rumors Wednesday that Lakeland might be even more shorthanded, but said he'd believe it when he saw it.

"I approached Ammon and his brother and the coach and just said, 'I’m really feeling for you guys because you’re not at full speed,'" Kerns said, "because the last thing that you want is to create an experience with a group of guys that got you here, and not feel like you have the full group for the experience again."

Bishop Kelly 16 8 16 16 — 56

Lakeland 14 8 7 15 — 44

BISHOP KELLY — McCarthy 8, Croteau 3, McGarvin 12, Warnecke 0, Rice 8, Hunter 13, Grubb 2, Lodge 0, Hawthorne 10. Totals 20-45 11-16 56.

LAKELAND — Hocking 0, Seay 15, Henry 4, Haaland 19, Roth 6, Waddington 0. Totals 15-52 7-13 44.