STATE 4A GIRLS SEMIFINALS: Slow start dooms Lakeland in loss to undefeated Shelley

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

NAMPA — Sometimes, it’s just not your day.

Friday was that day for the Lakeland girls basketball team.

The fourth-seeded Hawks, at state for the first time in five years, shot 16 of 58 (27.6%) from the field in a 68-42 loss to the top-seeded Shelley Russets in the semifinals of the state 4A basketball tournament on Friday at the Ford Idaho Center.

Lakeland (14-10) plays in the third-place game today against Pocatello (18-6) at 11 a.m. PST back at Timberline High in Boise, where the Hawks won their first game at state since 2009 on Friday against Bishop Kelly.

“To be honest, it falls for us, and sometimes it doesn’t,” said Lakeland senior Payton Sterling, who scored six of her 11 points in the second half. “It’s hard to get momentum when things aren’t falling, but I thought we did a good job.”

Brinley Cannon, a BYU signee, had 14 points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots for Shelley (24-0), which plays in the title game tonight against Skyline (19-7) of Idaho Falls. The Russets advanced to the title game in 2023, falling to Sandpoint 69-65. 

“We executed our game plan and frustrated Brinley,” second-year Lakeland coach Tyrel Derrick said. “They just had other girls step up. They shot 44% and we shot 28%, and that’s about our average. We had to shoot about 50% to give ourselves a chance, and we didn’t, and that just happens.”

Shelley used a 19-3 run in the second quarter to pull away.

“Lakeland plays a great trapping 2-3 zone,” fifth-year Shelley coach Jessica Carlson said. “They extend it wide, they’re scrappy. They’re just a hustling team. They’re a great defensive team.”

Junior Landree Simon scored 14 of her team-high 17 points in the second half for Lakeland.

It was the third year of the 4A semifinals being moved to the Ford Idaho Center.

“It was a little rough in the beginning, but as we went on the team did a good job of helping me get going,” Simon said.

“I don’t think our girls were necessarily nervous,” Derrick said. “I think they were trying to feel out Shelley and it took us a while to settle in. We just weren’t executing in all the way we needed to in order to stop them. We did a better job in the third and fourth quarter, but you can’t get down 24 in the first half.”

“It really made the moment a lot bigger than it was,” Sterling said. “It was so cool to be a part of our team, really taking the moments together. This starting five, we’ll only have one more game together is huge.”

Junior Mia Williams scored 22 points — all in the first half — for Shelley, hitting five 3-pointers. The classification record is seven by Paige Durrant of Pocatello in both 2013 and 2014.

“This was a game we eventually had to scrap out,” Carlson said. “Lakeland played us with a ton of pressure and I feel we got different looks than we normally have. To have different players step up was really big for us.”

“I knew this would be a race to 60 (points),” Derrick said. “And our average is around 46-47, and to do that would have been a Herculean feat. Our girls, they just compete all 32 minutes, and I know what kind of group that I have.”

“I’m so proud of them and the effort they give,” Derrick said. “The score always takes care of itself.”

“I wouldn’t want to be here with any other group of girls,” Sterling said. “I love what we’ve done with our season and how much effort we’ve put in. People back home know how much effort we’ve put into this and people here and see it too. Tomorrow is going to come down to how hard we want to work.”

Lakeland    4    12    17    9    —    42

Shelley    16    23    11    18    —    68

LAKELAND — Simon 17, Kiefer 8, Loutzenhiser 0, H. McMurray 0, Hatcher 0, Holte 2, Vopat 0, Forsman 0, Kiefer 2, Bretveld 2, Sterling 11. Totals 16-58 4-9 42.

SHELLEY — M. Williams 22, Stevens 9, Kidman 6, Lang 8, Crandall 5, Pascoe 0, Kelly 0, Packer 4, Carlson 0, Cannon 14. Totals 25-56 8-9 68.

    JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Lakeland sophomore Karstyn Kiefer tosses a pass downcourt against Shelley on Friday in a state 4A girls semifinal at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.